Eight-year-old girl falls from chairlift at Sugarloaf ski resort

CARRABASSETT VALLEY — An 8-year-old Maine girl fell more than 20 feet from a chairlift Wednesday at Sugarloaf ski resort, a company spokesman said.

The girl was loading onto a triple chairlift called Snubber about 1 p.m. with her mother when something went awry during the loading process and she wasn’t properly seated in the chair, ski resort Director of Marketing Ethan Austin said.

Lift attendants noticed the girl’s situation and stopped the lift, then deployed a net called a “catch mat” below the girl’s chair, Austin said.

“That mostly broke her fall” from the chair, Austin said. Ski patrol estimated the drop at 20 to 25 feet, he said.

The girl, who was wearing a helmet at the time of the fall, complained of back pain after the incident. According to a news release from Austin, “her immediate injuries did not appear life threatening, but due to a preexisting medical condition paramedics from NorthStar Ambulance elected to take the extra precaution of calling a LifeFlight helicopter.”

She was taken to a Bangor hospital.

“This was obviously a scary incident for everyone involved,” Sugarloaf General Manager Karl Strand wrote in the release, “and our thoughts are with the family. The safety of our guests is our first priority in everything we do, and I’m incredibly thankful to our lift attendants and ski patrolers, without whose quick actions this incident could have been much worse.”

The girl was reported to be conscious and alert when medical officials reached her, Austin said.

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