Catskillmountaineer.com Forum

A 44 year old woman from New York City fell off a chair lift at Hunter Mountain on December 28, 2014 around 2pm. She died from the fall. More details will follow tomorrow.

Update (12/29 at 5pm): The woman killed in a freak accident at Hunter Mountain on Sunday has been identified as, Olga Filkin, 44, of Brooklyn, New York. She was skiing at Hunter Mountain for the weekend with her husband and 20-year-old daughter. She is also considered an experienced skier.

She was riding up the D-lift alone around 2:15pm. the D-lift is the farthest chair lift to the west when you come out of the lodge. It goes from the base of the main mountain and ends about 2/3 of the way up the mountain. Just below the steep sections of the trails, Hell's Gate and the Cliff. The chair is routed up some difficult and rough terrain. So, falling off in these regions (about 1/2 way up) can be dangerous. The D-lift has a tendency to swing (or sway) if the passenger is alone and seated to one side. If it swings too much you can get your ski caught in the ladder on the chair lift poles, or by the pole itself. Some skiers have been known to intentionally cause the chairs to sway in the region of the rough terrain. The D-lift also does not have foot rest, so your feet hang loose below the chair. It only has a single drop safety bar.

State police investigators said that she was riding up the D-lift alone when it started to sway. She got one of her skis caught up on the chair lift poles, and it pulled her out of the chair. She fell to the ground. This is one of the hazards of this particular chair lift. It is not known if other skiers caused the chairs to sway. Usually if the chair sway extensively, it is caused by other skiers. Some skiers have caused the chairs to bang off the poles. We don't know if this is the case during this accident.

EMS personnel attempted to save her life at the location of the accident, but were unsuccessful. She was declared dead at the scene. An autopsy was performed, and her death was caused by the fall.

I have skied at Hunter Mtn for decades. The D-lift has an issue of harmonic frequency. If someone swings the chair, it will cause the chairs above them to swing wildly. Since the D-lift is protected from the wind, it rarely swings on it's own. You can be sure someone was swinging the lift when she caught a ski. Most likely in the ladder that is connected to the tower. Since it doesn't have foot rest, you can be easily pulled under the safety bar. She might have hung from the ladder/tower until the boot released from the ski. Then fell down head first. It is also possible that she sat on the inside seat (next to the tower). Some people feel more comfortable hanging onto the side of the chair because there isn't a foot rest. If she turned around and looked backwards her skis would be near the tower. If it wasn't swinging, then I doubt the skis could get caught in the ladder. It is unlikely the could find the people who were swinging the chairs. Very sad outcome.

I doubt that Hunter Mtn knows about the harmonic frequency that exist on the chair. Very few people know about it. But, I have seen people intentionally making it swing at that particular spot.

I think other people have fallen off the D-lift. But, I think it was near the top where they get off. Most skiers don't like the d-lift because it doesn't have the foot-rest. I guess that might help.