WOMAN DIES, TWO DAUGHTERS HURT IN CHAIRLIFT FALL

The Texas woman’s two daughters are hurt in the incident at Ski Granby Ranch.

A Texas mother died and her two young daughters were hurt after they fell about 25 feet from a four-person chairlift Thursday morning at Ski Granby Ranch in Grand County. It was not clear what prompted the fall, causing the first chairlift fall death in Colorado in 14 years.

A Texas mother died and her two young daughters were hurt after they fell about 25 feet from a four-person chairlift Thursday morning at Ski Granby Ranch in Grand County.

Ray Jennings, chief officer for emergency management at Grand County EMS, said first responders were called to the ski area about 10 a.m. The three were taken to the nearby Middle Park Medical Center.

The 40-year-old woman died at the hospital, and one of the daughters was flown on Flight for Life to Children’s Hospital Colorado. The other child was in stable condition at Middle Park. The girls are 9 and 12 years old.

It was not clear what prompted the fall, causing the first chairlift fall death in Colorado in 14 years.

Schelly Olson, spokeswoman for the incident command, said the three were the only ones on the chair when they fell somewhere between the lift’s loading area and summit. The chair remained attached to the line.

Olson said there were many witnesses: “People on the chairs in front. People on the chairs in back. People on the hill.”

Chairlift deaths from malfunctions or falls are exceedingly rare in the United States, according to the National Ski Areas Association. Deaths from malfunctions have totaled just 12 from 1973 through October, and there were three deaths from falls between 2004 and October, the NSAA reports.

Rod Kessler, a ski area spokesman, said they fell from the Quick Draw Express lift. The lift — a detachable quad, which is often called a “high-speed” lift — was shut down “just to make sure everything is in order,” Kessler said.

Jennings said the Grand County Sheriff ’s Office and Granby Police Department are investigating, as is the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board. The names of the three have not been released, but officials say they were visiting from Texas with other family members.

Ski Granby Ranch is about 20 miles west of Winter Park. The small, 400-acre family-oriented resort is known for being a spot for beginner skiers and snowboarders. It has just four chairlifts.

The last chairlift fall death in Colorado is believed to have occurred in 2002.

“(Since) that time, there have been 1.7 billion chairlift rides,” said Chris Linsmayer, a spokesman for Colorado Ski Country USA. “It’s super rare. It really doesn’t happen very often, and it’s not something that folks need to be concerned about.”

According to an October report by the NSAA, the last death on a

chairlift attributed to a malfunction was in 1993. As of the 2015-16 ski season, the annual fatality rate per 100 million miles traveled on ski lifts was 0.14.

In 1976, two cars from Vail’s 7-year-old gondola – each carrying six skiers – plummeted 125 feet, killing four people in one of the most deadly lift incidents in the United States. In 1985, a bullwheel at Keystone Resort failed, sending waves down the line that threw 60 people off the Teller Lift, two of whom later died from their injuries.

In April 2009, a Rhode Island man with no significant medical history died after losing consciousness on a chairlift in Breckenridge.

Attempts to revive him at the top of the lift were unsuccessful.

In January, a skier pushed a snowboarder off an Aspen Highlands chairlift. Thomas Proesel, who was accused of first-degree assault in the case, was found not guilty by reason of insanity. The snowboarder was not seriously hurt.