Chairlifts frequently stop, usually momentarily, but rarely does the cable pop off the wheels, flinging riders to the ground.

Yet that’s what happened at Sugarloaf when the Spillway East chairlift cable came off the wheels at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 28, whipping five two-passenger chairs up to 30 feet toward the slope below, with at least three of those chairs reaching the ground, Sugarloaf officials said.

source: On the snow
 

Conditions at the time were very windy, with gusts reported up to 50 mph.

Resort operators and state officials are investigating the accident, but early thinking focused on extremely high wind gusts in the wake of a three-day storm that moved up the East Coast Sunday through Tuesday, Dec. 26-28.

Note to self: head to the lodge bar when the wind starts blowing.