Whiteface Lift Stoppage 12/29

Associated Press

WILMINGTON, N.Y. — A chairlift breakdown at Little Whiteface Mountain in New York's Adirondacks stranded 76 skiers...

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There's a little bit more in this press release from ORDA , released at 10am today:

ORDA NEWS RELEASE

DATE:            December 30, 2010
 
CONTACT:    Jon Lundin, ORDA public relations coordinator, (jlundin@orda.org) at (518) 523-1655 ext. 213

Lift Malfunctions at Whiteface

WILMINGTON, N.Y. --- On Wednesday, Dec. 29, there was a lift malfunction on Lift I (Freeway Lift) on Little Whiteface Mountain, in Wilmington, N.Y.  Seventy-six people were on the lift at the time of the incident and one employee injury was reported.

 An investigation is underway as to the cause of the incident, but it has been determined that the malfunction was not caused by wind and the lift line and chairs were never in danger of falling to the ground.

 “First, our thoughts are with those affected and we are thankful that there were no serious injuries.  One ski patrol staff member suffered an injury during the evacuation and is being evaluated,” said New York State Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) president/CEO Ted Blazer.  “The Whiteface crew and responders did an outstanding job following procedure and evacuating the lift, ensuring everyone’s safety.”

The malfunction occurred at 10:58 a.m. and immediately Whiteface ski patrol began skiing the lift line, notifying the people on the lift about the situation.  The lift was fully evacuated by 12:45 p.m.  The ski industry’s standard for a lift evacuation is two hours from the time of the incident.

Lift I was built in 1978 and passed inspection in November 2010.  The lift has 121 chairs, 23 towers and measures 4,100 feet in length.  The lift’s vertical rise is 1,458 feet and can carry as many as 800 skiers and riders to its top per hour.

all went very smooth. It was 3 years to the day that the summit chair had to be evacuated. Before that I think it had been 25 years.

FTOL News has some additional information regarding the cause of the incident, an explanation of which was absent from the ORDA press release.  

My three sons were skiing Whiteface on Wednesay the 29th with my 21 yr old and his friend involved in the lift evacuation. They were evacuated close to the top of the lift. As we all know, all went very well, as the passenger evacuation was safe and smooth, with the exception of a minor incident to one of the ski patrol members.

First and formost, I would like to commend all involved in the rescue. I do not know the ski patrol and staff personally, but have seen them dedicate themselves to the mountain and its visitors with the utmost professionalism. Second, I commend all involved in the maintenance of the mountain's facilities, as they have always do a great job on the mountain, keeping the lifts running and maintained, the snowmaking systems going, and ensuring the amenities relatted to the mountain are all in order.

The lift malfunction was an isolated incident representing a situation skiers/riders and mountain administration fear for many reasons. Historically, Whiteface has displayed an impeccable track record with respect to operation and safety of the mountain's lift systems. Thanks to all, as the outcome of this incident could have taken a much different path.

I wish those injured at Sugarloaf and the patroller at Whiteface a speedy recovery, and all a Happy New Year!

what i heard was that a mother and young girl rode lift I and were distressed to find themselves on expert terrian so they tried to ride the lift around and down.  When they hit the emergency stop switch at on the backside of the bull wheel they lift derailed.  I don't beleive that lift is designed for downloading.

i did notice that the rest of the week when i was loading a chair with my son yellow jackets or lifties were asking if you knew the lift was servicing black terrian

Highpeaksdrifter wrote

I assisted on the evact, maybe I met him. I was in the group that started on top and worked down the line.

HPD... maybe others know this. I don't.

How exactly is the evac done?

Here's a YouTube video of a lift evacuation training run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQs_NF6ckP8

Face4Me wrote

Here's a YouTube video of a lift evacuation training run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQs_NF6ckP8

Thank you Face4Me. Embedded for convenience:

ausable skier wrote

what i heard was that a mother and young girl rode lift I and were distressed to find themselves on expert terrian so they tried to ride the lift around and down.  When they hit the emergency stop switch at on the backside of the bull wheel they lift derailed.  I don't beleive that lift is designed for downloading.

i did notice that the rest of the week when i was loading a chair with my son yellow jackets or lifties were asking if you knew the lift was servicing black terrian

That's pretty much right except I heard that they down loaded mom and daughter from the mid station of I lift. On the way down something made it go off track. Also, they could have tried to fix the malfunction with the passengers still in the chairs, but they opted to put their safety first and evacuate before attempting repair. A decision I think was a very good one that WF should be praised for, especially in light of what happened at Sugerloaf. Anyway, problem fixed, state inspected and I lift is back in business.

Face4Me wrote

Here's a YouTube video of a lift evacuation training run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQs_NF6ckP8

It's about time you posted here ;)

Anyways thats pretty much how we do it at WF. When it's too high up to toss the ball Ski patrol has an air gun that shots it over the line. Also, we use a harness, not a seat, although the seat looks pretty good. Keep in mine they are in the warm weather on flat ground so it looks easy in the viedo. This past evac at WF, I saw the patroller get stuck and another patroler have to climb up and over her to cut her down and we broke her fall. I'm tellin you it was gutsey and very impressive to see. It made me proud to do a very small part in assisting such a brave and selfless group.

The next time a ski patroller tells you to do something you don't want to, don't give them a hard time, just do it. You're damn lucky they're there.

Highpeaksdrifter wrote

It's about time you posted here ;)

I know ... I've been lazy!!!

HPD,

Here is a shot of my son and his friend who were on the lift at the time of the incident. My son is the bearded one kneeling down, and his friend is the bearded one standing up. I am sure you would remember them as the both of them are quite entertaining. I am sure they had much to say as they were lowered down! I think my son's friend made a video of my son being lowered. I will post a link to it if I can verify it exists.

Thanks for assisting in the evac,

Jon

Face4Me wrote

Highpeaksdrifter wrote

It's about time you posted here ;)

I know ... I've been lazy!!!

Yeah..u guys who compete in the Iron Man are all lazy.

Jon...I can't place him. Glad he got down alright. Everyone who I've ever spoken to about their evc experience has said they where glad to experience it cause its different. My buddy and his young daughter where in the last chair to be evacuated. He told her they'd be telling her kids about it 30 years from now.

Highpeaksdrifter wrote

Yeah..u guys who compete in the Iron Man are all lazy.

Whoaaaa ... Let's not jump the gun just yet ... "registered" is a long way from "competing"!!!

If you're skiing this weekend, let's try to get together ... I haven't seen you out there yet this season!