Watch: Ski patrol catches 8-year-old boy dangling from Vermont chairlift

An 8-year-old boy dangling from a chair lift at a Vermont ski resort was safely caught in a net after falling during a rescue attempt, video shows.Steven Swain recorded a video on Feb. 19 at Killington Ski Resort showing the boy hanging from the lift, holding on by his arms. The boy’s legs can be seen kicking from the Ramshead Express Quad Chair Lift about 20 feet in the air. “This kid somehow managed to slip off the quad chair but had his arm behind the bar which was up when I came upon the scene,” Swain said. “The other people on the chair had his other arm but he was dangling pretty far down.”Ski patrol and mountain rescue responded and attempted to rescue the boy with a sling, but he slipped and was caught in a net, unharmed, according to the video. “Happy ending to a hairy mishap,” Swain said.According to the National Ski Areas Association, fatalities from aerial ropeways and chairlifts are rare. Between 1956 and 2024, 16 fatalities involved a lift’s mechanical malfunction, and 14 resulted from a fall unrelated to mechanical issues.