A ski lift malfunctioned during opening weekend at a popular resort in Pennsylvania Saturday.
Several chairs crashed into each other with riders suspended in the air, Tussey Mountain said in a statement.
“Today on Saturday, December 16 at approximately 10am, a malfunction occurred on a section of one of our chair lifts. A chair carrying skiers and snowboarders slipped along the haul rope and slid backwards into the chair following it, which caused a domino effect that subsequently resulted in a total of four slipped chairs,” the ski resort said in a statement.
First responders were on the scene, and several injured skiers were taken away by ambulance, according to the reports.
Tussey Mountain announced the mishap on Facebook at around 11:00 a.m.
“Having difficulties with the chairlift.. we are working on it now. May not be able to run it today. Stay tuned… #sorry.”
It said that beginner terrain and the tube park remain open.
Eastern Dutchess County Fire and Rescue said four chairs “slid backwards and slammed into each other.”
It said 20 skiers were “stuck/pinned with injuries.”
It said the ski lift could not be restarted, and “all persons will have to be lowered by rope.”
All passengers were safely removed from the lift before 1 p.m.
The resort insisted that the failed equipment had been tested and met appropriate standards.
It said it would take “the necessary steps to ensure a situation like this will never happen again.”
