Ever load a chair and it stops right after you get on? Your tails hook up and get caught, now do that going really fast ....
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Sugarloaf Lift Accident - 3/21/15
- Thread starter WJenness
- Start date
Ever load a chair and it stops right after you get on? Your tails hook up and get caught, now do that going really fast ....
Jully
Active member
The chair went 450 ft in 30". That means it was going close to a high speed quad's line speed. The skis make it tough to go through the station, but also you could get whiplash or get seriously injured.
The videos did not appear to show the fastest part of the rollback.
ceo
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It looked like a couple of people did go around the bullwheel, but their chairs were pretty banged up, probably from the footrests getting caught on something.
Lots of details on what failed here: http://sugarloaf.com/media-room/press-releases/lift-rollback
All the back-ups failed except the emergency bullwheel brake.
All the back-ups failed except the emergency bullwheel brake.
jaytrem
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It seems like 450 feet in 30 seconds would give you the average speed, which is about the equivalent of a HSQ. But it takes time to go from 0 to max speed and max speed back to 0. Thus the max speed would be well above that of a HSQ.
mister moose
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Doubt it will happen to any of us, but
Unless the lift is creeping, you do NOT want to go backwards through the bull wheel. The mass of the skiers lowers the CG of the chair, and increases the angular momentum. Chairs will swing out and up and will catch and deform the tube at the grip. Bang, smash, sling.
Odds are you want to eject skis before jumping. You want less impact, the more surface area you hit the snow with, the harder the impact. Think belly flop (ouch) vs dive. Exception: shallow soft snow.
Eject skis, wait for 10 feet over ground, slide off, bend knees, roll and clear away to the side.
If it was a gearbox failure, where was the brake?
*Edit: Bull wheel "de-coupled"? (removing service brake and motor from the bull wheel) That's massive component failure, this is bigger than just Sugarloaf.
Unless the lift is creeping, you do NOT want to go backwards through the bull wheel. The mass of the skiers lowers the CG of the chair, and increases the angular momentum. Chairs will swing out and up and will catch and deform the tube at the grip. Bang, smash, sling.
Odds are you want to eject skis before jumping. You want less impact, the more surface area you hit the snow with, the harder the impact. Think belly flop (ouch) vs dive. Exception: shallow soft snow.
Eject skis, wait for 10 feet over ground, slide off, bend knees, roll and clear away to the side.
If it was a gearbox failure, where was the brake?
*Edit: Bull wheel "de-coupled"? (removing service brake and motor from the bull wheel) That's massive component failure, this is bigger than just Sugarloaf.
Last edited:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FwPP4i7ENvQ
Been posted before on this website. Shows how dangerous a rollback can get.
Been posted before on this website. Shows how dangerous a rollback can get.
Newpylong
Well-known member
Just watched the video. Jeez that is scary. See the people in the chair uphill from those who jumped? They had no skis or boards on either, looks like they were ready to bail. No ring way you want to go around the wheel at those speeds they were smart to bail near the bottom.
very good that the loaf is getting info out rather than stonewalling.
gearbox failure took out service brake and high speed rollback leaving 2 more devices, the drop dog and drive sheave brake. loaf media advisory states tha the drop dog failed to deploy, so that leaves the drive sheave brake. am curious why the lift op had to apply the drive sheave brake, current standards require automatic application. maybe an old(er) lift?
gearbox failure took out service brake and high speed rollback leaving 2 more devices, the drop dog and drive sheave brake. loaf media advisory states tha the drop dog failed to deploy, so that leaves the drive sheave brake. am curious why the lift op had to apply the drive sheave brake, current standards require automatic application. maybe an old(er) lift?
Not that old. 1988 install.
gmcunni
Active member
holy shit! note to self.. eject skis and jump off.
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
Holy crap, that is terrifying.
Not that it's likely I'd ever ski Sugarloaf given the 10+ hour drive, but given their recent safety record there is NO CHANCE IN HELL I would go there. Just outrageously unacceptable.
Not that it's likely I'd ever ski Sugarloaf given the 10+ hour drive, but given their recent safety record there is NO CHANCE IN HELL I would go there. Just outrageously unacceptable.
BenedictGomez
Well-known member
And I suppose this is why even though those people were at low elevation, they were jumping off the chairs?
I honestly had no idea that the chairs can be under so much force on a rollback that they basically "explode" off the wheel. Probably not a safety tip I'll thankfully ever need to employ, but I'm glad I know just the same. Pretty remarkable stuff.
gmcunni
Active member
by the looks of that YT vid i assume those chairs are fixed grip. not sure what Sugarloaf's were but i wonder what would/could happen with a detachable? with they detach and pile up at the base?
Cannonball
New member
I would absolutely jump off. And without hesitation. I've jumped off of lifts a handful of times for all different reasons. Quick thinking is you best bet...jump when you can instead of when it's too late.
King Pine lift is fixed grips. Not sure what would happen with a Detachable chair. I bet Bushmogulmaster would know the answer.
freeski
New member
I was on an escalator going up in a MBTA station in Boston when it failed. The escalator was packed with some very large woman in front and behind me. I remember thinking "those woman are very large". At any rate I heard the gears slip like when you mis-shift a bike and then it just let go. I was maybe 15" off the ground and in less than a second I was on the floor underneath the woman. I'd guess this is what it feels like when a lift fails. It's a good thing the lift attendant applied the safety brake because once the lift got moving with 200 some skiers it could have been horrible. I can only imagine being on a failed lift with no brake in a situation like the test video.
The funniest part of the accident in Boston was the people who came over and laid beside the pile of people hoping a payout. A couple of people appeared really hurt, but most people pretended to be (not me). :-D
The funniest part of the accident in Boston was the people who came over and laid beside the pile of people hoping a payout. A couple of people appeared really hurt, but most people pretended to be (not me). :-D
That is a very good question.
VTKilarney
Well-known member
You are either the unluckiest person on the planet or you are a little too eager to jump off a lift.
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