Lift Blog

Several Doppelmayr construction employees escaped injury in Big Sky today when a crossarm fell from a helicopter and crashed to the ground. The Boeing CH-47 Chinook and its crew, working to assemble towers for Madison 8, were also unharmed. “During construction of the Madison 8 chairlift, a cross arm assembly fell during installation due to a rigging failure,” said a Big Sky Resort spokesperson in a statement. “Fortunately, there were no injuries, and the flight teams were able to resume operations shortly after the incident.” The helicopter is owned and operated by PJ Helicopters of California.

It was not immediately clear whether the mishap would delay opening of Madison 8, set to become the longest eight seat chairlift in the world this winter. Doppelmayr typically manufactures crossarms for its largest D-Line chairlifts in Austria and ships them to the United States via ocean container. “The resort is working with our partners at Doppelmayr to mitigate any construction delays, and both organizations are optimistic that the impacts are minimal,” said Big Sky’s statement.

Rigging failures and helicopter incidents, though rare, have happened before during lift installations. In 2022, a helicopter pilot setting a lift at Cypress Mountain, British Columbia, jettisoned a tower in thick fog. The same year, crane rigging failed during installation of one of Snowbird’s new tram cars, destroying it. In both cases, Doppelmayr manufactured new equipment to replace what was dropped.