An incident has occurred on the Kosciuszko Chairlift at Thredbo on a wild, windy Saturday afternoon in the Australian snowfields.
“Thredbo can confirm there was an isolated incident affecting a single chair on Kosciuszko Chairlift at approximately 2:20pm on Saturday 19 August 2023 caused by a freak gust of wind,” the resort said in a statement.
“There were no major injuries caused, and the three guests involved are being looked after by the team.
“No other guests or chairs were affected. Thredbo is committed to the safety of our guests and our people.
“The incident is currently being thoroughly investigated by SafeWork NSW and an independent engineer. Thredbo assures guests that their safety is paramount and that we will continue to apply our high standards of safety and risk management.”
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The Kosciuszko Chairlift is Australia’s longest chairlift at almost two kilometres in length and is 33 years old.
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The four-seater lift replaced the old double chair in 1990, and is used year round by skiers and snowboarders in winter, and hikers and mountain bikers in summer.
It is believed the incident may have occurred at the top station, where there is little distance from the cable to the ground.
A wind gust of 65 km/h was recorded shortly before the incident at the weather station located near the cahirlift’s top station.
This is not the first chairlift incident in recent years at Thredbo, which in 2022 was named Australia’s best ski resort for the fifth consecutive year.
