Lift accident/failure at Devils Head, WI

[volklgirl]

When I first started skiing, my dad told me stories of this type of accident from "the olden days", so the jump response has been drilled into my head for years. Fortunately, I haven't had to test my reflexes on a chairlift yet, and I hope it stays that way [crossing fingers].

I really hope everyone recovers with no long-term effects.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

For anyone who'd rather not bother with a link:

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[deannatoby]

Any news on what type of injuries the serious injuries were? After watching that video, I can't help but think that if the Devils Head rollback had been anything similar to the people we'd be counting bodies, not injuries. That was terrifying, and educational. Truly a tragedy and a nightmare. Maybe the braking system slowed down the DH lift?

So, maybe a stupid question, but if you got in that situation, would you take the time to try to remove your skis before you jump? Would jumping from a high distance with skis be as dangerous as riding the lift? Just trying to "plan" for what is, fortunately, the highly improbable, but just in case...

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Any news on what type of injuries the serious injuries were? After watching that video, I can't help but think that if the Devils Head rollback had been anything similar to the people we'd be counting bodies, not injuries. That was terrifying, and educational. Truly a tragedy and a nightmare. Maybe the braking system slowed down the DH lift?

So, maybe a stupid question, but if you got in that situation, would you take the time to try to remove your skis before you jump? Would jumping from a high distance with skis be as dangerous as riding the lift? Just trying to "plan" for what is, fortunately, the highly improbable, but just in case...

Apparently nothing mega-major for injuries - some reported broken bones but NO fatalities, NO major internal trauma-type injuries, only a couple of the injured required admission.

No, actually, the braking system failed - totally. Usually, as in the posted video, it's the carnage of the broken chairs that affect the bull wheel enough to slow momentum.

There is another video posted on You Tube taken by a bystander with an iPhone, easily found - contains rough language (understandable, under circumstances)(but is why I didn't post it), and it captures (as best as possible, given it was dark) that people were jumping 2-3 chairs from the bottom, which, as I recall, isn't a great height: 10-15' max? Lots of yelling, "JUMP JUMP" Frankly, I don't think anyone had much time to worry about getting their skis or boards off. Just....get OFF.

 

[deannatoby]

Good grief. The poster of the youtube video said the chairs were flung from the lift and the roof ripped apart. A miracle nobody is dead.

 

[altagirl]

This has also made me think I'd rather be on the chairs we have at Alta with no safety bar if something like that happened. Once you're moving backwards fast, I'd imagine it might be hard to get the bar up - but worse, I can picture being on the lift with someone who doesn't understand what's going on and decides to fight you to keep it down. Yikes.

On the topic of the small number of injuries, one of the accounts I read said that there weren't too many people on the lift and most were advanced skiers. If it was a busy weekend day with a lot of children/beginners/etc. - I can only imagine it could have been a lot worse. If the chairs were full there probably would have been more injuries with people landing on one another when they jumped close to the base as well. I know people were trying to move out of the way as soon as they were on the ground, but add in a few injures and it would pile up fast. What a nightmare.

 

[sleddog]

As usual, the media made it sound worse than it was. The most serious injury was a broken ankle - reported to me by a Devil's Head Ski Patrol friend.

Scary yes, but also remember that this is Wisconsin and the lifts are 20 ft off the ground at the most.

 

[whitewater girl]

I think most of us are imagining what it would be like if this happened to us on the worst lift we can think of - survival instinct, really...by working through what we would do in the worst case we can think of after hearing of stuff like this, we are somewhat prepared to deal with stuff when it does happen (often even if it's not very similar - we adapt to circumstances well)...

As horrible as it is when accidents happen, it reminds us all that things DO go wrong, and we need to be prepared and able to act when they do...

I'm glad to hear that everybody is basically O.K. after this accident (those are the best kind of reminders).

 

[pinto]

I think most of us are imagining what it would be like if this happened to us on the worst lift we can think of - survival instinct, really...by working through what we would do in the worst case we can think of after hearing of stuff like this, we are somewhat prepared to deal with stuff when it does happen (often even if it's not very similar - we adapt to circumstances well)...

As horrible as it is when accidents happen, it reminds us all that things DO go wrong, and we need to be prepared and able to act when they do....

Yes, and I sat my kids down and told them about it. Described it, again, like a plane crash or kidnapping. It's scary but very rare, but you need to know what to do if it happens.

 

[abc]

This has also made me think I'd rather be on the chairs we have at Alta with no safety bar if something like that happened. Once you're moving backwards fast, I'd imagine it might be hard to get the bar up - but worse, I can picture being on the lift with someone who doesn't understand what's going on and decides to fight you to keep it down. Yikes.

That same thought occurred to me too. Yikes is right.

If persuassion doesn't work, my guess wacking them on the head with poles might just do the trick!

(and as soon as they take their hands off the bar to fend off your pole, you can flung the bar up and jump off! )

 

[MaineSkiLady]

but also remember that this is Wisconsin and the lifts are 20 ft off the ground at the most.

Been on this lift, or better yet, the FGQ right next to it? Second to last tower, under 20'? I think not. And for a real "This is Wisconsin" moment, try Montreal, WI, and the "peak to peak" double at White Cap. Anyone who has been on it (volklgirl has, we've discussed it here) will tell you that is one of the scarier midwest chairs. Frankly, the only chairlift that has trumped this one for me is the old Milly double at Brighton.

 

[EmilieW]

We went skiing a couple days after this accident happened and on every lift we'd discuss where we'd jump, when we'd jump, if we'd jump, how high we thought it was etc etc. I just can't imagine being in that situation.
Anyway, so glad there were no serious injuries. Skiing is a dangerous sport, but I never really considered the lifts being part of it! My sister-in-law won't ski because she's afraid of heights (and therefore lifts) but I never even thought about it, now I do!

 

[MaineSkiLady]

As possibly a "wind this down" thought on this whole incident: just remember that this is/was an extremely rare incident. In fact, that it happened has no doubt had resort operators and mountain ops scrambling to check and double-check all braking systems.

Statistically, you are safer on the lift than you are on the snow - and you're statistically safer on the snow than you are in your car driving to wherever you ski!

 

[ski diva]

Agreed. I don't worry about this happening at all. If you think about the thousands of hours that lifts operate and the thousands of skiers they transport without incident, then it's pretty clear that this is a freak accident. I'm more likely to tear my ACL.

Still, it demonstrates the need for proper lift maintenance and inspection.

 

[Christy]

My husband watched that video, but I think I'd rather not see it.

 

[Slidergirl]

As usual, the media made it sound worse than it was. The most serious injury was a broken ankle - reported to me by a Devil's Head Ski Patrol friend.

Scary yes, but also remember that this is Wisconsin and the lifts are 20 ft off the ground at the most.

It's not that the lift is 20 ft off the ground at the most, it's the velocity that builds up extremely fast that makes the rollback so dangerous. In Lift Ops training, the rollback is always discussed as a significant failure and probably the most dangerous situation a liftie will face at work. It's one of the 3 reasons you hit the E-Stop instead of the Stop button (I'm not a liftie, so I can't remember the other 2, something like fire and earthquake...).

 

[missyd]

Accident report released

Report of the Devils Head rollback lift accident. (german page but technical report is in english)

https://www.seilbahn.net/snn/bericht1.php?wert=2113

It looks like this chairlift (and others at Devils Head) where not safe to operate. The rollback breaks where corroded or not installed properly. I also think the operators where not well trained and the daily checks not performed properly .....

 

[MaineSkiLady]

The recent release of WI Department of Commerce Occupational Safety Inspector report is rather shocking, has been posted on several internet skiing forums.

Had my engineer DH go through the more technical findings of the failure. His only reply: "Whoa. They are in big trouble."

Don't even want to think about the number of times (several decades ago) I have ridden on all 3 of these (failed inspection) lifts, given the fact that they had improper anti-rollback devices.

Bad news, indeed...

 

[Slidergirl]

wow. Major problems there. I can't imagine how the lift ops/maintenance folks allowed things to get so bad. I'm surprised that only the lift that rolled back was red-tagged, given what was said about the others.

I hope all lift ops departments go over this with all their lifties and maintenance people to highlight again the necessity of doing those morning pre-op tests properly and fill out those logs correctly. AND, I hope that guests stop bitching that we're taking too long to get the lift open in the morning. There IS a reason that all of that work gets done!

 

[missyd]

Maybe its better we do not know if a chairlift is maintained properly or not .... or we wouldn't go skiing anymore in any resort.
The statistics show that chair/skilifts etc are one of the safest public transports ....