SAM Magazine—Oetz, Austria, Jan. 11, 2024—A gondola cabin with four passengers in it detached from the haul rope and fell 23-33 feet after “several trees” fell on the line of the Acherkogelbahn gondola at Hochoetz ski area, according to multiple reports. 

Three of the adults sustained serious injuries, with one taken to the hospital with life threatening injuries. Two passengers in the following cabin were also injured, reportedly from the jolt caused by the trees hitting the line, but their cabin remain attached. The line was subsequently cleared without further incident.

The Associated Press reported that the weather was calm at the time of the incident. 

The cabin fell in a steep section of the lift line, which complicated rescue efforts.

"The gondola crashed in a very stony area, although the rescue chain functioned very well,” Hochoetz spokesperson Michaela Burger told Austrian public broadcaster ORF. “The rescuers were on site immediately but the terrain made it very difficult and the helicopters couldn't get there very easily.”

Authorities were reportedly working to determine what trees were doing so close to the lift line and why the strike caused the cabin to fall, which ski resort personnel said should not have been possible. The local police commander said there doesn’t appear to be any technical or human failure involved, and the lift was working as it should prior to opening to the public.

Last year, a patroller at Park City Mountain was killed after a falling tree struck the line of the chairlift he was riding, causing him to fall at least 25 feet from the chair. Seven people were injured at an Italian resort when high winds toppled several trees onto the line of a bubble chair just before Christmas, according to liftblog.com. 

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