A 37-year-old Billings, Montana, man died Wednesday after falling out of a ski chair lift in Red Lodge, Montana, two days earlier.
Jeffrey Zinne was taken to a Billings hospital after the incident Monday and was pronounced dead Wednesday, authorities say.
Ski-lift accidents are rarely fatal, but accidents do happen. In December, two ski-lift malfunctions in Colorado prompted major rescues of several skiers.
The Red Lodge Mountain resort posted a statement on Tuesday to X.com, extending thoughts and prayers to Zinne and saying the resort prioritizes safety on its lift and lift operations.
“The Triple Chair will remain closed this morning as we continue to investigate the incident and will reopen only when we can ensure the continued safe operation of the lift,” says the statement.
Sean Doll, a professor of Mountain Resort Management Concentration at Vermont State University, noted that even with a few lift flukes happening this winter, they’re still flukes.
Colorado’s Winter Park had an operational malfunction on its gondola after which more than 170 skiers had to be rescued in December, and in Telluride that same month, a mechanism failed prompting the rescue of more than 60 skiers.
“It’s very odd for something like this to happen,” Doll told Cowboy State Daily on Friday. “Chairlift fatalities are very, very, very rare."
Fatalities from the chairlift and aerial ropeway mechanical malfunctions are rare, says the National Ski Areas Association’s chairlift safety fact sheet. It lists 14 fatalities from mechanical lift malfunctions between 1973 and 2020.
It’s a “pretty good track record” compared to other kinds of activities, he added.
“Statistically speaking, riding chairlifts is safer than commuting to work every day,” he said.
As for Zinne’s situation, Doll said he wasn’t familiar enough with it to make a judgment call on what may have gone wrong.
But lifts are improved by having a safety bar, he added.
“Restraining bars have been proven to be overwhelmingly beneficial in helping folks not fall off lifts,” Doll said.
Montana Accident
The morning of the fatal incident in Red Lodge, all lifts were placed on hold due to high winds.
Ski lift blogger and enthusiast Peter Landsman, who has worked in lift operations at Wyoming’s Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, noted that the “triple chair” lift Zinne had been riding spans nearly a mile from the base of the ski area. Built in 1983, the lift’s chairs don’t have restraint bars on them.
The rest of the 135 passengers on the chairlift were evacuated by rope and the mountain was closed Monday, reported Landsman on his blog.
Landsman did not immediately respond to an email request for additional comment.
In Loving Memory…
Zinne was snowboarding Monday, says a GoFundMe page that had raised $36,069 for his family as of Friday afternoon.
“Jeff was a devoted husband to his loving wife, Meghan, and a caring father to his 2-year-old son,” the page says. “His passion for life, infectious laughter, and kind-hearted nature touched everyone around him. He was a man who always put others first, whether it was supporting his family, being there for his friends, or bringing joy to those lucky enough to spend time with him.”
The Zinne couple ran Montana Air Cartage together, says the page.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
