A viral video has emerged of a teenager falling from a ski lift in Mammoth, California, where the rescue attempt seemingly went awry.
On the morning of January 27, the 16-year-old female snowboard reportedly climbed aboard the ski lift with three other riders, but was not seated properly atop the chair and slipped forward. She was hanging down from the ski lift approximately 30 feet above the ground for several minutes, suspended there as the other riders on the ski lift unsuccessfully attempted to pull her back up at Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort. The rescue attempt involved ski lift employees who placed a net to catch the girl when she fell, but the net was apparently not strong enough to break her fall.
Mammoth released a statement:
At approximately 11:40am on Jan 27, a 16-year-old female snowboarder loaded Stump Alley Express (Chair 2) with two other riders. As the chair began its ascent, the guest, who for unknown reasons was not completely seated, began sliding off the chair. The other individuals on the chair grabbed hold of the guest and held her from falling as Lift Operators stopped the lift. Five Mammoth Mountain employees and eight guests immediately responded and positioned the deceleration net under the guest. When the guest slipped from the grasp of her chair mates, the net decelerated her fall, but did not stop it. The guest was transported to Mammoth Hospital for evaluation. Our thoughts are with the guest and her family.
“When she finally dropped down, she really just clipped the edge of the net; she didn’t land in the center where she was supposed to land, so I don’t think it did really too much to break her fall,” one eyewitness said.
The girl’s condition was unknown at the time of this report.
