Lift incident at Whiteface

[Ski Diva]

Not as serious as Sugarloaf, but they did put out a press release, I guess in light of the recent incident:

Lift Malfunctions at Whiteface

WILMINGTON, N.Y. --- On Wednesday, Dec. 29, there was a lift malfunction on Lift I (Freeway Lift) on Little Whiteface Mountain, in Wilmington, N.Y. Seventy-six people were on the lift at the time of the incident and one employee injury was reported.

An investigation is underway as to the cause of the incident, but it has been determined that the malfunction was not caused by wind and the lift line and chairs were never in danger of falling to the ground.

“First, our thoughts are with those affected and we are thankful that there were no serious injuries. One ski patrol staff member suffered an injury during the evacuation and is being evaluated,” said New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) president/CEO Ted Blazer. “The Whiteface crew and responders did an outstanding job following procedure and evacuating the lift, ensuring everyone’s safety.”

The malfunction occurred at 10:58 a.m. and immediately Whiteface ski patrol began skiing the lift line, notifying the people on the lift about the situation. The lift was fully evacuated by 12:45 p.m. The ski industry’s standard for a lift evacuation is two hours from the time of the incident.

Lift I was built in 1978 and passed inspection in November 2010. The lift has 121 chairs, 23 towers and measures 4,100 feet in length. The lift’s vertical rise is 1,458 feet and can carry as many as 800 skiers and riders to its top per hour.

Are these a usual thing, or are we just hearing about them now?

 

[drjeff]

I think the biggest question one needs to ask, is was this an issue with the drive motor (like happened at Mount Snow yesterday) or was this an issue with say a lift tower/haul rope?? BIG difference. Drive motor wise, well just like the engine in folks cars, from time to time, parts can and do break unexpectedly, even with proper regular maintenance. This week in particular though inlight of it being a holiday week, fresh snow, and the Sugarloaf incident, what usually isn't newsworthy, suddenly is

 

[dmc]

The genie is out of the bottle..
now every lift issue will be inthe press...

 

[billski]

The genie is out of the bottle..
now every lift issue will be inthe press...

Yea, well said. I hope it doesn't scare away the vacation crowds/profits.
Bad timing.

 

[Kerovick]

I'm still headed to WF this next week.

 

[billski]

I'm still headed to WF this next week.

Oh yeah! It won't stop this crowd! I'll be out Sunday and Monday.

 

[drewfidelic]

Imagine how sensational lift breakdown reporting would be if that stuck on a ski lift film from last year (or was it 2 years ago?) was a big hit?

 

[Stache]

You mean "Frozen"?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5xNthNKdD0

Bring on the hungry wolves.

 

[threecy]

The genie is out of the bottle..
now every lift issue will be inthe press...

For awhile, anyway...I think once the Sugarloaf issue is resolved, they'll move on and it'll go back to more of the local outlet based coverage of incidents (assuming no injuries of course).

Until then, to the casual observer, it's going to appear that practically every lift is falling apart!

 

[millerm277]

Here's a better article on the incident: http://adirondackdailyenterprise.com/page/content.detail/id/522186/Whiteface-lift-malfunctions--76-stranded--1-hurt--update-.html?nav=5008

Derailment.

 

[tcharron]

The genie is out of the bottle..
now every lift issue will be inthe press...

Soon to be followed up by rules, laws, etc, trying to compensate for a non existant problem. :-(

 

[severine]

The genie is out of the bottle..
now every lift issue will be inthe press...

No kidding! It's not that these things didn't happen before...more often than you'd think.

Imagine how sensational lift breakdown reporting would be if that stuck on a ski lift film from last year (or was it 2 years ago?) was a big hit?

:lol: Hey! I like that movie!