8-Year-Old Child Falls 20+ Feet From Sugarloaf Chairlift

An 8-year-old girl survived a fall of at least 20 feet, while riding on a chairlift at Sugarloaf Mountain.

The incident happened at around 1:00 Wednesday afternoon, as the girl was riding the Snubber chairlift with her mother, on their way to the top of the mountain. According to a media release on the Sugarloaf website, attendants noticed the girl struggling to stay in her seat, just after the lift was loaded. They stopped the lift and deployed a 'catch' net to break her fall when she dropped from the chair. The fall was estimated to be 20-25 feet.

Once they brought her, safely, back to the ground, she was said to be conscious and alert, but complained of back pain. The injuries did not appear to be life-threatening, but a pre-existing condition prompted NorthStar Ambulance attendants to call a LifeFlight helicopter, and was transported to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor.

This was obviously a scary incident for everyone involved, and our thoughts are with the family," Sugarloaf General Manager Karl Strand said in the media release. "The safety of our guests is our first priority in everything we do, and I'm incredibly thankful to our lift attendants and ski patrollers, without whose quick actions this incident could have been much worse.

Officials say the girl, whose name and medical condition have not been released, is from Maine and was wearing a helmet at the time of the accident.

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Sugarloaf Mountain has a section of its website dedicated specifically to the safety of its chairlifts.