After Losing Her Son, Mother Calls for Stricter Ski Lift Safety Bar Rules

After her son Donovan died from injuries he suffered in a fall from a chairlift at Keystone Resort, Colorado, Tonette Romero is now advocating for a significant Colorado ski resort policy change: mandatory safety bar use on chairlifts.

Donovan, a 32-year-old snowboarder, suffered a traumatic brain injury on December 11, 2024, and was left unconscious. He’d fallen almost 50 feet from the Ruby Lift. A witness sitting beside him told authorities that he was attempting to adjust his snowboard binding before the fall, 9News reports. The lift’s safety bar wasn’t engaged at the time.

On May 2, 2025, Donovan, who is a father of children, passed away at home with his mother by his side, 9News reports. He had been released from the hospital and was receiving hospice care.

“Keystone Resort and the entire Vail Resorts family extend our deepest sympathy and support to our guest’s family and friends,” said Keystone Resort vice president and general manager Shannon Buhler, in a statement.

Tonette, in a message published on a GoFundMe page that is raising money for her son's funeral and medical expenses, argued for stricter safety bar rules.

“No other industry that transports people at height—whether it’s aviation, amusement parks, or public transit—would allow such a critical safety measure to go unregulated,” her message reads. “Imagine an airline making seatbelt use optional, or a rollercoaster ride where harnesses are left to personal choice.”

"When a safety feature exists but is not required, it sends the message that convenience outweighs caution. That mindset has already cost lives, and it will again unless change is made," Tonette's message continued.

The “Lift Safety” portion of Keystone Resort’s website instructs guests to lower the safety bar when they embark on the chairlift. Colorado Public Radio reports that ski resorts in Colorado encourage, but don’t mandate, the use of safety bars. On its website, the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) also recommends using safety bars. 

Adherence to those recommendations is mixed. 

A study published in 2023 found that on chairlifts just carrying adults in the Rocky Mountain region, where Keystone Resort is located, safety bars were used only 36% of the time. 

Of the regions surveyed in the study, the Northeast U.S. had the highest occurrence of safety bar use—they were used 80% of the time. If children were also on the chairlift, these percentages increased significantly. In the Rocky Mountain region, they jumped from 36% to 84%.

The primary cause of ski resort fatalities in the U.S. is collisions with trees and the snow surface, per NSAA data. Since 1973, there have been 14 deaths that resulted from a fall from a chairlift nationwide, according to an aerial ropeway and surface lift fact sheet published by the NSAA in 2024.