{"id":806203,"date":"2020-04-08T17:59:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T23:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/?p=381565"},"modified":"2020-04-08T17:59:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T23:59:00","slug":"witness-vail-lift-operator-was-not-paying-attention-during-chairlift-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/witness-vail-lift-operator-was-not-paying-attention-during-chairlift-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Witness: Vail \u2018lift operator was not paying attention\u2019 during chairlift death"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
Guests attempt to save Jason Varnish by making a human pyramid Feb. 13. Varnish died due to positional asphyxia.<\/strong>
Special to the Vail Daily<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

As Jason Varnish hung to death on a Vail chairlift <\/a><\/i>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

\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Support Local Journalism<\/h3>\n