BILLINGS — A tragic accident at Red Lodge Mountain on Monday has raised significant safety concerns following the death of Jeff Zinne, who fell from the Triple Chair lift.
According to officials at the resort, Zinne was unseated from his chair due to erratic winds and flown by emergency helicopter to St. Vincent's hospital. The Yellowstone County Coroner's office confirmed that Zinne died Wednesday morning as a result of accidental blunt force.
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The incident has garnered national attention, including that of Peter Landsman, a Wyoming ski blogger.
"I heard about it pretty quick after it happened," Landsman said in an online interview Wednesday afternoon.
Landsman's blog, called Lift Blog, focuses on ski lifts around the country. He said Monday's tragic incident in Red Lodge was rare.
"The last time someone died in the United States due to a lift malfunction was in 2016," Landsman said. "And thousands of people ride chair lifts every single day."
Details are sparce regarding the incident. Mountain officials confirmed that 135 passengers were evacuated from the Triple Chair following Zinne's fall.
Landsman said that while wind played a role, there could've been issues with the lift.
"Whatever happened with the lift then necessitated the rope evacuation of the other passengers," Landsman said. "What complicates this situation is that it was very windy and there may have also been a lift malfunction involved, but we don't know."
Billings Attorney Tanis Holm represented clients injured in another lift accident at Red Lodge Mountain in 2020. Holm said the news of Zinne's death was horrible.
"It's certainly something in the legal profession that we really work to prevent," Holm said. "As a human though, it just is awful."
Holm learned a lot about the oversight of Montana ski resorts throughout that case, which ultimately ended with RLM opting to settle with her clients.
"What surprises me in Montana is that each resort self-regulates itself," Holm said. "There isn't a whole lot of guidance or oversight from any government officials."
Holm said she was surprised to find out Montana has few laws regulating ski resort operations. She said there are four statutes: two referring to passengers and the other two focusing on the resort. Holm said all four are fairly vague.
"They just aren't very specific," Holm said. "There's really limited laws in Montana regarding what the duties of ski resorts are."
According to Holm, there used to be much more oversight of these resorts. In 1997, Montana disbanded the state's Board of Passenger Tramway Safety Act — something Holm disagrees with.
"A lot of states still have it," Holm said. "It's kind of a board that oversees ski resort operations. I just think that more regulation in the ski industry could really help to prevent horrific incidents like this from happening."
Holm added that many other states have much stricter ski resort laws, which Landsman confirmed — using Vermont's law about lift safety bars as an example.
"Every chair on every chair lift has a bar in Vermont and you're actually required to put it down," Landsman said. "It's required by state law."
Landsman said that in the eastern part of the country, those safety bars are much more common. In our area, he said a lot of the lifts are decades old and because of the price to replace them is so expensive, many haven't been.
"A mountain like Red Lodge couldn't just replace all of their lifts right away," Landsman said.
Landsman said that Monday's tragedy could speed up that process, but said it's more likely that it will take time — something he hopes happens fast.
"I would like to see every chair have these bars," Landsman said. "I know that's hard but it'll just be better for everyone, especially children."
