One Boy Killed, Another Hurt in Chairlift Accident

A 9-year-old boy was killed and a 14-year-old was seriously injured Sunday afternoon in a chairlift accident at Sierra Ski Ranch near South Lake Tahoe.

El Dorado County Sheriff’s Deputy Lew Long said the accident appeared to have been caused by a mechanical malfunction.

The youths apparently were thrown from the chair, which was moving about 40 feet above the ground, Long said. Their names were not released.

“We’re still trying to piece what happened together,” Long said.

Ski resort spokeswoman Kathy Pavich said the youths were riding on the resort’s Slingshot chairlift when the accident occurred.

“We may have had a couple of chairs collide and the boys fell at that time,” she said. “If the chairs collided, it would be due to some sort of malfunction.”

The injured boy was taken to Barton Memorial Hospital and was listed in serious but stable condition, a nursing supervisor said. The 9-year-old was pronounced dead at the hospital.

“I don’t have a whole lot of information and it’s under investigation,” Pavich said, adding that investigators from Cal/OSHA, the U.S. Forest Service and Sheriff’s Department were at the scene.

Sierra Ski Ranch is about 12 miles west of South Lake Tahoe along U.S. 50.