{"id":1319363,"date":"2020-04-08T17:40:17","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T23:40:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vaildaily.com\/?p=476468"},"modified":"2020-04-09T08:22:32","modified_gmt":"2020-04-09T14:22:32","slug":"in-vail-chairlift-death-lift-operator-was-not-paying-attention-according-to-witness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/in-vail-chairlift-death-lift-operator-was-not-paying-attention-according-to-witness\/","title":{"rendered":"In Vail chairlift death, \u2018lift operator was not paying attention,\u2019 according to witness"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Guests attempt to save Jason Varnish via a human pyramid on Feb. 13. Varnish died due to positional asphyxia. <\/strong>
Special to the Daily<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

As Jason Varnish hung to death on a Vail chairlift <\/a>in February, the lone lift operator yelled to witnesses that he was not able to reverse the lift without permission, according to a Sheriff\u2019s Office incident report released Wednesday.<\/p>\n

The witness attempted to board Chair 37 with Varnish that day, and noticed the seat had been folded up so a rider could not sit down without falling through, according to the report.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Varnish) tried to push it down,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n

The witness told police he got out of the way while Varnish\u2019s clothing got caught on the rubber stopper, he thought, lifting him 20-25 feet off the ground. The witness yelled for the lift operator to stop the lift, the report says.<\/p>\n

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