49 replies to this topic

[tahoeistruckin]

Anyone read/ hear/ see this

From many years of greeting and seating,,,, I gotta laugh at the person involved.. How could you not see that the seat pad was not down?

http://www.thedenver...205/detail.html

VAIL, Colo. -- What a way to start the New Year.

A lift mishap left a skier at Vail hanging from the lift, half naked.

The chairlift's fold-down seat was not in the correct position, which caused the man to partially fall through the resulting gap, according to the Smoking Gun Web site.

The Web site said the man's right ski got jammed in the chairlift, the man's pants got stuck on the chair, so he ended up hanging from the lift with his pants down as the lift ascended the hill.

Skiers near the Skyline Express lift took several pictures showing the half-naked man hanging upside down without his pants. Those uncensored pictures are on the Smoking Gun's Web site.

The lift was stopped shortly after the botched boarding but it took workers about 15 minutes to back the lift and rescue the man.

"Lift operators immediately stopped the lift and Vail Ski Patrol was called to the scene. Lift mechanics were able to reverse the lift approximately 10 to 12 feet, at which point the man was released. He was not injured," said Vail Resorts spokeswoman Liz Biebl in a news release issued on Tuesday.

The man has not been identified and is not recognizable in the photos on the Smoking Gun Web site. Vail Resorts told 7NEWS that the 48-year-old skier was "suspended for approximately seven minutes."

Biebl did not explain what happened during boarding other than to say that the skier "attempted to load a chair" when he was "caught on the chair and was suspended."

This post has been edited by tahoeistruckin: 06 January 2009 - 08:16 PM

[Peter]

It was the fist story on Keith Olbermann on MSNBC tonight.... http://www.msnbc.msn...531606#28531606

[CH3skier]

I just guess I learned how to sit on a lift by looking back and grabbing the chair. This was the second thing I learned about skiiing after the first was putting my skiis on.

[iwmmug]

Not going to match 401k contributions this season,hmm!

[OnPiste]

I saw the very same thing nearly happen on an HSQ at Crystal Mountain, but the skiers noticed and moved out of the way--then the liftie figured out that soemthing was wrong. I'll bet our photo star was distracted by the kid.

There's also a rumor going around that some of the photos on the web were taken by an on-duty employee of Vail's on-mountain photography concession. That ought to help sweeten up our ski star's retirement package.

Face it: the skier screwed up, but the ski resort screwed up even worse.

[Andoman]

OnPiste, on Jan 9 2009, 01:04 AM, said:

I saw the very same thing nearly happen on an HSQ at Crystal Mountain, but the skiers noticed and moved out of the way--then the liftie figured out that soemthing was wrong. I'll bet our photo star was distracted by the kid.

There's also a rumor going around that some of the photos on the web were taken by an on-duty employee of Vail's on-mountain photography concession. That ought to help sweeten up our ski star's retirement package.

Face it: the skier screwed up, but the ski resort screwed up even worse.

I don't think the skier screwed up, he had a small child with him and was probably caught up getting the kid lined up for the lift. Even if he saw the pad was up at the last second, there isn't much he could do but make sure the kid didn't get hurt. While I do believe accidents happen, they are generally cause by someone not paying attention, so I'd have to blame the liftie.

[Lift Kid]

I wouldn't place blame on anyone just yet. I haven't seen any official press releases. It's purely speculation now. I would listen to the Lifty's story before blaming him/her.

[Skiing#1]

Wow...the man is lucky, not hurt except he is much embarrassed when the patrols and others see his naked. A child is lucky, and he is not hurt. He managed to hold the chair and he didn't fell.

Is that happen in the morning when the lift opened? (That is why some chairlifts...the seats up for overnight). Why the lift opr don't watch them and he or she don't press the button to stop the lift? In other website said the photographer said that someone in line pressed the button to stop the lift.

Sometimes I have been seen some chairs seat up in the morning. The lift operators didn't flip them down and wandered around. I guess there was no one to go loading. They supposed to flip them down no matter what and it would be safely than be sorry and feel terrible.

Same happened to the boy at Park City Lift....his backpack caught the chair, the chair was going out of the top terminal, and he dangled. A lift opr didn't watch until the boy's friends ran up and knocked the door...they finally stopped the lift. He fall down in 30 feet.

This post has been edited by Skiing#1: 09 January 2009 - 05:29 PM

[Kicking Horse]

Lift Kid,

The liftes are 100% AT fault. THERE IS NO EXCUSE for seats to still be flipped when the lift opens to the public. No reason. Period.

[Peter]

Kicking Horse, on Jan 9 2009, 05:26 PM, said:

Lift Kid,

The liftes are 100% AT fault. THERE IS NO EXCUSE for seats to still be flipped when the lift opens to the public. No reason. Period.

Of course there are reasons for seats being flipped up during the day. Some places flip them up at the top station and back down at the bottom all day long if it's snowing. Wind flips them up quite easily too. Would you rather have the lifties wait 10 minutes flipping seats before opening the lift if it hasn't been done already? In the PNW they usually try to wait as long as possible to flip them down before opening so they aren't plastered with wet snow. I see no reason why they can't flip them down while people are loading. The only problem at Vail was that apparently no one noticed it was not down at the bottom terminal.

[cjb]

Blame should also not be thrown around without 100% knowledge of the situation. Maybe the lift op was on their cell phone or not paying attention, or maybe they we are the ground having a siezure. Maybe the guy was a victim of inattention or maybe the guy was directed to wait to load and said "screw you don't you know who I am". So far it seems that no one knows.

[Kicking Horse]

cjb, on Jan 9 2009, 06:57 PM, said:

Maybe the guy was a victim of inattention or maybe the guy was directed to wait to load and said "screw you don't you know who I am". So far it seems that no one knows.

If that's the case then the operator should of stopped the lift alot sooner. ;) My .02 cents on this matter.

[Peter]

Photog who snapped pictures of exposed Vail skier was on company time
By Kirk Mitchell
The Denver Post
Posted: 01/09/2009 03:38:05 PM MST
Updated: 01/09/2009 04:25:23 PM MST


A photographer who shot pictures of a middle-aged male skier caught dangling half nude from a Vail ski-lift chair was actually on company time working for a firm that sells photographs to skiers.

"We apologize for what this rogue employee did," said David Peri, a spokesman for SharpShooter Imaging. "Our reputation has been sullied. This is not the way we conduct business."

Peri said SharpShooter Imaging protects the privacy of the clients it captures in photographs, which are intended for their personal use.

Marty Odom, the photographer, had claimed that he was on his own time using his own camera when he took the pictures. But Peri said Odom was wearing a SharpShooter uniform, had checked out the company's camera and had even
No Ski Pants

* See "The Smoking Gun's" photos of the unfortunate skier. Note: Images may be inappropriate for some readers.

submitted a time card for payment that day.

When confronted Tuesday with these facts, Odom admitted he had lied to company officials about what camera he used, Peri said.

Odom gave his photographs of the skier to the Vail Daily and to a snowboarder website. The photos have since been posted on 30,000 websites across the globe and have been seen by millions of people.

Odom had written on Transworld Snowboarding's website that although he was worried he would lose his job, "the photo is worth it."

On New Year's Day, when the skier had tried to board the lift in Vail's Blue Sky Basin, the fold-down seat wasn't in its proper position, according to thesmokinggun.com. He fell through the gap, and his right ski got caught, leaving him dangling head down with his pants below his knees.

Odom, who was hired in November, was suspended Sunday, Peri said.

Scores of people have criticized the company for suspending Odom after he said he was working on his own time, but that was not the case, Peri said. "We've been deluged with phone calls and e-mails asking why are you beating this guy up," he said.

But the photographs belong to SharpShooter and should never have been released publicly, Peri said.

"He's young. He's impulsive. Unfortunately, he was representing us," he said. "We're embarrassed by this."

Peri said the final decision whether to fire Odom has not been made.

"If I was a betting man, I wouldn't bet on him ever representing us again," he said.

[cjb]

Kicking Horse, on Jan 9 2009, 06:18 PM, said:

If that's the case then the operator should of stopped the lift alot sooner. ;) My .02 cents on this matter.

Yes, but the whole point is no one knows what the case is. That's all I am saying.

[mthornton]

It's called a toilet-seater. It happens.
Windy day (wind flippin' seats) + busy lift + 1 lifty at the bottom stn (normal) + constant distractions (normal)
NBD!

I laughed. Lots of people laughed. The guy will get over it. And hey... he's famous now.
Maybe one-piece suits will make a comeback.

[RibStaThiok]

And the lawsuit he will likely file..

[Andoman]

RibStaThio, on Jan 10 2009, 03:19 PM, said:

And the lawsuit he will likely file..

I think that part of the story everyone can agree on. My money will be on the horrible trauma that occurred from "freeing willy".

[iwmmug]

This is not the first incident causing harm to someone becuase the seat was not flipped down. I know of a previous lawsuit that found the resort not at fault because of "assumed risk". In either case the opperator should have lowered the seat or stopped the lift.

[Bill]

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[Andoman]

iwmmug, on Jan 10 2009, 04:01 PM, said:

This is not the first incident causing harm to someone becuase the seat was not flipped down. I know of a previous lawsuit that found the resort not at fault because of "assumed risk". In either case the opperator should have lowered the seat or stopped the lift.

I'd say that guy didn't have a very good lawyer because there is a deffinate difference between what happened and "assumed risk". You have to prove one fact in order to get a assumed risk judgement and that is the plaintiff voluntarily and knowingly assumed the risks at issue inherent to the dangerous activity in which he was participating at the time of his injury. So you would have to demonstrate that the person knew the chairlift seats provided a risk (Other than falling off face forward, that one is kind of obvious). In doing this your lawyer has to be very good at painting the picture for a judge that my have never seen a chairlift before, or is dumb as a stump. Most people that only ski a few times a year may not realize the cushions of the carriers lift up, therefore reliving them of the assumed risk clause. If this guy hires a good lawyer you will see a new sign at the loading stations, "educating" patrons. Again this is my opinion.