Two teenage skiers remained in intensive care yesterday after part of a ski lift they were riding on collapsed. Dozens of skiers were initially thought to have been injured in Saturday's incident at Spain's Astún Ski Resort, however that number has since been downgraded to 10.
According to Miguel Angel Clavero, Director General of Emergencies of the Government of Aragon, the accident on the Canal Roya was caused when a pulley failure caused a cable to break at around 11:30 a.m. A subsequent jolt caused the chairlifts to start bouncing around, turning several upside down, and an unknown number of skiers fell to the ground from the chairlift which is up to 50 feet high in parts.
Skier Jaime Pelegri was on the lift when the accident occurred and tells the BBC "it was very scary," but rescuers arrived on the scene very quickly.
Spanish newspaper El Mundo reports that there were 80 skiers riding the lift at the time of the accident, and five were transported to hospital including the two 18-year-old females who were seriously injured. It reports that one of the injured skiers is now in stable condition and the other is "making good progress."
A further 20 people were treated at the scene by members of mountain rescue and the Guardia Civil, which shared the following video of the rescue.
Colaboramos en las tareas de auxilio tras un accidente en la estación de esquí de Astún (Huesca) donde se ha descolgado una línea de telesilla de 15 metros de altura. Participan guardias civiles del Grupo de Rescate e Intervención en Montaña, Servicio Aéreo y Seguridad Ciudadana… pic.twitter.com/weioCLGGOcJanuary 18, 2025
A statement from the Pyreneen resort reads: "The causes of the accident are unknown and are currently being investigated. The facility has all the permits and inspections. The protocols for rescue and transfer of injured people have worked correctly, with all users of the lift being evacuated in two and a half hours."
The resort closed for the remainder of the day on Saturday but reopened to skiers on Sunday.
Lift malfunctions such as this one are very rare, and as we have previously reported, most chairlift falls occur due to human error, which has already accounted for at least four falls in Colorado this season. Though you might not be able to control lift malfunctions, you can greatly increase your safety by always riding the chairlift with the safety bar down. Learn more in our article on skier safety.
