Skier Dies in Fall from Lift at Breckenridge

[PinnacleJim]

Sad. I am sure the bar was not down. It is against the local culture out there. This is the 6-pack that goes up into Peak 6.
https://www.summitdaily.com/news/lawsui ... from-lift/

[vzspyder]

Sad story, my condolences. Unfortunately, "clearing snow and ice" from the chair surface is optional; sitting down is not.

[rogman]

Sad. Zendo chair is fairly new Poma fixed grip quad that connects lower elevation area to the base of the peak six terrain. It’s not a chair anyone laps. It has a safety bar, and if memory serves, foot rests. Hard to figure how anyone could fall from it unless the bar were up. I’ve skied Breck every year for about 15 years and I have never seen evidence of a “leave the bar up culture” there, but certainly there are pockets like that everywhere. AFAIK all aerial lifts have safety bars at Breck. Not a Vail fanboy at all, but I don’t think this tragedy is on them. Ice on chairs is a fact of life.

[Ski_the_Moguls]

From the linked article:

“Before making it to the first pole, Mr. Perucco slid off the chair due to unsafe snow and ice accumulation on the seat,” and fell about 25 feet onto hard-pack snow, suffering critical injuries, according to the lawsuit. He died while being transported to the hospital.

When Perucco loaded the chair, there was an “unreasonable amount of snow and ice accumulation” that caused him to slip off the chair when he tried to clear it with his hand, according to the lawsuit.

“At all times material to this case, Mr. Perucco had surrendered himself to the care and custody of Defendants while riding on the Zendo Chairlift,” the attorneys representing Perucco’s wife wrote in the complaint. “He had given up his freedom of movement and actions, and there was nothing he could do to cause or prevent this tragedy.”

According to past Summit Daily News reports, the investigation determined the “male had fallen off of the chairlift as he was attempting to remove snow from the seat surface,” according to the Sheriff’s Office, which added that the restraint bar was in the up position.

[jimmywilson69]

The chairs should be cleared before you sit.

Use a broom or a piece of hydraulic hose...

This is neglence on both parties

[rogman]

The chairs should be cleared before you sit.

Use a broom or a piece of hydraulic hose...

This is neglence on both parties

There was about 6” of snow prior to the accident. I suspect it was partially cleared but not completely. Complete clearing doesn’t happen; I can believe there was residual ice. So what? When it r*ins the vinyl gets slippery. You want that wiped off too? This guy FAFO’d.

[BoozeTan]

if he neglected to put the bar down then it is on him 100%. Had it been down its hard to imagine he would have slipped under it

[simpletwist]

if he neglected to put the bar down then it is on him 100%. Had it been down its hard to imagine he would have slipped under it

Agree but the reality is that unless there is dispositive evidence that the safety bar was up, a court could easily find that there is a question of fact as to the status of the safety bar, which is likely all the Plaintiff needs to recover something financially here.

[hillbangin]

Always put the bar down before you wipe your ass!

[180]

i find the Canyon Quad to be especially slippery

[twilkas]

if he neglected to put the bar down then it is on him 100%. Had it been down its hard to imagine he would have slipped under it

Agree but the reality is that unless there is dispositive evidence that the safety bar was up, a court could easily find that there is a question of fact as to the status of the safety bar, which is likely all the Plaintiff needs to recover something financially here.

Chair could've been skipped, allowing for cleared seating on following chairs, if resort personnel unable to maintain safe loading.

[my poor knees]

I don't give a sh*t who's on the chair with me, or what their 'culture' is, that bar is coming down. I get it that chairs will have snow on them. I get it that sometimes it's not easy to just brush the snow off and sometimes there will still be ice on the cushion. With that said, wouldn't you agree that the mountain staff and lifties can also maybe start the lift earlier and make the lifties at least 'attempt' to take the snow off the cushions? At least for liability reasons they can say they attempted to make them safer. Maybe what I'm saying isn't realistic but what do I know about running a ski resort....

[asher2789]

I don't give a sh*t who's on the chair with me, or what their 'culture' is, that bar is coming down. I get it that chairs will have snow on them. I get it that sometimes it's not easy to just brush the snow off and sometimes there will still be ice on the cushion. With that said, wouldn't you agree that the mountain staff and lifties can also maybe start the lift earlier and make the lifties at least 'attempt' to take the snow off the cushions? At least for liability reasons they can say they attempted to make them safer. Maybe what I'm saying isn't realistic but what do I know about running a ski resort....

the article says that he fell before the chair made it to the first tower. im militant about using the safety bar and like you, i dont give a sh*t whos on the chair with me or their culture, the bar goes down. but ive definitely cleared off the chair before putting down the safety bar more than once... i usually try to swipe the chair as im loading. there have been quite a few times ive been on the chair with other people and theyre adjusting their poles or their backpack or whatever and it takes a few moments more than usual to get the bar down. this sounds like a tragic accident of bad luck rather than intentional, too cool for school, toxic masculinity in being too "brave" to use the safety bar.

relating to k - has anyone experienced someone being difficult about the bar? ive only had one memorable (not the greatest memory though...) encounter over the years at k and it was recent. it was the day of slash and berm (i rarely ride saturdays) and i got into an argument with some moron who tried to raise the bar on skye peak at the highest point which is not far from the terminal but far enough. i forcibly stopped him from raising the bar with my arm on the bar (i was sitting on the outside). i asked him what he was thinking raising a safety bar at 90' in the air and that he wasnt going to get off (safely, falling is always an option...) any faster by raising the bar before the netting. he called me a pussy or something similar and then of course by sheer chance his binding brake hooked the heelcup of my binding when we were exiting leading me to get off a bit ungracefully but without falling. he asked me if i knew how to ride the lift or snowboard. i was in a race bib... i asked him if he wanted to race since hes so confident.

also there have definitely been times that im at k and its dumping heavy wet snow and the chairs get slick. its unnerving but i always attributed it to my anxiety rather than being a real risk.

[Pushgears]

There's several ways to look at this, but one that should be excluded is the skier's sense of bravado and lack of safety awareness. After all, he was a patroller. May he rest in peace and his family find comfort in the memories left behind.

Also, the "Lower the Safety Bar" sign is usually on the first tower. In the eyes of a jury, it may not seem unreasonable that the bar had not been lowered yet.

Along those lines, why isn't there a safety net from the base terminal to the first tower, especially when the resort knows fully well that most chairs still have their bars up through that zone?

Skiing is inherently risky and accidents, sometimes fatal, happen. All it takes is a split-second. Skiers have fallen from lifts and perished even at smaller local mountains too - at Belleayre's old #7 triple, and at Hunter's old D triple not that long ago.

Nevertheless, I'm sure Vail will seek to settle out of court. I personally experienced a nearly tragic accident at Vail when an employee operating a snowmobile on an open run came within a couple of feet of plowing into my daughter head-on. It's likely that there are others like me who Vail Resorts wouldn't want to give testimony at trial.

[GSKI]

You can’t bubble wrap the world for the rare moron. It’s dangerous out there!