Report Issued on December 'Crotched Rocket' Quad Lift Mishap

Two people were injured during a December chairlift mishap at Crotched Mountain, according to the State Fire Marshal's office, which released this memo Friday:

At approximately 4:05 p.m. on Wednesday, December 11, 2013, two passengers fell from the ‘Crotched Rocket’ detachable quad chairlift, registration number TRM 247. One passenger, a minor child, was transported to Dartmouth Hospital by helicopter, and the other passenger was transported to Monadnock Community Hospital by ambulance. A third passenger from the chairlift was not hurt and unloaded at the top of the lift to ski down and assist the fallen passengers. All three passengers are from Hollis, NH. 

The tramway was a new installation in New Hampshire in 2012. It is a 1999 vintage C-TEC detachable quad chairlift, 3253 feet in slope length, with a vertical rise of 884 feet operating at a design speed of 1000 feet per minute. The loading interval is six seconds between chairs at design speed giving the lift an uphill capacity of 2400 people per hour. 

The fall occurred approximately 90 seconds after loading at a distance of 1300 feet from the lift terminal and a vertical drop of 25-30 feet to the ground. 

The information collected is consistent with a ‘mis-load’ that led the minor to fall from the lift. The other passenger that fell appears to have done so in an effort to help the minor. 

Any further inquires can be directed to the State Fire Marshal’s Office, Chief Tramway Inspector W. Briggs Lockwood at (603) 223-4289.