Santafenewmexican – A 17-year-old Albuquerque teen who fell about 45 feet from a ski-lift chair onto steep, snowy terrain at Ski Santa Fe a few weeks ago is reportedly OK.“Basically, the kid is home and he is fine,” said Cody Sheppard, the ski patrol director at Ski Santa Fe. “It was kind of a dramatic deal. I guess he was attempting to throw a snowball to the chair in front of him, where some friends were, and when he threw the snowball, the momentum just carried him out of the chair. He did hang on for awhile, but then he had to drop.” “They kept him for observation for a couple of days, and then he was released,” Sheppard said. “I’d probably shatter. There is something about being young and flexible, I guess, and just lucky the way you land.” Sheppard said making sure you know how to use the lift, sitting well back on the seat and lowering the comfort bar (if there is one), and perhaps hooking a free hand arm over the backrest are the best ways to stay on the lift. If that is not possible, he said, look for a place where the lift dips lowest to the ground to drop. In this case, Sheppard said, the teen may have had his back to the terrain and was unable to see a good place to drop.

Honestly the ski patrol director can spare me the lecture on how to sit in a chairlift seat. Hey bro it’s not rocket science. You just fucking sit there. This kid was throwing snowballs and goofing around and fell out. It’s pretty straight forward. If you don’t’ want to fall out just sit there. If you want to risk falling out wrestle and shit.  Although I guess that advice about how if you do end up hanging on for dear life try to wait till the lift is lower to the ground is pretty ground breaking.