A Brooklyn woman fell off of a ski lift and died at Hunter Mountain Ski Resort over the weekend. According to Gothamist , Olga Filkin, 44, was riding on a three-person D lift by herself when she fell off, dropping 25 feet to the ground below. Investigators say that Filkin was sitting securely on the seat with the safety bar in place, but fear that her skis may have gotten caught on a support pole, essentially pulling her off the lift. She was treated by medical staff at the resort, but passed away a short time later.
“She is a very good person, very good mother, very good wife. She loved her husband and kids,” said a family friend.
“This is a terrible tragedy. We can only imagine what the family is going through, and we stand ready to assist them in any way that we can,” said resort president Russ Coloton.
Filkin frequented the resort, and was an avid skier. This incident is being looked at as a freak, unforeseeable tragedy. According to the New York Times , Filkin’s death has been ruled an accident following an autopsy.
Vice president Gerry Tschinkel said that he hadn’t heard of any previous problems with D lifts anywhere in the state. The lift had been working properly, and did not malfunction in any way.
“The D lift, was installed in 1967 and refurbished in 1981. He said he was not aware of any problems with the lift nor of any previous deaths from falls from lifts at Hunter or anywhere in New York.”
Dave Byrd, a spokesman for the National Ski Areas Association in Lakewood, Colorado, spoke out about the incident. He said that falls from lifts, especially in areas where skiers get on and off, aren’t uncommon, but serious injury and/or death from an accident on such a ski lift are rare.
The woman who fell from the ski lift in New York was only one of many tragedies that occurred this holiday season. As previously reported by the Inquisitr , tragedy struck New Jersey when a police officer hit and killed a 10-year-old boy who was on his way to a sleepover.
“The Franklinville boy was walking to the sleepover with two friends, who were not injured in an accident. One of the boys was able to get across the intersection at Paul Street and Delsea Drive – a two-lane highway. The 10-year-old boy hit and killed by the police cruiser attempted to do the same, but was struck by a vehicle in the process.”
[Photo courtesy of Evil Erin via Wikimedia Commons ]
