Teen falls from ski lift at Hidden Valley Resort

SOMERSET COUNTY, Pa. — A 15-year-old snowboarder was sent to the hospital after falling about 20 feet from a chairlift at Hidden Valley Resort in Somerset County.

The boy from Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., got on the lift alone at about 7 p.m. Saturday, but did not lower the safety bar, said ski patrol Director Mike Wallace.

While riding the lift, the boy “leaned forward to adjust his boot or binding and fell from the chair,” he said.

The boy was conscious while he was treated by the ski patrol and secured to a backboard before being taken to Somerset Hospital by ambulance as a precautionary measure, Wallace said.

His family traveled with him to the hospital, Wallace said.

Resort employees adjust the safety bars so they are within reach of patrons as they embark upon the lift, but the bars must be lowered manually, he said.

Wallace said the boy fell from the triple chairlift, which has chairs that can hold three people. It continued operations throughout the incident.

It is one of five lifts at the resort.

Falls are “an uncommon occurrence,” Wallace said.

This article was written by Channel 11’s news exchange partners at TribLIVE.

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