Bromley Lift Accident

[Bromley Mountain]

Since that's a relatively new lift in the lift world, Doppelmayr, the lifts manufacturer, will likely have parts fairly readily available in one of their facilities in the US, and if not and parts need to be acquired/made in their European facilities, then they'll express ship them. Installation wise, once the part(s) are one site, chances are the mountain ops guys at Bromley, maybe even without addtional help from the Dopp guys will be able to fix most things quickly, and then it's likely just going to be getting the lift inspector from the state of VT on site to green light the Sun Mtn Express again....

Happy to provide the facts. Sincerely appreciate the concern from a core group of dedicated enthusiasts. And @drjeff knows what he's talking about. We hope to have the lift inspector actually on site when parts are installed, and the lift open to the public asap.

 

[jimmywilson69]

Thanks for Chiming in and don't be afraid to keep the community informed on the happenings at your mountain.

Good luck with the snow making repairs!

 

[zoomzoom]

great job on the lift evac!

am glad the hauling hope rec'd no damage. reminds me of the deropement at quechee lakes a few years ago. rope was scuffed 'cause it was trapped between the inside deropement tee and steel sheave flanges. but inspected daily then removed from service that summer iirc.

 

[thetrailboss]

...and here is the story...albeit a day late.

http://www.wcax.com/content/news/115-skiers-rescued-from-from-chairlift-at-Bromley-466791633.html

 

[thetrailboss]

https://liftblog.com/2017/12/26/wind-damages-lift-leads-to-christmas-evacuation-at-bromley/

 

[slatham]

Hi All,
Winds on 12/25 were blowing at about 40mph, and lift ops was monitoring gusts. At about noon, we experienced an extremely strong burst of wind for 15 to 20 seconds. The gust caused both the messenger cable (runs up the middle of the lift towers, stringing them together) and the chairs at the summit to swing, and the cable snagged a portion of the grip on a downhill chair (the empty side). This caused the hull rope to shift to the inside and derail that one empty chair. Safety systems engaged immediately and stopped the lift. Patrol performed a full evacuation of the 115 passengers, and there were no injuries. It must be the angle of the photo that makes it seem like there are no other chairs on the line, as all chairs are still loaded. We're currently awaiting parts to finish repairs, ETA this afternoon. Dopplemeyer put them on a plane from Salt Lake with a courier, and they'll be driven directly from Albany when they land - great service. Hope this clears up any questions.

Thanks for the detail, and the great work of the ski patrol!

 

[Zermatt]

https://liftblog.com/2017/12/26/wind-damages-lift-leads-to-christmas-evacuation-at-bromley/

How long was that snowboarder sitting on the lift with his snowboard hanging loose like that? The thought never crossed his mind to take it off and either bring it onto the chair or drop it on the trail?

 

[Glenn]

How long was that snowboarder sitting on the lift with his snowboard hanging loose like that? The thought never crossed his mind to take it off and either bring it onto the chair or drop it on the trail?

That's typically how you ride the lift. When I snowboarded, I used to put the edge of the board on the top of my boot that wasn't strapped in.

 

[mccleaks]

So what was it worth to have to sit on a broken down lift in the wind, cold, and snow for 2 hours? I hope the mountain took care of these poor people. And I hope they were prepared with a snack and maybe a beer or two for that wait.

 

[drjeff]

So what was it worth to have to sit on a broken down lift in the wind, cold, and snow for 2 hours? I hope the mountain took care of these poor people. And I hope they were prepared with a snack and maybe a beer or two for that wait.

FWIW - I got stuck and evac'd off of the Ego Alley triple at Mount Snow on MLK Day maybe 5 years ago now.... It was a COLD day like this past weekend was and/or the next few days will be with air temps in the low single digits and 20 - 30 mph winds. The kind of day where I went out with 2 face masks, double hand warmers in my mittens, lots of layers, etc. Took about 90 minutes from when the lift went down to when I was roped off the chair... I was given a voucher for a free hot chocolate and a free day's lift ticket. Fortunately for me that day, knowing a few select people in the Mount Snow food and beverage dept, my hot chocolate voucher, "magically" tuned into a "free beer" voucher! Having a season pass, the free day ticket voucher, didn't mean that much, but I think we gave it to a friend who visited us later that season so it did go to use...

I'm guessing that Bromley did something similar for it's customers who were evac'd from the Sun Mountain Express over the weekend....

 

[Glenn]

I was evacuated of a lift at Burke many years ago. We all received a free lift ticket.

On a very cold day at Mt. Snow, the Bluebird stopped for about 20-30 minutes. At the top, they had an ambassador handing out vouchers. I can't remember if it was for full day tickets or not. We had passes at the time. I ended up using mine for a free rental of a snowboard and boots and got back on a board for the first time in almost 20 years.

 

[slatham]

Lift fixed and ready to go, if it not for the 40+mph gusts this am.....

 

[MEtoVTSkier]

Guessing there might be some new wind fencing in that location in the future...

 

[Zermatt]

At least this didn't happen:

https://twitter.com/severeweatherEU/status/948926755880034304

Very scary video...always keep the safety bar down.

 

[Not Sure]

At least this didn't happen:

https://twitter.com/severeweatherEU/status/948926755880034304

Very scary video...always keep the safety bar down.

uke:uke:....Holy Cow! Maybe throw a rope over and have someone on the ground stop the gyrations ?

Bubble lift downside acts like a sail !