Skifield visitors are being reminded to use safe and proper procedures when using chairlifts, after a 5-year-old boy fell 6m from a lift at Cardrona Alpine Resort.
Cardrona operations manager Gary Husband confirmed a Japanese boy had "slithered off" the four-seater Whitestar Express earlier this month, after two passengers raised the safety bar early as the chair came in to dock.
The boy, who was sitting beside his father, fell about 6m from the chair on to a hard-packed groomed trail.
He was not injured in the fall, but he was transported by the Otago Regional Rescue Helicopter to a medical centre for a standard procedural check on his condition, Mr Husband said.
"It was certainly alarming. Given the fall we wanted to do everything possible to check he was OK, and the rescue helicopter was called," he said.
Cardrona's standard medical practice was to use the rescue helicopter for patients whenever there was the possibility of serious injury, such as an abdominal, head or neck injury, which needed specialist treatment beyond the skifield's on-site facilities, Mr Husband said.
Skifield staff remained in contact with the Japanese family to offer them support and assistance, he said.
The family were soon back on the skifield slopes after the boy was found not to have any injuries, Mr Husband said.
All chairlift users, and especially parents riding with children, needed to be mindful of their own safety, he said.
Chairlift users should lower the bar as soon as they were leaving the docking station and keep it down until they arrived at the top of the chair.
"Keep pressure on it and hold it down, even if someone is there trying to raise it early," Mr Husband said.
A Department of Labour spokesman said there would not be an investigation into the July 9 incident at Cardrona.
A separate investigation into a chairlift incident at Coronet Peak which left Queenstown mother-of-two Janine Learmouth with neck ligament injuries after an automated safety bar came down on top of her in June was continuing, the Doc spokesman said.
Advertisement
