Man dies after falling from faulty chairlift at ski resort
The accident happened just before noon on Monday at Red Lodge Mountain, southeast of Billings in the Beartooth Mountains.
Jeffrey Zinne, 37, had been riding alone in a three-person chair, known as the Triple Chair, that carries skiers up the mountain when he fell from an unspecified height, according to Red Lodge Mountain spokesperson Troy Hawks.
Carbon County Sheriff Josh McQuillan said he was taken to a Billings hospital where he died the following night.
Hawks said the lift had a mechanical problem at the time Zinne fell, but declined to comment further.
He said the circumstances were being investigated including weather conditions and the victim's actions.
The lift was stopped after the accident and more than 100 people who were on it at the time were evacuated by ski patrollers who used ropes to lower them to the ground.
On the morning of the accident, some other chairlifts at Red Lodge Mountain were not operating because of high winds. Wind gusts of about 50 mph (80.4 kph) were recorded in the area shortly before and after the accident, according to the National Weather Service.
Hawks said the Triple Chairlift, which is almost a mile (1.6 kilometers) long and was built in 1983, was operating within safety parameters. It will remain shut down until an engineer fully assesses it, Hawks said.
Fatal lift accidents at ski areas are relatively rare, according to the National Ski Areas Association. Between 1956 and 2024, 35 people died in accidents involving chairlifts and aerial ropeways. Sixteen of the deaths were linked to mechanical malfunctions, according to data collected by the group.
The latest death during that time period was in 2020, when a man died at Colorado 's Vail resort after his clothing got entangled in part of the chairlift, making him unable to breathe.
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