Harness Saves Boy, 4, Who Falls From Chairlift, Hangs Over Rocks

A 4-year-old boy slipped from a ski lift at Timberline Ski Area on Wednesday and dangled by his child harness attached to his aunt’s wrist for 20 minutes before he was lowered to safety.

Zane Huft dangled 25 feet above rocks after slipping off the Magic Mile chairlift just moments after he boarded for the return trip down from 7,000 feet.

Chairlift operators halted the chair when the boy fell, but the chair already had moved beyond a safety net near the boarding area.

David Gorsek of Portland, who was waiting to board the chairlift, ran down to the area below the chair, talking to the boy and telling him he was going to be all right.

The boy was screaming “Get me down! Get me down,” as his aunt struggled to hold onto him. “She was holding on for dear life,” Gorsek said.

At first, ski lift operators tried to get a rope to the other person on the chair. But the chair, a quad lift that holds four people, started rocking from side to side and Zane became frightened.

Gorsek and other bystanders grabbed a large tarp and spread foam pads beneath the boy while ski lift operators rappelled to him from the chairlift cable and lowered him to the ground.

Jon Tullis, Timberline spokesman, said chairlift operators had just lowered the safety bar across passengers’ laps when the boy slipped out.