Skier Injured By "Unfortunate" Chairlift Incident in Montana

Originally posted on Powder | By Izzy Lidsky | Last updated Mar 11, 2025 3:15 PM ET

A skier was airlifted to the hospital after an "unfortunate incident" on a chairlift at Red Lodge Mountain.

On Monday, March 10th, Red Lodge Mountain Patrol received a call around 11:15am of an accident on Triple Chair. Patrol arrived on scene at 11:53 a.m. to an injured man who was transported to the mountain's base and loaded into an EMS vehicle at 12:23 p.m. The patient was later air lifted from the hospital in Red Lodge to a larger hospital in Billings, Montana.

The rest of the passengers on the lift were evacuated by rope and the resort closed for the remainder of the day.

Although further details were not released by the mountain, a report from LiftBlog said that the resort acknowledged that the accident may have been wind related and that winds in the area were strong on Monday.

All lifts were placed on hold at 8:45am that morning due to winds over 55mph. Three lifts, including Triple Chair opened by 9:30am.

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"Our thoughts and prayers are with the guest and his friends and family, and all guests and employees impacted by this incident. We place a top priority on the safety of all of our lifts and lift operations, and perform daily, weekly, monthly, and annual safety measures to better ensure the safe operation of our lifts," said the resort in a social media post on the incident made on Tuesday morning.

Triple Chair will remain closed on Tuesday morning while the incident is under investigation and it will reopen when the mountain is sure they can do so safely.

One of Red Lodge Mountain's three other base area lifts, Willow Creek, is also closed for maintenance this week, meaning the 'Stache Express is the only lift that will operate from the base area.

The Triple Chair lift was built in 1983 and runs 5,000 ft. up from the mountain's base area. The chairs on the lift do not have restraint bars due to their age. The Montana Board of Tramway Safety was disbanded in 1997, so a state investigation is unlikely at this time.

This article first appeared on Powder and was syndicated with permission.

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