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AIBU?

Ski lift accident in Georgia (looks horrific)

80 replies

Rockerfeller · 17/03/2018 02:24

We went skiing last year and I hated the lifts so much.

Anyway. This looks horrific, apparently the power went the brakes failed and gravity just did it's job with horrific results.

Aibu to think a more up to date system would have stopped it from
Happening? Or was it inevitable when the power went?

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/16/tourists-flung-control-ski-lift-malfunction-georgia-resort/amp/

OP posts:

Report

MissionItsPossible · 17/03/2018 02:28

I saw this and was going to post in on a thread made about a week (?) ago about the OP being terrified of ski lifts but thought better of it as the footage was truly horrifying. Those poor people. The ones that managed to jump off early were lucky

SuperBeagle · 17/03/2018 02:31

Yes, YABU. Shit happens and systems malfunction on even the newest/best maintained machines.

I work at a ski resort.

Rockerfeller · 17/03/2018 02:32

@MissionItsPossible god yes I was thinking of that thread too! It's shocking isn't it?

I also really struggle with people videoing things like this but I think that's just the reality of the age we live in, I'd never think to video something like that

OP posts:

MissionItsPossible · 17/03/2018 02:37

@Rockerfeller I did notice that the part I winced the most at was the exact part the camera/phone panned away and focused on the ground as if the person filming was even too shocked by what they were seeing to focus on carry on filming. I could not imagine filming this either. Why? I wouldn’t even want to look.

Rockerfeller · 17/03/2018 02:46

I think because I worked in the emergency services before my current job I automatically think right what can I do to help? Just had another read and 8 people have been airlifted to hospital, including a pregnant lady. It's just so sad.

I'm not going to be skiing anytime soon anyway but I'm not sure I like the idea of chair lifts now!

OP posts:

Twofurrycats · 17/03/2018 02:46

The filming isn't the issue. I have videos of me coming down a chair lift (I wasn't happy) and filmed friends doing similar. If an accident had occurred I would have ended up recording some of it. I wouldn't have set out to do it.

Rockerfeller · 17/03/2018 02:50

@Twofurrycats that's a fair point, hadn't thought about it like that. It's an awful thing to have happened though

OP posts:

MissionItsPossible · 17/03/2018 03:02

@Twofurrycats Maybe it’s just the generation we are in now but I’m not into Facebook or Twitter or Instagram and don’t really record many videos on my phone. I can honestly say if I was filming something and suddenly saw strangers being violently thrown from a ski lift I wouldn’t carry on watching it through a phone screen recording it.

AnnieAnoniMouse · 17/03/2018 03:13

The reports are saying one person with a broken wrist & a pregnant woman for observation.

I’m surprised.

Mind you, there were a lot of snowboarders so that’ll keep the injuries down a fair bit.

It’s not the first lift failure they’ve had at that resort.

Keilninnock · 17/03/2018 06:08

I'm torn...it is horrible for anyone to experience this of course. But this is a very privileged sport and the whole thrill of it is the danger.
I do feel for them and hope lessons can be learned as should happen in any incident. But I reserve heartfelt people who live in constant fear and peril who do not have any choice.
I don't mean to sound horrible and I am sure I will be flamed but I see homelessness in the UK as a terrible, awful and terrifying experience. I support several families now. I can't believe people in the UK live like this.

PlumsGalore · 17/03/2018 06:35

Well I'm not even going to read it, I am already terrified in the chair lifts as it is, I hate heights, they don't feel safe and they are too far from the ground. I put my goggles down and shut my eyes tight and talk gibberish to distract myself until I reach the top.

AssassinatedBeauty · 17/03/2018 06:41

More than one thing can be terrible at the same time, in different ways and to different degrees. No one deserves to be injured and scared, just because they aren't homeless. Of course homelessness in the UK is much worse than a specific one off incident/accident, but I think perhaps you've got compassion fatigue.

SuperBeagle · 17/03/2018 06:41

Keilninnock That's flagrantly ridiculous. That's like saying that you're sorry that someone has cancer, but there are people in Africa without access to the same medical treatments, so you'll reserve your sympathy for them.

pisacake · 17/03/2018 06:45

that's the poorly maintained former Soviet Georgia, not the US state, in case people were confused.

ZenNudist · 17/03/2018 06:49

I tell myself well its Georgia it wouldnt happen in France. I know lift accidents happen but dont want to dwell on it.

Bovneydazzlers · 17/03/2018 06:50

Looks awful.

Why was there no emergency stop button?!

Why were people going down the hill anyway? I thought that kind of lift was generally for people going up not down?

Keilninnock · 17/03/2018 06:53

People choose to do daredevil sports. It is relevant to the level of sympathy I have.

vdbfamily · 17/03/2018 07:07

dazzlers...it was broken so gravity was bringing it backwards in the wrong direction to how it was designed.

extinctspecies · 17/03/2018 07:08

Why were people going down the hill anyway?

They weren't. When the lift stopped working it went into reverse because of gravity.

OhYouBadBadKitten · 17/03/2018 07:11

Why is there no auto brake when the power fails?

extinctspecies · 17/03/2018 07:15

Skiing ins't a daredevil sport.

It appeals to a huge range of people from the very young (4) to the very old (many people continue to ski in their 70s).

It's healthy, gets people out in the fresh air and appreciating the beauty of the mountains and brings many local economic benefits.

tortelliniforever · 17/03/2018 07:20

I think this sort of accident seems more shocking because of the setting but it is thankfully extremely rare. If you hate ski lifts anyway it will seem worse. I can't get into a cable car without thinking of that dreadful cable car accident in Italy but cable cars are actually very safe.

Geoff1969 · 17/03/2018 07:29

Is skiing really a dare devil sport? Unless it's an extreme off-piste run?

I would have thought that dare devil applied more to the likes of parachuting, BASE jumping etc.

Crumpets4tea · 17/03/2018 07:30

It is possible the video is from a go pro as some people wear them when they are skiing rather than a mobile. This looks awful. Why would the snowboarders keep the injuries down Annie?

GaucheCaviar · 17/03/2018 07:33

My main question is why the fuck is this headline BBC news? I fucking hate this tendency for private tragedy to become clickbait. Oooh look someone's filmed people getting hurt, that'll bring the punters in.

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