Friday — January 30, 2004

Lift operator falls
from Mayday chair

---

Express Staff

After dangling beneath the Mayday Chairlift on Bald Mountain for several minutes Thursday afternoon, a Sun Valley Co. lift operator who somehow became ensnared by the lift at the mountain’s summit fell approximately 30 feet into a soft snowdrift.

According to witnesses, Giancarl Condemarin, of Peru, was caught by a lift chair while working at its summit discharge point. He hung, dangling beneath the chair for several minutes while the lift continued to move, and eventually fell into the snow just above a well-known reef of rocks below the lift.

In all, Condemarin traveled about a third of the lift’s 1,621-foot distance, which generally takes 7 minutes to whisk skiers from the bottom of the bowls to the top.

Ketchum Fire Chief Greg Schwab declined to elaborate about the details of the incident because of potential infractions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. He confirmed, however, that an ambulance had been dispatched to Bald Mountain at 12:05 p.m. It was the only ambulance dispatched to the mountain by 2:30 Thursday.

Schwab said the man was transported to the St. Luke’s Wood River Medical Center.

Tanya Keim, St. Luke’s community relations manager, said Condemarin was in stable condition after being transported to the radiology department and would probably be released from the emergency room.

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.