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Jury Awards $3.3 Million Verdict Against Wachusett for Chairlift Incident

BenedictGomez

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An interesting situation that seems to demonstrate that perhaps the role of lift operator is more important than that of a minimum-wage job for a stoned failure-to-launch adult.
 

Edd

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Whoa, that’s a nasty accident. I agree that the lifty job should be taken very seriously. Any of these jobs, driving a Greyhound or whatever, where the employee in charge of a bunch of people’s lives, should be staffed by competent, decently paid people.

That sounds so obvious but I feel the calculation is often made that anyone can perform these tasks and that’s ridiculous.


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abc

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Which job in a ski area isn’t important enough to require a competent well paid adult but can be done by stoned failure-to-launch loser? Patrol? Groomer driver? Ski instructor? Rental shop staff?

How much more are people willing to pay in their lift tickets?
 
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Newpylong

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Considering people complain about ticket rates when many ski areas already do not break even on them, probably not much.
 

cdskier

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That sounds so obvious but I feel the calculation is often made that anyone can perform these tasks and that’s ridiculous.

If you're not capable of watching to ensure people load properly and stopping a lift if they don't, then I'm not too sure what job that person would be capable of doing. While this is certainly an important job, it isn't rocket science. This case sounds like someone that simply wasn't paying attention (which can happen regardless of pay if the employee just doesn't care).

I don't normally like ski area lawsuits, but this one seems justified (the amount of the verdict I can't say without more info whether or not it is appropriate though).
 

Not Sure

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3 minutes!!!Blows my mind that nobody in line yelled for the lifty or hit the stop button on their own.??? 3 minutes at X amount feet per minute on a high speed Quad!!! That’s a long way up!!!
 

Edd

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If you're not capable of watching to ensure people load properly and stopping a lift if they don't, then I'm not too sure what job that person would be capable of doing. While this is certainly an important job, it isn't rocket science. This case sounds like someone that simply wasn't paying attention (which can happen regardless of pay if the employee just doesn't care).

Some highly intelligent people just suck at awareness and focus. Best to keep them at a desk or otherwise not directly responsible for lives. Your post demonstrates the hiring attitude I mentioned earlier.
 

cdskier

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3 minutes!!!Blows my mind that nobody in line yelled for the lifty or hit the stop button on their own.??? 3 minutes at X amount feet per minute on a high speed Quad!!! That’s a long way up!!!

That's pretty crazy too...only thing I can think of is that maybe it was a day/time when it wasn't busy and no other skiers were in line behind him to see it.
 

Domeskier

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An interesting situation that seems to demonstrate that perhaps the role of lift operator is more important than that of a minimum-wage job for a stoned failure-to-launch adult.

+1. When I was a kid, some lifty wasn't doing his job and I ended up on a chair wrapped in caution tape with the safety bar tied up. And he had the nerve to yell at me for not watching the chairs coming around the bull-wheel. I had to ride up on a busted chair expecting it to fall off the line at any moment.
 

Jully

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3 minutes!!!Blows my mind that nobody in line yelled for the lifty or hit the stop button on their own.??? 3 minutes at X amount feet per minute on a high speed Quad!!! That’s a long way up!!!

The bystander effect is real. Or everyone is mega oblivious, but there isn't a ton to do in lift lines besides watch chairs, so I refuse to believe EVERYONE missed it.
 

BenedictGomez

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I guess we'll likely never know for sure, but I'm going to take a stab at the "how" question being asked with: "millennial playing on a smartphone".
 

ThinkSnow

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An interesting situation that seems to demonstrate that perhaps the role of lift operator is more important than that of a minimum-wage job for a stoned failure-to-launch adult.
That's a rather broad generalization. Having been a patroller previously at Wachusett Mtn, the summit chair is generally staffed by at least 3 or more more people- two in the operations room overlooking the platform, and one or two loading the chair. If the incident occurred during night skiing, it is likely this type of thing could happen anyplace. When the chair leaves the loading platform, it rides immediately over a pond before eventually travelling over trails. If it happened at night, with minimal people on the trails, I could see how this might go unnoticed unfortunately.
 

Dickc

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Sunday River had a somewhat similar incident some time ago. The kid got up there a bit, but the lifty stopped the lift and they were able to get him down safely. Sunday River has since put stop cables just past the load area. If someone is hanging, they will take out the stop cable stopping the lift. They had to modify them after the first season as dangling snow boards made for a few accidental stops.
 

Quietman

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The news story says that the kid was facing in the wrong direction when the chair came around to me that's a stop no matter what!!
 

Not Sure

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That's a rather broad generalization. Having been a patroller previously at Wachusett Mtn, the summit chair is generally staffed by at least 3 or more more people- two in the operations room overlooking the platform, and one or two loading the chair. If the incident occurred during night skiing, it is likely this type of thing could happen anyplace. When the chair leaves the loading platform, it rides immediately over a pond before eventually travelling over trails. If it happened at night, with minimal people on the trails, I could see how this might go unnoticed unfortunately.

Yes I've seen other areas that have drop offs right after the end of the ramp area . Real simple solution ...Circus type net .
 

raisingarizona

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Wow, some of you posters on here sure are the judgy keyboard warrior types.

You can never fully eliminate the human factor and as humans we all make mistakes.

Do you know how easy it is to lose focus when bumping chairs all day? It’s incredibly boring.

As far as paying employees better wages and the costs of lift tickets.......I’m guessing paying off 3.3 million dollar lawsuits doesn’t help lift ticket prices either.
 

Zand

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Seeing as a group of high school kids once got an entire base lodge couch onto the Minuteman Express and brought it to the top, nothing surprises me at Wachusett.
 

thetrailboss

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So a few thoughts.

First, I think that Crowley did a good PR job of saying he felt bad for what happened and that they hope the kid gets better. Good on him. Ultimately it is their insurer who retained counsel and handled the defense so I imagine that they will file an appeal.

Second, the job indeed is monotonous and not everyone is omniscient. I did not see in the article a summary of the employee's testimony as to what happened. Who knows. Certainly it was a bad situation all the way around.

At least the kid is OK.

Just another reminder to keep an eye on your kids.
 
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