Young skier injured at Mohawk recovering
CORNWALL — The 6-year-old girl who was hospitalized after falling from a ski lift at the Mohawk Mountain Ski Area Saturday afternoon is doing well, an official from the ski area said.
“We have every reason to expect a great outcome,” said Carol Lugar, president of the Mohawk Mountain Ski Area. Ski area staff spoke Saturday night with some of the girl’s family members, she said.
According to Lugar, “it was a more significant fall and [the girl] was treated per protocol and as a precaution.”
The girl was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital. According to Lugar, emergency services at the ski area go to Sharon Hospital on Hospital Hill Road.
She said Mohawk Mountain is an active ski area and accidents do happen from time to time since “we have a lot of people” and “the snow is slippery.”
“There are inherent risks in the sport of skiing. The most common is falling, especially for people that are learning,” she said. “We have incidents throughout almost every day — they range from a splinter yesterday to this young lady.”
She added the ski facility has a “very great group” of ski patrol members, along with procedures to follow when there is an incident.
“They are volunteers with training like EMS and EMTs. It’s designed for advanced first aid as a first responder in more remote or inaccessible settings. They have a great deal of training,” she said of the ski patrol. “They work effectively for us. It’s an amazing organization and they deserve a lot of credit. They handle incidents of all kinds.”
“They’re good Samaritans on the hill,” Lugar added.
To ensure the safest possible ski experience, Lugar advised taking a ski lesson, especially for beginners.
“Learn from someone who knows how to communicate the skills that you need,” she said.
She added that appropriate skiing gear is also important. “This includes winter clothing — layers that can be adapted to different changing temperatures or conditions,” she said.
Additionally, Lugar said while helmets aren’t required, she highly recommends them. “All of our staff wear them,” she said. “It’s important to get one that is appropriate to skiing and snowboarding. We also recommend helmets be properly fitted by someone who knows how to do it, and we don’t ever recommended borrowing one.”