Chairlift Trouble At Tussey Mountain
Lift trouble at Pennsylvania’s Tussey Mountain left as many as 100 people stranded and five injured on Saturday. In a statement they said:
“Today on Saturday, December 16 at approximately 10am, a malfunction occurred on a section of one of our chair lifts. A chair carrying skiers and snowboarders slipped along the haul rope and slid backwards into the chair following it, which caused a domino effect that subsequently resulted in a total of four slipped chairs. Our staff immediately stopped the lift from running and notified our Ski Patrol, who then contacted appropriate local Emergency Medical Staff and began the process of evacuating individuals from the lift.
“We take the safety of our guests very seriously, and are saddened to learn that there were non-life threatening injuries as a result of this accident. The equipment in question was tested and given a passing grade by the PA Department of Labor & Industry’s Bureau of Occupational and Industrial Safety Elevator Division, however we have begun taking the necessary steps to ensure a situation like this will never happen again. We have contacted the manufacturer of the lift to diagnose what caused the malfunction, as well as the appropriate state agencies prior to re-opening.
“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this caused to all of our skiers and snowboarders and want to thank everyone for their patience, understanding and support.”
Tussey had already landed in hot water with their first tweet on the accident
“Having difficulties with the chairlift.. we are working on it now. May not be able to run it today. Stay tuned..”
They quickly apologised saying
“At the time the office was notified of a lift malfunction and when this original tweet was made, we were under the impression it was solely a lift issue and there were no injuries. We apologize to anyone who was offended by our hashtag” The hashtag was #sorry.
However this didn’t satisfy Megan Arvin who tweeted
“My husband, your employee is sitting here in the ER. So is another employee... Sorry??? How about you show some concern for the employees and other people injured???”
Tussey Mountain Ski Area is located in Boalsburg, Centre County, Pennsylvania, near State College and Penn State University and is the gateway to the Rothrock State Forest. Tussey Mountain is an all seasons recreation area that includes an Amphitheater for concerts and festivals, a Lodge for weddings and parties, and a Fun Centre that offers go-karts, mini-golf, batting cages, a skate park, driving range and a par 3 golf course. Discounted rates are offered for students of Penn State University. In the Winter season, Tussey Mountain has 9 trails, with the longest one being about 3/4 of a mile. The top elevation at Tussey Mountain is 1,819 feet (554 m), and there are 38 acres (150,000 m2) skiable at the Tussey Mountain Ski Area.
There are 13 ski trails in total at Tussey Mountain. Little Bear is the beginner slope and is served by its own chair lift. A larger chair lift services Deer Run, Grizzly, Upper Utah, Lower Utah, Lower Tuscarora, Doc White, Upper Tuscarora and Shamokin. Winter's Way trail is typically used to set up the TMP Terrain Park. Chicken Ridge and Tower 3 Chute are short offshoots of other trails. Lion's Way, along with Shamokin and the Grizzly Glades, are open only when enough natural snowfall exists - all other trails have snowmaking capabilities. A T-bar lift also services Tuscarora and Shamokin on occasion.
There is also a snowtubing area with up to 5 tubing lanes and one lift.
