Watch: Girl Dangles From Ski Resort Chairlift As Instructor Grasps Hoodie
Video emerged on social media this week showing a young girl in a pink snow suit dangling perilously from a Big Bear Lake, California, ski lift.
The cell phone footage posted to Instagram Sunday by user explosive_comics_art showed several other skiers and snowboarders at Bear Mountain Ski Resort with their arms out in preparation to catch the 5-year-old girl who came loose from the chairlift Saturday morning. Her instructor can be seen grasping the hood on her coat as she swings loosely a few feet below the chair lift seat.
According to KTTV-TV, the girl’s young sister was seated next to her during the ordeal and both the ski instructor and witnesses were unable to immediately identify exactly how the girl managed to wriggle out of the safety bar and slip off the chair. However, the girl's parents told KABC-TV that rain and moisture from Friday night froze onto the chair's seat and wasn't properly cleaned the next morning.
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The girl's father described the ski instructor who grabbed her hoodie as a hero.
Several Bear Mountain resort employees and good Samaritans stretched out a tarp below the chair lift so the ski instructor could safely let her drop. After a brief gasp from nearby gawkers, the ski resort attendees can be heard clapping and cheering for the girl and her successful drop onto the tarp. The 5-year-old was bruised on her neck and passed out during the incident as the instructor held onto her hoodie, the girl's parents told local news outlets.
Bear Mountain Ski Resort officials told KTTV that they were investigating how the girl managed to free herself from the safety bar over the chair lift seat.
