December 28, 2010: AP reports that eight skiers, five adults and three children, were injured in a chair lift derailment at Sugarloaf Ski Resort in Carrabassett Valley, Maine. The 35 year-old chair lift was due to be replaced later this year, but had been properly inspected and was in acceptable working order when five chairs fell 25-30 feet to the ground. A ski coach, sitting in a chair lift parallel to the accident, said it was “too terrifying to watch,” as the chairs on the cable “bobbed up and down like a yo-yo.”
Thankfully, the skiers’ falls were broken by 20-22 inches of ungroomed snow that fell in Monday’s East Coast blizzard. High winds, remnants of that storm, might be the reason for the malfunctioning lift.