For the first time in 24 years (and post-Lift Engineering) an electrical or mechanical problem has led to a fatality on an American ski lift. The Quickdraw quad at Granby Ranch will re-open Tuesday after the Colorado Passenger Tramway Safety Board reached an interim operation agreement with the ski area. The news comes almost two weeks after the December 29th accident, in which a mother and her two daughters fell from a chair. Unfortunately, the agreement notes that a “rare dynamic event” due to issues with the electronic drive/control system caused the riders’ fall. Environmental factors, weather and/or rider behavior were not to blame.
The Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies, which oversees the tramway board, conducted extensive testing in addition to interviewing witnesses and engineers over the past 10 days. Mother Kelly Huber and her two children were riding chair number 58 when it came into contact with tower 5 due to irregular line dynamics. The lift had been load tested less than four weeks prior, on Dec. 5th.
The operation agreement with the CPTSB is stringent. Quickdraw’s electronic drive must be disconnected (this particular lift has two diesels – auxiliary and evacuation.) Lift mechanics, operators and ski patrollers all must perform a line check prior to operation each day. Additional visual line and ground checks will be required to be documented every two hours. For the first three days, the lift will only be permitted to move 600 feet per minute, even though the diesel auxiliary is rated for up to 900 fpm. After two additional days at 700 fpm, Granby Ranch will be permitted to operate the lift at 800 fpm for the rest of the season. Presumably this summer the lift will get a completely new drive.
The operation agreement is not a final report and does not identify any acts or omissions leading up to the accident, but merely outlines the conditions under which the lift can re-open. In a press release dated today, Granby Ranch echoed its condolences to the family of the victims and affirmed its commitment to safety. “The Quick Draw Express has been operating safely at Granby Ranch over the 16 seasons since its installation,” the company noted. “Granby Ranch has followed all prescribed protocols in operating the lift.”
We haven’t heard the end of this one. Hopefully the final report will provide some insight into how this type of event can be avoided in the future.
Update 1/10/17: Apparently a third-party company installed a new ABB drive last summer that ramped up and/or down too quickly, leading to the dynamic event.
Lift Blog 
I’m very interested in knowing more about this “Rare Dynamic Event” as well because this term is so broad. Did the lift accelerator to a speed outside its standard deviation or was it a stop and go event with carrier swing. Also, where were the riders sitting on the chair? Was the mother on the inside while the children in the middle so we had a carrier hanging inside quite severely? While I don’t want to jump to conclusion as I’m not on the investigative side, it seems there is a bigger issue here that’s not being shared. Of all my time riding lifts and operating them, I’ve never seen cabins swing sideways from stop to start unless the chair was severely unbalanced. Quite common on old two seater Riblets.
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exactly! I have been riding lifts all my life and I have never seen a chair swing perpendicular to the line because of any start/stop on any part of the line. They need to have lift mechanics and/or lift operators investigating this.
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What makes you think that lift mechanics and/or lift operators know more about lift dynamics than the Supervisory Tramway Engineer fro Colorado and Engineers representing the Lift Manufacturer?
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I’ve added some new info at the bottom of my post.
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Interesting to see what pops out here. I’ve done 7 ABB retros at WB and not had a problem. I’m thinking some kind of speed control issue (like a bad tach) is at fault here. We’ll see.
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What was “unsuitable” about the drive? What are your sources for this comment?
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Maybe unsuitable is the wrong word but a source who should know is all I can say. We will have to wait for the full report from the CPTSB but the fact that the lift was load tested in December and that the drive cannot be used going forward would seem to back up something along the lines of that version.
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Quickdraw is closed again today, ten days afyer reopening on diesel power. Granby Ranch says on its Facebook page the lift will be closed at least two more days for “testing.”
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