BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. — A rider was not hurt despite falling more than 10 feet after a chair fell from the ski lift at Breckenridge Ski Resort.
A spokesperson for the resort told KMGH that a chair dislodged from the Peak 8 SuperConnect haul rope at approximately 10:35 a.m. Thursday morning as the lift approached the top terminal. There was only one person on the chair when it fell, and they were not hurt.
A video posted to Instagram by Tommy Jeffries shows the fallen chair in the snow. In the video, Jeffries described whipping winds before the fall.
@liftblog My sister just witnessed the chair directly in front of her fall off the haul rope during a wind hold on the peak 8 superconnect at breck. The chair was close to the top terminal and fell about 20 feet. ski patrol was already there and the guy riding the chair is ok.
— brettmgoldberg (@brettmgoldberg1) December 22, 2022
The weather forecast for Thursday at the resort called for “very windy” conditions, with gusts up to 55 mph, according to Summit Daily.
A resort spokesperson told KMGH that the lift would remain closed for the rest of the day as officials investigated what caused the chair to fall.
“I just remember looking up, and the chair in front of me was hanging and dangling, and after just a few moments, it fell with the person on it,” Brynn Goldberg, who was skiing Thursday, told KMGH.
The resort said that the lift would remain closed the rest of the day and would receive a full inspection before reopening, Summit Daily reported.
The Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board, which licenses ski lifts, said the rider fell 23 feet, though the resort said the passenger only fell 13 feet, according to KMGH. A spokesperson for the safety board told the station that the terminal and cable were inspected, and neither was found to be damaged.
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