Boy Hospitalized After Chairlift Fall at Minnesota Ski Area

Earlier this month, another snowsports enthusiast fell from a chairlift at Keystone Resort, Colorado.

The injured party, a 32-year-old male snowboarder, reportedly leaned down to adjust his bindings before he slipped and fell off the Ruby Express, a six-person, high-speed detachable chair lift. Keystone Ski Patrol and Summit County Sheriff's Department responded to the accident. The snowboarder was transported to St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood, Colorado.

The Keystone incident followed a lethal chairlift fall in 2023 at Breckenridge Ski Resort, Colorado.

The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) advises all ski resort visitors to be familiar with any given chairlift before using it and to lower the safety bar—assuming the chairlift in question has a safety bar. Adults should assist children in lowering the bar, the NSAA notes.

According to data collected by the NSAA, the majority of chairlift falls are non-serious and take place in the loading and unloading areas. Since 1973, there have only been 14 fatal chairlift falls in the U.S. Nearly half of these fatalities resulted from medical incidents that occurred while a skier or snowboarder was riding the lift.

Lethal lift malfunctions, which primarily occurred in the 1970s and 1980s, have resulted in 16 fatalities from nine incidents since 1973. The most recent fatal lift malfunction happened in 2020 when a chairlift pad was blown up before loading, preventing a passenger from sitting on the lift.

Mount Ski Gull is a small ski area in central Minnesota. It opened for skiing and riding this season on Friday, December 6th. It was voted the Best Place for Winter Family Fun in the Brainerd Lakes area for 2024.

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