[Travis T. OJustice]

Is that like a wardrobe malfunction? The only times I’ve ever seen anything like this was when the passenger screwed up. There is very little that can go wrong with the chairlift that would cause such an event.

[mickey finn]

“It appears that the chairlift's fold-down seat was somehow not in the lowered position, which caused the man to partially fall through the resulting gap.”

It sounds like the lift ops failed to fully put the seat down when starting the lift for the day. I think the seats are put up at night to keep snow from accumulating.

[Red Boots]

From the article:

It appears that the chairlift's fold-down seat was somehow not in the lowered position, which caused the man to partially fall through the resulting gap. His right ski got jammed in the ascending chairlift, and that kept him upended since his boot never dislodged from its binding