# 8 year old boy slips off ski lift and is saved by a group of teens. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 3, 2019, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504 "2019-03-03T22:01:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/21 "2019-03-04T08:32:56Z")
Every chairlift I’ve ever been on has a combined bar/footrest that either automatically comes down or is manually done by the people on board. I’ve never ridden on a chair where the bar was not put down and have seen several occasions where the chair attendant stopped the lift until the bar was lowered by the occupants (accompanied by much shouting) With the bar in place it is pretty much impossible to fall out by accident. You would have to wriggle around and attempt to get out to accomplish that. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/22 "2019-03-04T12:12:23Z")
I know a woman who regained consciousness in a hospital with no memory of what had happened. The nurse told her she’d fallen from a ski lift. She had pelvic fractures, a leg fracture, concussion, etc. The hypothesis was that she’d passed out on the lift, slid under the bar, and fell, but her doctors never found an explanation for her passing out. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/23 "2019-03-04T12:22:33Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Every chairlift I’ve ever been on has a combined bar/footrest that either automatically comes down or is manually done by the people on board. I’ve never ridden on a chair where the bar was not put down and have seen several occasions where the chair attendant stopped the lift until the bar was lowered by the occupants (accompanied by much shouting) Absolutely not true where I ski. None of the chairlifts I ski have automatic safety bars. A few have no safety bars at all, but those are getting pretty rare. I’ve only seen a very small number of liftees requiring skiers to lower the bar, most don’t care or have the time. > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > With the bar in place it is pretty much impossible to fall out by accident. You would have to wriggle around and attempt to get out to accomplish that. On a modern lift that’s probably true, but there are plenty of older lifts where it’s trivially east to get past the safety bar. And lots of folks never lower them. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/24 "2019-03-04T12:35:13Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The full video is helpful. > > I’m even more impressed that the father held on that long and kept his daughter safe too. > > **I wonder if that kid will ever get on another ski lift?** 😉 Cross-country skiing. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/25 "2019-03-04T13:10:01Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/26 "2019-03-04T14:53:17Z")
I am wondering why the lift attendant, upon stopping the lift and realizing someone was dangling, did not run the lift in reverse. They were still within sight of the bottom, and running it backward would have brought the boy at least lower to the ground. Perhaps running it in reverse is more complicated than I suspect, or maybe doing that is even more risky, or (more likely) the lift attendant did not know how. Most of the lift attendants I encounter are usually young people who only know how to stop or slow the lift, and then get it going again (by pressing a button). ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/27 "2019-03-04T16:13:14Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I am wondering why the lift attendant, upon stopping the lift and realizing someone was dangling, did not run the lift in reverse. Running a lift in reverse is a dangerous proposition, which would put many more people in danger than the girl dangling from the chair. It’s not something a random liftee can do from the loading station. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/28 "2019-03-04T17:23:27Z")
Yeah, down-loading in reverse would be the cherry on top of a cluster-fuck sundae. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/29 "2019-03-04T17:53:44Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I am wondering why the lift attendant, upon stopping the lift and realizing someone was dangling, did not run the lift in reverse. They were still within sight of the bottom, and running it backward would have brought the boy at least lower to the ground. Perhaps running it in reverse is more complicated than I suspect, or maybe doing that is even more risky, or (more likely) the lift attendant did not know how. Most of the lift attendants I encounter are usually young people who only know how to stop or slow the lift, and then get it going again (by pressing a button). I think you would have to manually override a safety brake that prevents a lift reversing. Bear in mind that you then have maybe 10-20 tons of extra weight in the form of people on the cable now running with gravity. It isn’t done lightly. I recall once seeing some film of a chairlift that did reverse uncontrollably and it was scary stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/30 "2019-03-04T20:38:43Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I recall once seeing some film of a chairlift that did reverse uncontrollably and it was scary stuff. It's pretty much a worse case scenario, up there with cables breaking. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/31 "2019-03-04T21:38:23Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > It's pretty much a worse case scenario, up there with cables breaking. That’s the one I think, There’s some scary amount of force as they flip round the bottom curve. At least with a cable breaking you get only an immediate drop around the point of the breakage and the others either jam on the pylons or lower to ground at a slower rate. With the reversal you have pretty much all of the chairs coming round to the same collision point. I’m not sure which scenario I like least. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/32 "2019-03-04T22:07:07Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > That’s the one I think, There’s some scary amount of force as they flip round the bottom curve. > > At least with a cable breaking you get only an immediate drop around the point of the breakage and the others either jam on the pylons or lower to ground at a slower rate. With the reversal you have pretty much all of the chairs coming round to the same collision point. I’m not sure which scenario I like least. Yeah. Agree with you-all - running in reverse would be bad. However, I thought I saw a warning sign loading a lift recently that stated “Lift may run in reverse”. It made me wonder under what circumstances that would be necessary - the idea of a kid hanging off the chair just in front of the loading area would seem like one of those circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/33 "2019-03-04T22:21:56Z")
You run in reverse under a very controlled situation, not an emergency. Lots of precautions have to be in place, because you’re overriding some of the basic ski lift fail safes. They can run in backwards for short distances, especially if no one goes around the lower bull wheel backwards, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/34 "2019-03-04T22:46:13Z")
I weigh a little over 100lbs, and every chairlift and carnival ride I’ve been on I could have easily slipped out of. The safety bar doesn’t really present much of a barrier for small/thin people. It’s a big gap if you’re a small person. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/35 "2019-03-04T22:54:51Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I weigh a little over 100lbs, and every chairlift and carnival ride I’ve been on I could have easily slipped out of. The safety bar doesn’t really present much of a barrier for small/thin people. It’s a big gap if you’re a small person. Yeah, I thought about that a lot when I started taking my kids to the slopes. I told them to sit back as far as they’re legs could go, but don’t slouch - sit-up straight. I always kept them within reach until they were big enough to sit with their backs on the backrest without slouching. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/36 "2019-03-04T23:36:58Z")
Jesus. I’ve never been on a ski lift but they always looked dangerous to me. But I assumed that that was just an uninformed opinion based on how they look – surely it couldn’t really be possible to fall off as easily as it seemed. After reading this thread, I’m going with my first impression, and I won’t ever be riding on a ski lift. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/37 "2019-03-04T23:47:35Z")
You get on/off while the lift is moving right? You would think that there was a disconnect / reconnect mechanism that allowed you to get on / off the car while it was stopped. ETA Wiki says there are detachable chair lifts, but oddly they just move you to a slow down loop ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/38 "2019-03-04T23:52:00Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Jesus. I’ve never been on a ski lift but they always looked dangerous to me. But I assumed that that was just an uninformed opinion based on how they look – surely it couldn’t really be possible to fall off as easily as it seemed. After reading this thread, I’m going with my first impression, and I won’t ever be riding on a ski lift. Millions of chairlift rides occur each season without incident and enjoy the mountains. Accidents are very rare, but are noteworthy due to the exposure/circumstances. People falling off a lift is a subset of “accidents” in general. The risk and “danger” on ski lifts is tiny. There is probably more risk driving to the ski resort, or slipping and falling down in the parking lot, compared to riding the lift. But, hey, you can have a perfectly safe existence by never leaving home. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2019, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/39 "2019-03-04T23:55:02Z")
> [@K364](#): > > You get on/off while the lift is moving right? > > You would think that there was a disconnect / reconnect mechanism that allowed you to get on / off the car while it was stopped. > > ETA Wiki says there are detachable chair lifts, but oddly they just move you to a slow down loop Yes, you get on while they are moving. The modern detachable chairs are slower when loading, and faster when between ends. Basically, once you move yourself into the loading area, there is a red bar in the snow that lets you know where to line-up, then the chair comes behind you and you just sit down. If you are at the red bar, you are either loading the next chair, or asking them to stop the lift (to the ire of everyone in line). Honestly, it’s about as complicated as scary as getting on an escalator. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2019, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504/40 "2019-03-05T00:52:17Z")
Some of the new lifts, especially 6 and 8 packs, have magic carpets where you just have to step on board and stand there and the chair catches up to you. You just need to sit down. Chairlifts are pretty darn safe considering how many rides per year there are. > **[Lift\_Safety\_Fact\_Sheet\_2017.pdf](https://www.nsaa.org/media/310500/Lift_Safety_Fact_Sheet_2017.pdf)** > [@](#): > > Fatalities from lift malfunctions in the United States have occurred rarely over the past several decades. Since 1973 (when NSAA began compiling industry statistics), there have been 13 deaths attributed to chairlift malfunctions, a 44-year span during which the industry provided more than 17.1 billion lift rides to skiers and snowboarders. > Notably, the U.S. ski resort industry has only experienced one fatality resulting from a chairlift malfunction since 1993—a 24-year period. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/8-year-old-boy-slips-off-ski-lift-and-is-saved-by-a-group-of-teens/830504.md?page=3)