A 70-year-old woman was unharmed after falling from a chairlift at Whistler Blackcomb Saturday.
Video sent to Global News shows the woman dangling from the Emerald Express chair a short distance from the base of the chairlift around 2:30 p.m.
Mountain staff and ski patrol workers are then seen rushing to the woman with a safety net, followed by bystanders who help hold the net under the chair.
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After some coaxing, the woman falls into the net as the crowd gathered nearby cheers.
A spokesperson for Whistler Blackcomb said the woman was trying to brush snow off the chair while loading when she got caught, with the chair taking her up into the air before staff quickly stopped the lift.
The woman’s husband held onto her the entire time until it was safe for her to fall into the net below.
Visibility issues from a heavy snowfall may have played a role, the spokesperson said, as the woman couldn’t see where the chair was as she was brushing off the snow.
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The man who shot the video, Jorim Lee, said it was shocking to see something like that happen on the hill.
“I heard someone yell, ‘Stop the chair,’ and I saw the woman dangling,” he said.
Lee said he believed the drop may have been around 15 feet, so he was glad the woman appeared to be OK.
“Everyone reacted really quickly,” he said. “You don’t see that every day, that’s for sure.”
Lee said he thought one person holding the net may have been hit by the woman’s ski. Whistler Blackcomb didn’t confirm any other injuries.
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