 Poster: A snowHead
|
A 12-year-old boy narrowly escaped death when he was left hanging from a chairlift, tangled in the straps of his backpack which tightened around his neck. Luckily, little Anthony Trabert managed to break free and fell to the snow without any serious injury.
The incident happened last Saturday at Park City, Utah, and was captured on video. The film, later broadcast to astonished TV audiences - and linked below - probably did little to boost chairlift popularity!...
The video of the accident is linked from this report on KUTV.com
... and additional details on the story from CBS News
... plus further info. and photos from KUTV.com
When it's recommended to remove strapped packs etc. when boarding chairlifts, that's why!
[The above report from Kuwait Ian was edited with additional information from the net]
Last edited by Poster: A snowHead on Sat 11-12-04 10:23; edited 4 times in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
Credit where credit is due. I spotted this on Sky News yesterday afternoon but was unable to video it. David Goldsmith has tracked down the links above and promoted this thread to snowNews. The little chap was very lucky indeed to be able to free himself from a life-threatening situation and that the fall didn't injure him.
If you run the video on either of the KUTV links above, it also has a link to more on this incident including a brief interview with the boy. Click on "State Now looking into ..... " on the right hand side of the video window.
It seems inexperienced lifties don't come out of this incident very well. The boy's friends had to bang on the cabin door to get their attention and to get the lift stopped. (BTW these videos don't download in the normal way and will start very quickly - but do have irritating advertising at the beginning. I assume that as 'hot' news stories they will not always be available from these streaming video links unless there is some sort of 'hidden' archiving. View them quickly, people) << Edit - scroll down on the right side of the CBS Video Viewer window to find a longer interview with the lucky boy and his father and also another unrelated video about a new system for practising avalanche rescue >>
If rucksack wearers do take them off and ride up with them on their knees, then dismounting with a loose pack and poles to handle is also a tricky business. I'd guess that also causes a few accidents. But much less serious. Perhaps the best compromise is a very small daypack, which you can leave on as you ride up, with straps which are not strong enough to hang your weight on in the event of getting caught up.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Sat 11-12-04 13:04; edited 2 times in total
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
Shouldn't the chairlift have had automatic safety cut-out devices to stop a chair going downhill again with someone still on it?
BTW, Firefox users will have to switch to IE to view the video clips on KUTV.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
Pete Horn, TKS for the tip about alternate browsers. On one of the video interviews, it suggests the boy was dragged round on the floor and that maybe the safety cutout was not correctly positioned? That is he was not on the chair, he was under it or behind it until it pulled him to the end of the platform and dropped him off the front lip of the top station. It looks like quite a modern lift so presumably it has all the necessary safety features but maybe no-one envisioned this type of accident. We can be sure the accident will be investigated thoroughly but will we be able to pick up the results of the investigation? Hope so.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
I witnessed something very similar on the 1st day of the season 2003/4 Telluride . Luckily a member of the Ski Patrol pulled himself up the cable from the base station and secured himself to the chair and then secured the dangling person to him. He then winched him down . Stopped the lift for a good 1.5 hrs , bloody inconvienient on the first day of the season 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
|
Thanks for your efforts, kuwait ian and David Goldsmith. Generally I take my backpack off for a chairlift - but sometimes I am too idle. I think my New Year resolution will be to take it off every time.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Riding a lift I usually swing my backpack round to the front with the waist-strap still done up. There is then no fear of dropping it and no straps to do up at the top (just sling it round putting arms through holes - you can do it as you slide down the run-out. (Any ski rucksack should have a waist strap. I suspect those that don't weren't designed for skiers)
In this case, though, why couldn't the boy be moved to somewhere where he didn't have to make a huge jump down? I suspect that the answer may be the same as in a case I know about from 20 years ago, which was that you cannot reverse ski lifts. If so, why are they not designed so they can? It seems like a basic safety feature to me.
In the earlier case a friend of mine who is a climber was getting onto a chair lift with a girl (a stranger) who failed to get on properly and slipped off, and was carried out over a drop hanging by a hand from the edge of the seat, immediately replaced as her grip failed by him holding onto her by her wrist while holding onto the chair pole with his other hand. The lift was stopped and the girl was begging him not to let go. But it turned out the lift couldn't be reversed, and the drop became greater if it went forward. And he couldn't pull her up with one arm.
When this became clear she was instructed how to kick off her skis and my friend did the same. Then she transfered her grip to his legs, and he lowered himself over the edge till he was hanging from the seat edge with her hanging onto his ankles.
She was now nearer the ground and was persuaded to let go. He climbed back up and continued on up on the restarted lift! He couldn't have done it if he hadn't been a climber.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowball, good tip about backpack safety.
I suspect one reason lifts cannot be reversed is the gearing. To introduce a reversing option is expensive for something you never hope to use. Also, on bigger lifts where the chairs or gondolas are not fixed on the wire, the mechanism for getting the clamp on and off the moving wire is by definition unidirectional.
On this site from KUTV there is a list of video clips including one of the young lad talking about his ordeal. You'll see the lad demonstrating how he got caught. The backpack is huge compared to his size and he somehow managed to get one strap round his neck. Getting his helmet off seemed to be the key to freeing himself. Lucky he was able to get out and lucky again that he landed more or less horizontally - not legs or head first.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
|
The waist-strap clips of my mini backpack once dropped behind, and toggled between, the separate seats (or was it the backrests?). Very alarming. Clip up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nick Zotov, I'm like you with backpacks, but another snowHead (Ise?) gave me a severe telling off a month or so back, so I am going to adopt the same New Year Resolution as you.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
