Industry News
A mother was killed and her two daughters injured at 9:30am yesterday when they fell 25-feet from the high speed quad Quickdraw Lift at Ski Granby Ranch ski area near Winter Park, Colorado.
The mother, 40, died in the hospital due to injuries sustained in the fall and the two girls, 9 and 12, were injured and hospitalized. All three were taken to Middle Park Medical Center-Granby. The 9-year-old was flown by helicopter to Children’s Hospital in Denver. The 12-year-old is in stable conditions in Middle Park Medical Center.
It’s unclear what caused the fall or if they were using the safety bar.
The Quickdraw Lift has been shutdown.
“The lift will be opened when deemed safe for public operation. This is an ongoing investigation, and there will be no further comment until the investigation is complete.” – Tramway Safety Board, Thursday
This was the first Colorado chair death since 2002.
“(Since) that time [2002], there have been 1.7 billion chairlift rides. It’s super rare. It really doesn’t happen very often, and it’s not something that folks need to concerned about.” -Chris Linsmayer, a spokesman for Colorado Ski Country USA.
Schelly Olson, spokesperson for the incident command, said that these three were the only on the chair when they fell and that the chair remained attached to the line. Olson goes on to say that there were many witnesses: “People on the chairs in front. People on the chairs in back. People on the hill.”
This family is from Texas.
Local authorities are investigating the incident.
Only 12 people have died from chairlift malfunctions in the USA since 1973 and only 3 deaths between 2004 and October 2016 according to the NSAA.
Ski Granby Ranch is a 400-acre ski area with 4 chairlifts located 20 miles from Winter Park, CO.
The Stable-Bar appears to be very unsubstantial. Are authorities CERTAIN the three were not sitting backwards on the lift with the Stable-Bar behind them?
One wonders if a child fell first and the Mother fell on purpose trying to catch her child? Although this incident was now five years ago, it is VERY SAD to read about. Statistics indicating that falls are quite rare may keep people riding the LIFTS, but that does not diminish the horrific sadness attached to the incident – the DEATH and the INJURIES.