Skiers injured, trapped on chairlift at Sugarloaf

A chairlift at ski destination Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine has malfunctioned, injuring up to a dozen skiers and leaving hundreds stranded.

The incident occurred around 10:30 am local time today on the Spillway East lift when a cable “skipped over the edge of the pulley” from the 8th tower. Five chairs from the lift plummeted three stories to the ground, but it is unclear whether those seats were occupied at the time of the derailment. Ethan Austin, a spokesman for the Carrabassett Valley ski resort, told press the cause of the incident was not yet known but that overall, the conditions weren’t considered unusually windy for Sugarloaf:

“We don’t know the cause at this point. Our primary concern right now is making sure everyone is off the lift and safe. Then we will be investigating further as to what actually caused the incident to make sure nothing like this happens again,” he said.

Around 200 people remain trapped on the lift.

[Image]