Patron Severely Injured After Jumping off Chairlift to Reenact a Social Media Video

Location: Interior 

Regulated industry sector: Passenger ropeways – Above surface ropeway 

Incident overview

A snowboarder was riding a chairlift halfway up the hill when they jumped in order to reenact a stunt they saw on social media. The patron was riding with another passenger at the time and did not have their restraint bar lowered, nor were they prompted by the chairlift operator to do so. The patron decided to secure the snowboard to their feet and jumped when the chairlift was positioned overtop of a designed ramp feature that was part of a closed-off course. The patron fell over eight meters and suffered a concussion, multiple broken bones, and internal injuries that required long-term hospitalization. Passenger behaviour is the leading cause of incidents in passenger ropeways.