After Girl's Fall From Chairlift, Parents Start Safety Petition

BOULDER, CO -- A 6-year-old girl fell from the Sundance chairlift at Eldora Mountain Resort last Sunday, and local investigators currently believe the fall happened because the girl was never fully seated on the chair. Now, a group of local parents and caregivers has started a petition asking the resort to implement more strict safety measures to help keep their kids safe.

The petition from Parents for a Safe Eldora had reached 727 signatures, far beyond its original goal of 500, at the time of this writing.

"We understand that there is inherent risk in skiing," the petition reads. "We also understand that Eldora’s current lift policy and day-to-day practices place our children at unreasonable and unnecessary risk."

"A 6-year-old girl was hospitalized after falling from the Sundance ski lift on Eldora Mountain Resort on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019," it continues. "At the time of the fall, the girl was participating in an official ski school lesson, was unaccompanied by an adult on the lift, and was riding a lift without a safety bar. Eyewitnesses reported that they were screaming at the lift conductor to stop the lift as they saw that the child had not been loaded properly."

The petition asks Eldora to make five immediate changes in protocol including:

• A revised policy that requires all students aged six and under or less than 48” tall must be accompanied by an adult. The current version states that children should be accompanied "when possible."
• That Eldora enforce and train ski instructors to adhere to the above policy change.
• That parents have the option to ride the lift with their children during ski school without paying for a lift ticket if no other adult is available.
• That chairlift operators be fully trained in how to load and unload children.
• That Eldora management commit to an ongoing relationship with Parents for a Safe Eldora for continued communication.

Over the long-term, the group is asking Eldora to install safety bars on all lifts and revise the resort's policies after conducting a full review of industry best practices in ski school and lift safety.

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