Skip to main content

Video of skilift malfunction shows skiers being violently flung into the air

კატასტროფა გუდაურში საბაგიროზე Accident in ski lift Gudauri Georgia

While skiing and snowboarding already possess their own laundry list of potential injury risks, an unsuspecting group of resort-goers recently experienced a very unexpected and harrowing incident at the Gudauri Ski Resort in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. On March 16, some visitors to the Eastern European resort looked on in horror as one of its chairlifts severely malfunctioned — and a few caught the scene on video.

With a number of riders using the lift to climb the mountain, it began acting erratically, switching its direction and moving backward at double it’s normal speed. Though a few were able to detach their skis and snowboards before jumping off to safety, several weren’t as fortunate, riding the lift through the turnaround at the bottom and being flung off violently. Despite many onlookers watching the incident in stunned terror — and capturing the incident on their smartphones — there appeared to be nothing anyone could do to slow the lift.

Related Videos
Gudauri Ski Resort Gudauri Ski Resort

Thankfully, no serious injuries occurred — according to Georgia Today — though the publication did say eight people reported injuries and that several others were “left shaken and shocked.” At the time of the report, Dopplerier, the company responsible for manufacturing the ski lift, had yet to make any sort of formal announcement, despite being contacted by Georgia Today for comment. Shortly after the incident, Georgia’s Ministry of Internal Affairs launched an investigation into what may have damaged the lift and caused the malfunction.

“Fortunately, there are no deaths but two people have serious injuries,”  Health Minister David Sergeenko said. “One patient has an open fracture and a wound on his head, the other is a pregnant Swedish woman who is experiencing pain in her waist area.”

According to reports, the resort’s lifts were most recently inspected on December 22, 2017, with the development company responsible for the inspection claiming there was no “no substantial or critical discrepancy in the inspection.” Gudauri announced via its Facebook page that it would cover any medical expenses accrued by those injured by the lift. As of this writing, the eight people who reported injuries had already checked into outpatient centers and were receiving injury treatment. Sergeenko added that two patients were being “transported to Tbilisi for special rehabilitation and treatment.”

Editors' Recommendations

Coronavirus vaccine researchers are being targeted by cyberattacks
Cambridge Biotech Moderna Leads in Race For Coronavirus Vaccine

Pharmaceutical companies and vaccine researchers working on a coronavirus vaccine have been the target of hacking attacks, a new report from Microsoft says. The company says these attacks are coming from nation-states, and it condemns the attacks and calls on other states to condemn them too.

Microsoft said in a blog post by Tom Burt, Corporate Vice President, Customer Security & Trust, that it has detected cyberattacks targeting both pharmaceutical companies and researchers in Canada, France, India, South Korea, and the U.S. Most of the attacks targeted organizations that were in the process of developing a coronavirus vaccine, especially those who were currently performing clinical trials.

Read more
Coway Airmega 150 is a shoe box-sized air purifier that’s big on power
coway airmega 150 shoe box sized air purifier

Everyone wants cleaner air, but the problem is that most air purifiers are large. Too large. If you live in a small apartment where space is at a premium, you aren't going to want a huge machine taking up lots of space. Coway hopes to solve that with the Coway Airmega 150, a compact smart air purifier that's about the size of a shoebox.

The new Coway Airmega 150 is designed with smaller spaces in mind, but it doesn't trade efficiency in exchange for compacness. The device uses a multistage Green True HEPA filter and eliminates 99.97% of airborne particulates as small as 0.3 microns in size. This includes dust, pollen, and smoke, making it a fantastic choice for the fall and winter seasons when allergies flare up and many people have fires burning in their homes.

Read more
Google Maps will now show coronavirus outbreaks in your area
man checking phone with mask on

Google Maps’ latest update shows if an area is experiencing a coronavirus outbreak or not. 

The “COVID Layer” in Maps shows how many new confirmed coronavirus cases there have been the last seven days in a specific region using color-coding, with red representing a spike in cases. The tool shows the average of new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people and works in 220 countries and territories. 

Read more