It was a parent’s nightmare today as many families witnessed a chairlift accident at Sugarloaf Ski Area in Maine. The King Pine lift’s brakes failed around 11:30 a.m., sending about nine chairs backward through the bullwheel and injuring seven guests. While no one was critically hurt, three are resting comfortably now in the hospital. It took operations about two hours to evacuate 204 people from the lift but some had already launched from the lift, attempting to jump to safety before it was too late.

“The lift was dangerous and erratic as it circled the wrong way around the bullwheel at the bottom. Chairs were swinging people off and into the chairlift structure (pole),” said guest David Souweine who happened to think quickly enough to yank out his cellphone and catch the action. “The lift at that location was 10-15 feet with soft snow underneath. The (chairlift accident) injuries were from people swung by the bullwheel (big wheel where the lift changes direction) not from those bailing off the chairs.“

“Jumping was the correct and safest action at the time. Gravity will yank the people loaded, backwards, RAPIDLY, into a concrete and steel structure, then spin around 180 degrees with you flying off into said structure,” said YouTube’s ScottieBoo. “It was the fact the brakes were not kicking in, if it never braked every single person near the top of the lift would be flying backwards at near terminal velocity which is unsafe to jump from.“

The fixed-grip quad lift was inspected and certified to operate last October according to a press release on Sugarloaf’s website but it is now closed pending a close investigation by the Maine Board of Elevator and Tramway Safety. Sugarloaf is set to host the U.S. Alpine Championship, March 25-29, so this kind of wreck is not the exposure they were hoping for; especially as it was only four seasons ago that Sugarloaf’s Spillway East lift derailed, dropping nine chairs to the ground and putting eight people in the hospital.

In Utah ski lifts accidents are rare and usually occur when someone falls off. The last time anything mecahnical happened in Utah was in 1966 when two ladies died after being thrown off a scenic, summer lift ride at Sundance Resort.

The Wasatch slopes have claimed their first Utah avalanche victim of 2014/15.  A snowboarder was swept away yesterday after he and his buddy triggered a slide in Hells Canyon near Snowbasin Resort, accessed from the Mt Allen Tram gates.

Twenty-one-year old Blake Ford was found by Snowbasin’s ski patrol rescue dog an hour after the 1800-foot avalanche. He was apparently pushed through a narrow gully and buried under three feet of snow. Both men headed out of bounds without backcountry gear or beacons, into an area that has been known to claim lives. Not a smart move. Ever.

Utah mountains saw seven human-triggered slides yesterday alone as eager backcountry skiers skinned out on this bluebird powder day. However, the two feet of fresh powder on top of our thin snowpack has created some scary, slab avalanche conditions.

The beehive state averages about four avi-related fatalities a year and experts are begging folks to stay on lower-angle terrain for the next few days when they go out of bounds to avoid reaching that average.

Weather forecasters are predicting balmy temps in the 50s this weekend and next week with no winter weather in sight. Of course, that can change in an instant. Just take the time to check in with the Utah Avalanche Forecast Center hotline before choosing your route.

Park City is going to look like a gigantic construction zone if everybody gets their way this summer. First, there’s Deer Valley Resort’s plan to link Main Street to Silver Lake Village either with one gondola or two gondolas (one that would replace Silver Lake Express chairlift, and another that would scoot from Park City’s Old Town Transit Center to the top of Lucky Bill ski run). The gondola’s meant for those staying in DV’s mid-mountain homes and lodges. It would make it easier to dine and play on Main Street during their stay. The proposed transit would take 15 minutes and run 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Second, there’re Vail Resort’s multi-million dollar improvement plans for Park City Mountain Resort and Canyons Resort. Summit County has already OK’d the interconnect gondola that would link the two areas into one mega-resort. All VR needs is the green light from Park City municipal and they can go ahead with the eight-passenger bucket. There really isn’t anything legally that could get in the way. At issue now is how it’s going to look.

The gondola cars would be mostly silver-grey with a red stripe to match PCMR’s branding colors and the windows would be made of non-reflective grey glass. VR’s Blaise Carrig promises you would have a hard time seeing it from in town. The 18 lift towers will also be coated with non-reflective neutral paint. The gondola presentation is on the City Planning Commission meeting schedule for February 25 if you want to eaves drop.

You can expect closures of some of PCMR’s and DV’s signature biking and hiking trails this summer when the digging starts. Look to both resorts and Mountain trails Foundation to notify folks about reroutes and closures.

I’m going to give it to you straight. The skiing out here really doesn’t suck as much as you think it should. I’m not saying this because someone gave me a lift ticket or free hotel stay (and I still wouldn’t sugarcoat our ski conditions; I want your trust). I’m saying this because I had a hard time believing the news myself.

We’ve had record-breaking warm temps all week, zero new snow, and heavy traffic at the resorts. Park City Mountain Resort had half-hour lines on a Friday! In my mind, conditions were hardpack on the groomed and hacked-off bumps everywhere else, crispy/crunchies in the trees. When friends skied Canyons Resort last weekend and announced things were “surprisingly good with creamy, buttery groomers and…light, loose snow in north-facing bowls” I had to ski it for myself to believe it.

After three days of aborted attempts (I dashed to don my ski garb first thing in the morning only to find myself sitting behind my computer making excuses for why I wasn’t heading out), I finally rallied. I used the Subaru Freeskiing comp at Snowbird as my motivator.

Photo courtesy Mountain Sports Int’l

Utah’s Mountain Sports International (MSI) is producing the premiere big mountain comp for the 18^th season in both North and South America. This is the first stop on the four-event tour. The next SFS event will be March 4 in Telluride, Colo. The champions in both snowboarding and skiing will be crowned at the finals in Big Sky, Mont., March 25.

I stopped into the Cliff, grabbed my media credential and scooted up the Peruvian Lift. The winds kicked up as I hovered over Anderson’s and it grew increasingly wild. I got off and traversed skiers left past the trees, following the wind blown. Untracked and foamy. Sweet, I thought. It was a mixture of flour and pine cones.

I stopped at the comp arena to snap a couple of photos and was nearly blown into the bystanders by the 60 mph winds. It was raging at 120 mph at the top of Silver Fox where the ladies of skiing and boarding lined up for their run. They braved the line (though many biffed) to emerge with the top 13 women that will move into the finals tomorrow (Sunday). The wind put the kibosh on the mens’ runs so off I went to scout the Gad 2 terrain. It was really the only lift left. The Tram, Peruvian, Little Cloud, Mineral; all done for the day thanks to the wind.

Photo courtesy Mountain Sports Int’l

I followed the snow into the trees to skier’s left of Gadzooks and, voile, it was winter again. The snow was soft and caressing. Not deep but any standards but pliable. Everything I sought northfacing felt the same. A smile crept into my day as the trees protected me and the snow from the whipping wind. I forgot everything but my turns. That’s what skiing does to me. The bumps were smallish and soft too until the shots off Gad Gully. Those moguls were huge and firm. I rode up again for more. Soon it was time to head down. There were some patches of hardpack as I worked my way from Gad 2 to the Tram dock but nothing as rough as I had imagined. I wanted more but threats of stronger winds the next day kept me from making plans. Besides, I needed to pack for Jackson. My Wyoming adventure was near.

Organizers decided to postpone the Saturday SFS finals because of more forecasted wind (that never materialized) and will run them today (Sunday) instead. Tomorrow’s forecast calls for sunny, clear skies and low wind. Competitors will be up above North Baldy to drop in at 10 a.m. You can tune in to watch the event live at www.subarufreerideseries.com.

UPDATE:

LCC local Grant Howard won over the judges and crowd finishing first in men’s ski. In men’s snowboarding semis/finals, it was Snowbird local Harrison Fitch, 19, and Jonathan Penfield who took the show. Fitch did a never-before-in-competition front side rodeo-7 that blew the crowd away.

Since women ski and snowboard competed on Friday, their finals were based on a combined score of the two days. The top three women maintained the points to podium. Ashley Bembenek from Crested Butte, skied a fast, solid line to maintain her first place semi results for the win but it was Freeride Series veteran Crystal Wright who had the “winning run of the day,” with a huge, bold straightline air at the bottom that earned a major Sickbird nomination. 

HOW IT PLAYED OUT

Women’s Snowboard

1. Audrey Hébert, 112.50

2. Erika Vikander, 110.17

3. Robyn Borneman, 109.33

Women’s Ski

1. Ashley Bembenek, 131.33

2. Kele Thorsen, 129.00

3. Alaina Huestis, 127.67

Men’s Snowboard

1. Jonathan Penfield, 67.33

2. Harrison Fitch, 66.33

3. Cooper Kahlenberg, 62.00

Men’s Ski

1. Grant Howard, 75.00

2. Lars Chickering-Ayers, 74.00

3. Andrew Pollard, 72.67