Sugarloaf Lift Accident - 3/21/15

[wa-loaf]

regarding the question about jumping off a lift going in reverse: assuming the alignment is ok and the rope isn't going to derope to the inside while running backwards (don't think about this too much, you'll never ski again) the decision on jumping may depend on your location. knowing that the uphill load of people will eventually decrease and the lift will slow and stop it may be better to ride it out if you are on the upper half of the line. you'll be going around the wheel if on the lower half of the line (roughly, depending on friction). you might get tossed out (depends on line speed) or you may just go around the wheel and back up.

from the initial twitter feed: "chairs were swinging wildly and throwing people off going backwards through the loading area".

Ever load a chair and it stops right after you get on? Your tails hook up and get caught, now do that going really fast ....

 

[Jully]

Question...dumb or not so be it... If you have the lift bar down, and your holding on wouldn't the chances of you being "tossed" be greatly reduced? The speed on the pullback didn't look terrible based on the video...I guess I'd jump off if the drop was 5-7' but otherwise I think I'm locking the bar down and holding on with a death grip.

The chair went 450 ft in 30". That means it was going close to a high speed quad's line speed. The skis make it tough to go through the station, but also you could get whiplash or get seriously injured.

The videos did not appear to show the fastest part of the rollback.

 

[ceo]

It looked like a couple of people did go around the bullwheel, but their chairs were pretty banged up, probably from the footrests getting caught on something.

 

[wa-loaf]

You've gotta wonder if anyone waiting to get on the chair got nailed too.

 

[wa-loaf]

Lots of details on what failed here: http://sugarloaf.com/media-room/press-releases/lift-rollback

All the back-ups failed except the emergency bullwheel brake.

 

[jaytrem]

The chair went 450 ft in 30". That means it was going close to a high speed quad's line speed. The skis make it tough to go through the station, but also you could get whiplash or get seriously injured.

The videos did not appear to show the fastest part of the rollback.

It seems like 450 feet in 30 seconds would give you the average speed, which is about the equivalent of a HSQ. But it takes time to go from 0 to max speed and max speed back to 0. Thus the max speed would be well above that of a HSQ.

 

[mister moose]

Doubt it will happen to any of us, but

Unless the lift is creeping, you do NOT want to go backwards through the bull wheel. The mass of the skiers lowers the CG of the chair, and increases the angular momentum. Chairs will swing out and up and will catch and deform the tube at the grip. Bang, smash, sling.

Odds are you want to eject skis before jumping. You want less impact, the more surface area you hit the snow with, the harder the impact. Think belly flop (ouch) vs dive. Exception: shallow soft snow.

Eject skis, wait for 10 feet over ground, slide off, bend knees, roll and clear away to the side.

If it was a gearbox failure, where was the brake?

*Edit: Bull wheel "de-coupled"? (removing service brake and motor from the bull wheel) That's massive component failure, this is bigger than just Sugarloaf.

 

[deadheadskier]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FwPP4i7ENvQ

Been posted before on this website. Shows how dangerous a rollback can get.

 

[Newpylong]

Just watched the video. Jeez that is scary. See the people in the chair uphill from those who jumped? They had no skis or boards on either, looks like they were ready to bail. No ring way you want to go around the wheel at those speeds they were smart to bail near the bottom.

 

[zoomzoom]

very good that the loaf is getting info out rather than stonewalling.

gearbox failure took out service brake and high speed rollback leaving 2 more devices, the drop dog and drive sheave brake. loaf media advisory states tha the drop dog failed to deploy, so that leaves the drive sheave brake. am curious why the lift op had to apply the drive sheave brake, current standards require automatic application. maybe an old(er) lift?

 

[deadheadskier]

Not that old. 1988 install.

 

[gmcunni]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FwPP4i7ENvQ

Been posted before on this website. Shows how dangerous a rollback can get.

holy shit! note to self.. eject skis and jump off.

 

[BenedictGomez]

Holy crap, that is terrifying.

Not that it's likely I'd ever ski Sugarloaf given the 10+ hour drive, but given their recent safety record there is NO CHANCE IN HELL I would go there. Just outrageously unacceptable.

 

[BenedictGomez]

holy shit! note to self.. eject skis and jump off.

And I suppose this is why even though those people were at low elevation, they were jumping off the chairs?

I honestly had no idea that the chairs can be under so much force on a rollback that they basically "explode" off the wheel. Probably not a safety tip I'll thankfully ever need to employ, but I'm glad I know just the same. Pretty remarkable stuff.

 

[gmcunni]

And I suppose this is why even though those people were at low elevation, they were jumping off the chairs?

I honestly had no idea that the chairs can be under so much force on a rollback that they basically "explode" off the wheel. Probably not a safety tip I'll thankfully ever need to employ, but I'm glad I know just the same. Pretty remarkable stuff.

by the looks of that YT vid i assume those chairs are fixed grip. not sure what Sugarloaf's were but i wonder what would/could happen with a detachable? with they detach and pile up at the base?

 

[Cannonball]

Why did people jump off the lift? It seems that was their first move when the chair started to roll back. Aren't your chances of getting hurt from jumping off a lift so much higher than just riding it until it stops?
Were all 7 injured as a result of jumping?

I would absolutely jump off. And without hesitation. I've jumped off of lifts a handful of times for all different reasons. Quick thinking is you best bet...jump when you can instead of when it's too late.

 

[deadheadskier]

King Pine lift is fixed grips. Not sure what would happen with a Detachable chair. I bet Bushmogulmaster would know the answer.

 

[freeski]

I was on an escalator going up in a MBTA station in Boston when it failed. The escalator was packed with some very large woman in front and behind me. I remember thinking "those woman are very large". At any rate I heard the gears slip like when you mis-shift a bike and then it just let go. I was maybe 15" off the ground and in less than a second I was on the floor underneath the woman. I'd guess this is what it feels like when a lift fails. It's a good thing the lift attendant applied the safety brake because once the lift got moving with 200 some skiers it could have been horrible. I can only imagine being on a failed lift with no brake in a situation like the test video.
The funniest part of the accident in Boston was the people who came over and laid beside the pile of people hoping a payout. A couple of people appeared really hurt, but most people pretended to be (not me). :-D

 

[thetrailboss]

King Pine lift is fixed grips. Not sure what would happen with a Detachable chair. I bet Bushmogulmaster would know the answer.

That is a very good question.

 

[VTKilarney]

I've jumped off of lifts a handful of times for all different reasons.

You are either the unluckiest person on the planet or you are a little too eager to jump off a lift.


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