Chairlift accident at Maine’s Sugarloaf Mountain leaves seven injured

A ski lift stopped and rolled backwards at Maine’s Sugarloaf Mountain early Saturday leaving seven people injured. Four of the seven had to be taken to hospitals, and resort officials said that more than 200 snowboarders and skiers were left stranded for about an hour and a half.

Resort spokesman Ethan Austin said that the four people who had the most serious injuries were taken 40 miles from the resort to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington, Maine. Their injuries were not said to be life-threatening.

The cause of the rollback, which occurred at 11:34 a.m., is still being investigated by Maine state inspectors. Skiers who were on the King Pine chairlift were sent backward roughly 450 feet. Many worried passengers jumped to the ground, according to Boston Globe.

David Serge, 42, was standing in line for the lift at the time of the accident. He said that it looked like “a gear had come loose,” the lift was gaining speed in the wrong direction and people “were jumping off at the lower levels.”

Greg Hoffmeister, 44 and his 14-year-old daughter, Julie, were roughly 700 feet up the mountain when the rollback occurred. Hoffmeister said that the chair traveled backward for about 30 seconds. The two were able to drop their skis and jump onto high snowbanks.

He noticed that some seemed to have been struck by ski poles and other chairs. He said the incident was “pretty scary.”

The incident came just a few days before the resort is set to hold the U.S. Alpine Championships. The contest begins Tuesday and skiers such as Lindsey Vonn and Mikaela Shiffrin as set to compete.

Austin said that the 3,400 chairlift receives safety inspections daily, and it passed the state inspection on Oct. 29. He added that the staff and the Tramway Board are working on understanding the cause of the incident. This is the second chairlift accident in five years for the resort.

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