Not doubting the veracity of any of the facts in this story, but it sure has triggered all kinds of click-bait-y threads all over skiing social media.
When the kid fell, it seems like it got some small, back-page coverage, complete with a cute video of the kid. Seems reasonable - while I'm not too familiar with Western PA, it seems like Blue Knob Ski Resort is kinda out in the middle of nowhere, so a cute kid falling off a local ski lift is the kind of thing that might make the local news, particularly considering he was flown away in a medivac helicopter.
The kid initially fell March 1st, and it seems the charges were brought by the Pennsylvania State Police about 8 weeks later. This article seems to have a good bit of detail on how the charges came about.
It's not clear how the State Police originally got involved, but I speculate they took interest based on the original news stories. It sounds like the State Police talked to the resort manager, ski lift operator, and parents, took affidavits from all, and then issued the charges against the parents.
For whatever reason, it seems like the Pennsylvania State Police took an outsize interest in this event. Would love to know why, as it seems like it's pretty far outside the scope of what you'd normally expect the State Police to be doing.
Stuart's summary definitely makes it seem like Pennsylvania (by which we probably really mean a single overzealous prosecutor, or maybe a small team of them) is overreaching. A link to the charging documents would be helpful in cases like this, like you did with the link to the class action suit a few weeks back.
I skied alone on my first ski trip, probably second day skiing, at age 8. 1987, Telluride. It was either this trip or the next year that I started returning to the condo in town alone (bus, skiing Telluride Trail, or downloading Lift 7) after spending the day skiing blue and green runs on the Village side. At some point in my childhood I got on lift 7 to download and ended up alone on a carrier without a safety bar (broken off or removed for some reason)... I kind of wish that lifty had stopped me in that case and had me wait for the next chair, at least, because it was scary. But makes for a good story now :)
I am laughing at how ridiculous PA seems. I grew up in Woodstock, Vermont. I was 5 (1949) when dad took me to the ski hill for first time. He did not have skis because his plan was to show me how to use the rope tow., watch me do it until he was sure I could, then he was going rabbit hunting for the rest of afternoon. So I went up three times with him coaching and watching. Then he took off. I proceeded to go up the very much a bunny slope two times until the tow broke down. By.this time dad had gone. Knowing that I had "hours" to wait, I went over to the base of the BIG rope tow and eyed it longingly. Along came two Dartmouth college students. One asked me if I wanted to go up. I enthusiastically said sure. His buddy went in front of me, I followed, and he followed me. It was a fairly steep slope. I hung on as far as I could but eventually my arms got tired and I had to quit. The guy behind me stepped off with me, picked me up and helped me straighten out my skis. He then said " go on down to the bottom ( all 50-75 feet) and wait until we get down, then we'll do it again" We did that about 5 or 6 times. Talk about nice young men-- big brothers basically.
So that was my first day of skiing ever! I skied at that hill ( Mt. Tom) for 2-3 years and then skied at either Gilberts Ski hill or The Gulley on the backside of Suicide 6 ( now called something like Saskitana) for 3 years with a passel of kids every Saturday and Sunday. When 6 got a poma lift
we all headed over there and ran up and down that hill all day. Dropped off by parents at 8 AM with a packed lunch and picked up at closing. I had a wonderful time all winter long.and skiing became a life long passion, as you know. When I started racing, my folks came a couple of times to the close by local races. Later when I went to Jr Nationals in 1961 at Sugarloaf, ME they came to that. The next year Jr Nationals were in Whitefish, Montana. I went with the team but after the races were over I took a bus to Aspen with $16 in my pocket because I had been invited to a training week with Beatty. I was 17.I was so excited to have arrived in Aspen I spent half of my money for a half day ticket and about $5 for a hostel room that first night
Next morning I went to an address I had been given by a team mate where I stayed with the family helping the mom in the kitchen who was feeding 5 college boys on vacation. When I finished "paying" for my board and room, I walked to a motel which said they needed a chambermaid. They paid me exactly what I needed to get an afternoon ski ticket! So, if you want your kid to develop self-confidence let them ski alone! I never needed my parents at the ski hill. And I figured out how to survive and solve problems on my own! I am still skiing and planning my life around skiing each year at 81.
My kids have been riding the lifts (chairs, carpets, platters, tow ropes) by themselves since they were five and six. They also have been riding their bikes to school without me. And now I’m freaking out.
Based on 21st century Pennsylvania standards, my parents were felons and many times over.
I don't understand how government officials think they are helping anyone with this action. Apparently, the state feels it can decide when a child was neglected. Not based on any law. Only by the observation of an accident and the determination that parents must be blamed (and this even when no injury occurred!!)
The news article makes a big deal that it took over 20 minutes to contact the parents. Apparently that is the greatest crime! No wonder we have helicopter parents - do otherwise and you can be charged with a felony if your kid has an accident.
Very, very sad to see how far our society and governments have fallen.
I know you didn’t ask for my advice but I would tread cautiously when making strongly assured sociological conclusion based on the fact that you know (1) the state of Pennsylvania filed felony charges involving a family, a chairlift and a child; and 2) nothing else really. In the 80s we lived through other sensationalist “reporting” when all the journalist cried “whaaaaaaaa!?!?!?!” upon learning a jury found McDonald’s grossly negligent and provided $2.5 million in damages after an elderly woman “received burns” from a cup of hot coffee she received at the drive through. Virtually all reporting failed to report what actually happened and the bullshit legal tactics McDonald’s attempted throughout the dispute. Instead, what we all read was a highly dubious and sensational cut and paste reporting scheme through which print and television journalism uniformly decried we “jumped the shark” with our “overly litigious society.” That one story birthed an entire generations’ likely misplaced belief that most people filing lawsuits are simply “money hungry” and simply want to screw “the poor corporations who are just trying to provide jobs.” Needless to say, there was a reason the jury awarded such a significant and punitive verdict. Criminal indictments are even more extreme because the government has a higher burden just to bring the charges. This burden is high enough that I believe time might be better spent taking a step back to give ourselves time to say “woah, what happened that I don’t know about, that seems serious?” and to start doing the hard part-learning more! https://youtu.be/93fsFvVqviA?si=9ujbWOj_c9sb2MdO
Not doubting the veracity of any of the facts in this story, but it sure has triggered all kinds of click-bait-y threads all over skiing social media.
When the kid fell, it seems like it got some small, back-page coverage, complete with a cute video of the kid. Seems reasonable - while I'm not too familiar with Western PA, it seems like Blue Knob Ski Resort is kinda out in the middle of nowhere, so a cute kid falling off a local ski lift is the kind of thing that might make the local news, particularly considering he was flown away in a medivac helicopter.
https://www.wtaj.com/news/local-news/young-boy-unharmed-after-ski-lift-fall-family-advocating-for-helmets-and-safety-equipment/
The kid initially fell March 1st, and it seems the charges were brought by the Pennsylvania State Police about 8 weeks later. This article seems to have a good bit of detail on how the charges came about.
https://www.wtaj.com/crime/parents-charged-after-child-fell-20-feet-from-blue-knob-ski-lift-chair/
It's not clear how the State Police originally got involved, but I speculate they took interest based on the original news stories. It sounds like the State Police talked to the resort manager, ski lift operator, and parents, took affidavits from all, and then issued the charges against the parents.
For whatever reason, it seems like the Pennsylvania State Police took an outsize interest in this event. Would love to know why, as it seems like it's pretty far outside the scope of what you'd normally expect the State Police to be doing.
Stuart's summary definitely makes it seem like Pennsylvania (by which we probably really mean a single overzealous prosecutor, or maybe a small team of them) is overreaching. A link to the charging documents would be helpful in cases like this, like you did with the link to the class action suit a few weeks back.
I skied alone on my first ski trip, probably second day skiing, at age 8. 1987, Telluride. It was either this trip or the next year that I started returning to the condo in town alone (bus, skiing Telluride Trail, or downloading Lift 7) after spending the day skiing blue and green runs on the Village side. At some point in my childhood I got on lift 7 to download and ended up alone on a carrier without a safety bar (broken off or removed for some reason)... I kind of wish that lifty had stopped me in that case and had me wait for the next chair, at least, because it was scary. But makes for a good story now :)
Hi Stuart,
I am laughing at how ridiculous PA seems. I grew up in Woodstock, Vermont. I was 5 (1949) when dad took me to the ski hill for first time. He did not have skis because his plan was to show me how to use the rope tow., watch me do it until he was sure I could, then he was going rabbit hunting for the rest of afternoon. So I went up three times with him coaching and watching. Then he took off. I proceeded to go up the very much a bunny slope two times until the tow broke down. By.this time dad had gone. Knowing that I had "hours" to wait, I went over to the base of the BIG rope tow and eyed it longingly. Along came two Dartmouth college students. One asked me if I wanted to go up. I enthusiastically said sure. His buddy went in front of me, I followed, and he followed me. It was a fairly steep slope. I hung on as far as I could but eventually my arms got tired and I had to quit. The guy behind me stepped off with me, picked me up and helped me straighten out my skis. He then said " go on down to the bottom ( all 50-75 feet) and wait until we get down, then we'll do it again" We did that about 5 or 6 times. Talk about nice young men-- big brothers basically.
So that was my first day of skiing ever! I skied at that hill ( Mt. Tom) for 2-3 years and then skied at either Gilberts Ski hill or The Gulley on the backside of Suicide 6 ( now called something like Saskitana) for 3 years with a passel of kids every Saturday and Sunday. When 6 got a poma lift
we all headed over there and ran up and down that hill all day. Dropped off by parents at 8 AM with a packed lunch and picked up at closing. I had a wonderful time all winter long.and skiing became a life long passion, as you know. When I started racing, my folks came a couple of times to the close by local races. Later when I went to Jr Nationals in 1961 at Sugarloaf, ME they came to that. The next year Jr Nationals were in Whitefish, Montana. I went with the team but after the races were over I took a bus to Aspen with $16 in my pocket because I had been invited to a training week with Beatty. I was 17.I was so excited to have arrived in Aspen I spent half of my money for a half day ticket and about $5 for a hostel room that first night
Next morning I went to an address I had been given by a team mate where I stayed with the family helping the mom in the kitchen who was feeding 5 college boys on vacation. When I finished "paying" for my board and room, I walked to a motel which said they needed a chambermaid. They paid me exactly what I needed to get an afternoon ski ticket! So, if you want your kid to develop self-confidence let them ski alone! I never needed my parents at the ski hill. And I figured out how to survive and solve problems on my own! I am still skiing and planning my life around skiing each year at 81.
Kelly Woodbury Nessle
.
My kids have been riding the lifts (chairs, carpets, platters, tow ropes) by themselves since they were five and six. They also have been riding their bikes to school without me. And now I’m freaking out.
Based on 21st century Pennsylvania standards, my parents were felons and many times over.
I don't understand how government officials think they are helping anyone with this action. Apparently, the state feels it can decide when a child was neglected. Not based on any law. Only by the observation of an accident and the determination that parents must be blamed (and this even when no injury occurred!!)
The news article makes a big deal that it took over 20 minutes to contact the parents. Apparently that is the greatest crime! No wonder we have helicopter parents - do otherwise and you can be charged with a felony if your kid has an accident.
Very, very sad to see how far our society and governments have fallen.
I know you didn’t ask for my advice but I would tread cautiously when making strongly assured sociological conclusion based on the fact that you know (1) the state of Pennsylvania filed felony charges involving a family, a chairlift and a child; and 2) nothing else really. In the 80s we lived through other sensationalist “reporting” when all the journalist cried “whaaaaaaaa!?!?!?!” upon learning a jury found McDonald’s grossly negligent and provided $2.5 million in damages after an elderly woman “received burns” from a cup of hot coffee she received at the drive through. Virtually all reporting failed to report what actually happened and the bullshit legal tactics McDonald’s attempted throughout the dispute. Instead, what we all read was a highly dubious and sensational cut and paste reporting scheme through which print and television journalism uniformly decried we “jumped the shark” with our “overly litigious society.” That one story birthed an entire generations’ likely misplaced belief that most people filing lawsuits are simply “money hungry” and simply want to screw “the poor corporations who are just trying to provide jobs.” Needless to say, there was a reason the jury awarded such a significant and punitive verdict. Criminal indictments are even more extreme because the government has a higher burden just to bring the charges. This burden is high enough that I believe time might be better spent taking a step back to give ourselves time to say “woah, what happened that I don’t know about, that seems serious?” and to start doing the hard part-learning more! https://youtu.be/93fsFvVqviA?si=9ujbWOj_c9sb2MdO