Photo: Kristen Tellez // Instagram
A 12-year-old snowboarder was spotted dangling from a chairlift at Mammoth Mountain ski area. Soon after, she plummeted to the earth, largely missing the safety equipment set out below.
The incident occurred Saturday, January 31. As seen in a video posted to Instagram by Kristen Tellez, mountain staff set up padding and a net below her in an attempt to catch her fall. Unfortunately, when the girl did let go, she missed the safety equipment, glancing off the edge and hitting the snow instead.
“As the mother of my 12-year-old daughter that fell today, I really want to thank everyone who came out to help her,” wrote Jessica Chavarria in a comment on the video. “The Mammoth team did their best to get to her as quickly as possible. It was an incredibly traumatic experience and everyone supported us. My daughter miraculously walked away with no broken bones or major injuries. Special thank you to the woman who sacrificed her safety while coordinating everyone to lay out the net. She is the reason my daughter walked away today.”
The comment also explained how exactly the girl ended up in her predicament. “As to the bar – we had no chance,” continued Chavarria. “She slipped down right away. There was nothing that anyone did wrong. It was a series of small choices that happened quickly that led to a fluke accident. As a mother I know it is my job to protect my child. We held on as long as we could. Long enough to have people get into position to allow her to walk away. It was awful but we survived it and will be riding again when she’s ready.”
