Chair falls from Mt. Bohemia lift; skier escapes serious injury Mt. Bohemia's double chairlift, which was inspected and opened in mid-February, was closed after a chair fell about eight to 10 feet from the lift Sunday, March 4. The ski patrol rescued the skier, who was still in the chair when it hit the soft snow and who sustained only minor injuries, if any. The lift reportedly will remain closed until the cause of the accident can be determined and the lift repaired and inspected.   LAC LA BELLE ’Äì An out-of-town skier apparently sustained only minor injuries after his chair fell from a chairlift cable at the Mt. Bohemia Ski Hill early Sunday afternoon. Keweenaw Memorial Medical Center Emergency Room personnel reported Sunday night that he had been discharged, but the hospital would not disclose his name or the extent of his injuries.   The skier, a man reportedly from the Chicago area, was still in the chair with the safety bar down when it landed in soft snow after a drop of about eight to 10 feet, according to Dr. Steve Rowe, emergency physician for Keweenaw Memorial Medical Center in Laurium, who happened to be on the same double chairlift, known as Honey Pot Hoist (near the road to Bete Grise),  when one of the chairs apparently became disengaged from the cable and fell into the snow.   ’ÄúI was on the lift. I felt something,’Äù Rowe said, ’ÄúI asked the attendant at the top (what had happened) ’Ķ I skied right down to it.’Äù   Rowe, an expert back-country skier who works for Mt. Bohemia as a skiing advisor and consultant on snow conditions and trail issues, said the ski patrol was in charge of the situation when he arrived at the accident site.   ’ÄúThey didn’Äôt need my assistance for any life-threatening injuries,’Äù Rowe said. ’ÄúThe guy was completely calm ’Ķ It seemed like he came out of it (reportedly) unscathed.’Äù   Rowe called the scene of the accident ’Äúthe shortest fall on the whole lift line.’Äù It was also fortunate for the skier that the chair landed in soft snow, he said.   Rowe said the patrollers immobilized the injured man on a backboard and transferred him to Mercy Ambulance personnel. He noted that, as a physician,  he was looking on very intently during the rescue operation to make sure there were no signs of life-threatening injuries.   ’ÄúMercy arrived between three and five minutes before he was brought down on the toboggan,’Äù Rowe said.   The ambulance took the skier to Keweenaw Memorial Medical Center for x-rays, and he was discharged later Sunday. One ski patrol member accompanied him to the hospital and another delivered his car to him, Rowe said. He added the ski patrollers did an excellent job in assessing the situation and immobilizing the skier on the backboard to protect him from potential spine injury. Immobilizing the injured person is necessary in case of broken bones as well, Rowe noted, but protecting the spine is especially important.   ’ÄúThe thing you want to prevent is injury that hasn’Äôt occurred already but is potential with any spine injury,’Äù Rowe said. ’ÄúI think they do that (assessment and immobilization) really well ’Ķ We’Äôve got a really good patrol. They’Äôre really experienced (and have) really good training. They didn’Äôt ask me to help with any assessment.’Äù   Rowe said Scott Steube, Mt. Bohemia’Äôs ski patrol director, is ’Äúextremely meticulous, organized and prepared.’Äù The patrol also has an array of equipment for rescue, Rowe explained, including climbing and rappelling gear and necessary First Aid equipment ’Äì anything necessary for stability or extracting a victim from the scene of an accident.   Rowe said that lift was closed as soon as the accident occurred. However, the Mountain Dew triple chairlift is working and the ski hill is open.    ’ÄúI’Äôm not sure what’Äôs going to happen at this point,’Äù he said Sunday evening. ’ÄúIt’Äôs going to be inspected, from what I hear from the management.’Äù   Mt. Bohemia's Mountain Dew triple chairlift, shown here on the ski hill's opening day, Dec. 30, 2000, is still in operation.   The State of Michigan Consumer and Industry  Services (CIS), Bureau of Commercial Services issued a safety permit for the Mountain Dew triple chairlift on December 29, 2000; and the ski hill officially opened on Dec. 30, 2000. However, the double chairlift did not receive approval to open until February, 2001.   Lori Donlan, communications specialist for the CIS Bureau of Commercial Services, said the double chairlift had been load tested and inspected February 10-12, 2001. It was opened shortly afterwards.   Donlan said Monday the Ski Area Safety Board received a report from Mt. Bohemia saying the accident occurred about 75 feet from the loading area from a low height and there were no injuries.   ’ÄúOne of our Ski Area Safety Board members is going out to the area ’Ķ to help determine what caused the incident,’Äù Donlan said. ’ÄúWhen we find out more information, we’Äôll determine what the next step is going to be.’Äù   She added the Safety Board member’Äôs expertise is Riblet Chairlifts, which are used at Mt. Bohemia. Riblet is the name brand of the lift, she explained. Donlan said original plans indicate this chairlift was intended for Georgian Peaks, in Ontario, Canada, in 1969. The lift was operated there until two years ago and then was sold to Mt. Bohemia, Donlan said. The engineering for relocation of the lift was done by Stevens Engineering in New London, New Hampshire.   Mt. Bohemia General Manager Jim Rempel said Black Bear President Lonie Glieberman would not allow him or any other members of the Mt. Bohemia staff to comment to Keweenaw Today.    Lac La Belle resident Guy Snyder said Monday morning he understood the maintenance staff seemed to be discussing repairs to the chairlift. It is not clear whether or not they will begin the repairs before or after the Safety Board member’Äôs visit.                                                                            ’Äì Michele Anderson                                                                             March 5, 2001