Accident at Ward Hill

[snowmonster]

Very sad.

http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrod...0i8qmqCgW27K5keu5mXK/index.html?p1=News_links

11 pm news said that eyewitnesses saw the skiers' poles and some gear drop from the chair before the teen fell. They are speculating that the teen may have had a medical condition on the chair before the fall.

 

[Nick]

Oh no, that stinks... I haven't been there but they have been great at reaching out to AZ, and they were in the challenge last year. That really stinks... RIP

 

[deadheadskier]

that's awful. vibes to his family and friends

 

[Glenn]

That's terrible. Prayers to the family.

 

[snowmonster]

Update on the story:

http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrod...0i8qmqCgW27K5keu5mXK/index.html?p1=News_links

It was his first day on the ski team. Sad. Very sad. RIP.

 

[hiroto]

Pretty sad. My son was there with his ski team about to start practicing.

I wonder, like many young people do, was he riding the chair without safety bar down? It may have made a difference in this situation. It is ironic that if you go to skiward.com, the first picture you see in their slide show is a women with two young children going up the chairlift without safety bar down.

 

[Nick]

Prediction: state law within 60 days that you need to put bars down.

 

[KD7000]

I was surprised to read about this earlier... especially since the lifts at Ward are really not that high.

Quite terrible.

 

[hiroto]

Prediction: state law within 60 days that you need to put bars down.

Found this thread: Vermont's chairlift safety bar law

 

[SIKSKIER]

From what I heard reported on one of the Boston tv stations,his safety bar was down.

 

[Nick]

I wonder if the kid had a history of seizures? It is horribly unfortunate.

 

[thetrailboss]

Prediction: state law within 60 days that you need to put bars down.

A lot of eastern states have this law and this law, as well as a law against having a seizure, would not have changed anything.

 

[legalskier]

Update on the story:

http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrod...0i8qmqCgW27K5keu5mXK/index.html?p1=News_links

Thanks. By all accounts a great kid who started skiing at age five. Seeing his picture in that story and reading the family's statement is very moving:
“Jack’s circle of friends included every generation and they will all miss him tremendously. … He was an 18-year-old boy with a heart of gold and a passion for skiing beyond all else,’’ the statement said. “He loved his family fiercely, particularly his brother Owen. He was a ‘gentle giant’ who had an amazing smile and loud laugh.’’

My heart goes out to his parents and family. RIP Jack.

 

[Zand]

People who think safety bars are designed to actually keep you from falling out are kidding themselves. If you start sliding out, it goes up, ESPECIALLY without footrests which at least give the bar some weight.

 

[Nick]

A lot of eastern states have this law and this law, as well as a law against having a seizure, would not have changed anything.

True

 

[UVSHTSTRM]

People who think safety bars are designed to actually keep you from falling out are kidding themselves. If you start sliding out, it goes up, ESPECIALLY without footrests which at least give the bar some weight.

Huh? Well I guess if you are sliding under it, but I think they do a fine job if the lift suddenly stopped, or somebody had a reaction to reach for a falling pole, glove, hat, etc. If what I have read is true he had a seizure and slid out from underneath it, which yes could push the bar up...of course many people would just slide right out through the space as it is quite large, but let's be honest it generally takes a "special" (as in this case) incident or horseplay to create such a accident.

 

[Nick]

Yeah it is heartbreaking to see the additional info like his picture that day and more history on him. You can tell from the smile in the picture in the article he was a kind hearted kid.

 

[snowmonster]

The most heart-breaking aspect of this story was that this was this young man's first day on the school ski team. He was probably looking forward to this day for a long time.

 

[hammer]

Another lift accident at Nashoba...based on the brief description sounds like skier error, although the skier in this case was only 7YO:

http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/30179686/detail.html

 

[Nick]

Jeez. It's kind of amazing though that you can fall 18 feet and pretty much be OK though (it says she did say she had back pain).

When I was in middle school, a neighbor of jumped of a chair. It stopped and she panicked for whatever reason and jumped off at about 25' high. She broke her leg, I remember her coming into the 7th grade in a cast.