Sugarloaf Chair -Breaking News-

[tcharron]

Wow!

Positive thoughts to all involved!

I wonder how it happened...

-w

Reports say it was bouncing, and the rope came off one of the towers.

 

[bobbutts]

http://twitpic.com/3kkxtr/full

 

[wa-loaf]

http://www.bangordailynews.com/story/Outdoors/Injuries-in-ski-lift-accident-at-Maine-resort,162538

 

[bigbog]

Watching CNN is almost a free advert for Sugarloaf. Talking about how quick and professional the response was and then they were basically reading the marketing materials (only above tree line lift serviced, vert stats, largest, etc...) and playing a bunch of powder videos from the website.

Ditto....that older double that they chose not to replace, at least ...loaded up..with wind(adding more stress) = the most questionable lift, yet one of the busiest... With older lifts/cables you're gonna have some wear....the cables' lifetime isn't something I'd wanna stretch..
Phew!!!!..., it's quite a drop down to Spillway floor..but images look like deropement(as mentioned by threecy). Fingers crossed for lessened injuries..

 

[Greg]

Wow. Hope the injured recover quickly.

 

[bobbutts]

Ditto....that friggin' old double that they chose not to replace...loaded up = was a accident waitin' to happen..imho.
Phew!!!!..., it's quite a drop down to Spillway.
If anything...new snow might've provided some cushioning, if not groomed under the chairs... Fingers crossed for lessened injuries.

Don't think we have enough evidence to say that considering how rare this kind of accident is and that there are thousands of similar lifts running safely for the last 30+ years. Are they all accidents waiting to happen?

 

[deadheadskier]

Ditto....that friggin' old double that they chose not to replace...loaded up..with wind(adding more stress) = was a accident waitin' to happen..imho.
.

I imagine they will be receiving a lot of criticism about the age of the lift and questions will be asked as to why the lift wasn't replaced this summer. Rumors this past summer were a FG Quad going in next year.

I personally don't necessarily like to point fingers when a tragedy like this happens unless there is obvious blatant maintainance neglect.

Just a freak and very scary thing that has happened before and will no doubt happen again somewhere someday.

 

[drjeff]

Atleast it happened the day AFTER a big storm. While not much of a cushion, the fluff below was likely better than if it had just been manmade base snow

 

[legalskier]

A.P. update:

CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine (AP) — A chair lift has derailed on Maine's tallest ski mountain in high winds and injured several people who plummeted as far as 30 feet to the slope below.
Officials at the Sugarloaf resort say that there are about six injuries from Tuesday's accident and that patrols are evacuating the lift. Winds were about 40 mph at the time and about 220 people were on the lift.
Sugarloaf spokesman Ethan Austin says five chairs came down. The resort says none of the injuries appear to be life threatening.
The resort says all the injured have been treated and being taken to hospitals.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap...dx6N6A?docId=dafc541b471948628912a444c9ebc35a

My worst nightmare. Prayers to all.

 

[drjeff]

I imagine they will be receiving a lot of criticism about the age of the lift and questions will be asked as to why the lift wasn't replaced this summer. Rumors this past summer were a FG Quad going in next year.

I personally don't necessarily like to point fingers when a tragedy like this happens unless there is obvious blatant maintainance neglect.

Just a freak and very scary thing that has happened before and will no doubt happen again somewhere someday.

Bingo! Gotta remember that within the past couple of months, that lift passed inspection, and the lift ops guys, if Sugarloaf's act just like just about every other mountain out there were on the tower before opening today checking things out. Sometimes freak natural event just happen. And I'm sure that any of us who have been outside in the Northeast as this storm was going on and now pulling away could easily see as how a gust that is 10 to 20mph stronger than any other COULD very well happen if it was a wind issue

 

[puckoach]

NECN has been full time on this for awhile.

Have had eyewitnesses on phone. Including someone who was on lift, that took an hour and half to get her down.

Sounds like staff did a great job.

Lift was installed in 75, renovated in 83.

CNN producer called in from the lift, while he was stuck. His report says a gust of wind.

 

[threecy]

This sounds like more than a simple deropement...in theory if only one tower deroped, the chairs shouldn't have hit the ground.

 

[puckoach]

A guy 12-15 chairs back, and a very frequent skier there, says he didn't notice anything unusual.

To him, wind was not at unusual pace for that lift.

He did feel a jerk, but did not see anything wrong. Was informed by a passing skier.

He was pretty impressed by staff, and others on the lift.

Sounds like he was not really in sight of the accident site.

 

[EOS]

Oh wow....

Hope everyone recovers quickly!

 

[threecy]

If the information we have is correct, the lift in question was installed in 1975 as a double-double (the other lift on the towers installed in 1983). The towers have hanging sheaves.

 

[threecy]

Don't think we have enough evidence to say that considering how rare this kind of accident is and that there are thousands of similar lifts running safely for the last 30+ years. Are they all accidents waiting to happen?

Deropements are not at all uncommon. Deropements resulting in chairs hitting the ground are, though.

 

[WJenness]

Updated press release:

-w

CARRABASSETT VALLEY, MAINE (Tuesday, December 28, 2010) - Today, at approximately 10:30am, the Spillway East Chairlift experienced a rope derailment. At this time, we have 6 injured guests who have been treated and transported from the mountain.

All available mountain safety personnel are at the scene. The injured parties have been taken off the mountain. Additionally, the remaining guests on the lift have all been successfully evacuated from the lift.

As of now, the cause of the incident is still unknown and is under investigation.

The Spillway East chair is A 2 passenger monocable fixed grip chair manufactured and installed by Borvig in 1975. This lift was modified in 1983. Spillway East is 4,013 feet long with a vertical of 1,454 feet. This chair moves at a speed of 500 feet per minute and the chairs are 50 feet apart. Their are 162 chairs on this lift each weighing 140lbs. Spillway East has a 250 horsepower motor and has a capacity for 1,200 skiers per hour. The Spillway Chairs run parallel up the Spillway trail. Spillway East runs to the top of the Sluice Headwall and you can access all terrain below the Spillway X-Cut.

The chairlift receives routine daily inspections for safety. Additionally, the chairlift receives weekly, monthly and yearly maintenance and testing. The lift is also inspected annually for it’s safety from the State of Maine Board of Elevator and Tramway Safety.

Sugarloaf Mountain and it’s employees are concerned for the people involved, additionally the resort like to express gratitude to all the safety personnel that have responded to this incident.

Sugarloaf Mountainis absolutely committed to the safety of its guests and employees.

Sugarloaf Mountain will issue updates as more information becomes available.

 

[ceo]

Deropements are not at all uncommon. Deropements resulting in chairs hitting the ground are, though.

They said it was the eighth tower, and if I'm counting them on Google Maps correctly, that's the one right before the really long span over Sluice Headwall (and that's what it looks like in the photos). So a deroped line there would be pretty likely to hit the ground, yes.

 

[threecy]

They said it was the eighth tower, and if I'm counting them on Google Maps correctly, that's the one right before the really long span over Sluice Headwall (and that's what it looks like in the photos). So a deroped line there would be pretty likely to hit the ground, yes.

Sounds like poor or old engineering then...new and refurbished lifts are generally engineered to not allow the chairs to hit the ground with one failure. Not sure offhand if this is a mandate.

 

[Glenn]

That's tough. I hope everyone is OK.