An employee of the Utah ski resort Park City Mountain died on Monday after he was forcibly ejected from a chairlift when a tree unexpectedly fell onto the lift cables.
The ski patrol worker, who has since been identified as 29-year-old Christian Helger, was unseated from the ski lift as a result of the pine tree’s impact.
Summit County Sheriff Captain Andrew Wright said Helger fell between 25 and 50 feet (about eight to 15 metres) from the Short Cut chairlift and into a deep ravine, as per the local news outlet KSL.
“We are all deeply saddened by this tragic incident, and we will be providing support for our employees as we grieve this devastating loss,” said Deirdra Walsh, the resort’s vice-president and chief operating officer.
Helger was reportedly sitting in a lift chair in front of where the fallen pine tree made impact with the cables.
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“This wasn’t over a run,” Wright told KSL. “It took at least 20 minutes, from what we’ve been told, for ski patrollers to get down there, dig him out of the snow, and start performing life-saving measures.”
Wright said one of the police deputies involved in the rescue mission said the snow was “chest-deep.”
Helger was already dead when the rescue crew finally reached him. The reason for Helger’s death is not yet known, though a medical examiner will determine the cause in the coming days. Foul play is not currently suspected.
Wright told Fox-13 that Helger could have been killed by an injury from the fall, asphyxiation or suffocation in the deep snow.
It is currently unclear why the tree fell.
The Short Cut chairlift at the resort will remain closed as police continue to investigate the accident.
Authorities are reportedly looking to confirm whether or not the safety bar on Helger’s lift chair was pulled down and enacted while he was riding.
Helger is the second person to die at Park City Mountain in January. On Sunday, a 75-year-old man died after a suspected cardiac arrest while skiing on the slopes.
— with files from The Associated Press
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