As the investigation continues into the death of a snowboarder at Red Lodge Mountain, some are calling for more oversight of Montana’s ski industry.
Jeffrey Zinne, 37, died after falling from the Tripe Chair lift on March 10. Erratic wind gusts are being blamed for the incident, which forced the cable rope on the chairlift to separate from the sheaves at the top of the tower.
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The Triple Chair lift at Red Lodge does not have a safety bar. While it’s unclear if that would have prevented Zinne’s death, one Missoula state lawmaker says a handful of chairlift accidents in recent years in Montana have sparked renewed discussions about whether the ski industry in the state needs more oversight.
“I think more oversight would definitely be beneficial,” said state Sen. Willis Curdy.
Curdy is among a small group of Democratic lawmakers who believe Montana should consider resurrecting a Passenger Tramway Safety Board. The board, which was disbanded in 1997, was charged with inspecting and regulating chairlifts at Montana’s ski resorts. At least 21 states nationwide have similar tramway safety boards.
Prior to 1997, the Montana Board of Passenger Tramway Safety provided the U.S. Forest Service with annual lift inspection reports. Seven members served on the board.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers successfully argued in 1997 that the board was unnecessary, suggesting that the elimination of the board could save both the state and skiers money by getting rid of fees the state charged ski areas for inspections and oversight. Lawmakers also argued the state board was redundant since ski areas already had their lifts inspected annually to keep their special-use permits from the U.S. Forest Service.
The Forest Service opposed the elimination of the board. However, a bill abolishing it sailed through the Legislature with overwhelming support and was signed by then-Gov. Marc Racicot.
Curdy says it’s time to revisit that decision.
“I know there is not a lot of interest in tighter regulation, but it’s something that should be considered,” he said.
Curdy says he first began to discuss reviving the tramway safety board after a March 2023 incident where a 4-year-old boy and his father swung into a tower while riding a chairlift at Snowbowl ski area near Missoula. During that incident a chair seat broke off, knocking the child about 15 feet to the ground below.
Despite his thoughts about the need for more regulation, Curdy has not introduced legislation to resurrect the board because he says he believes it has little chance of becoming law.
“Politically, it’s probably not the best time,” Curdy said. “I could get a bill maybe through the House and Senate, but it’s what happens after that that’s a big question mark.”
Curdy says states like Vermont have set the standard when it comes to safety in the industry. Vermont, which has a tramway safety board, requires safety bars on all ski lifts at its 20 ski areas state-wide. Vermont ski areas also mandate that skiers and boarders lower those bars when riding chair lifts or face fines and penalties.
“They’re very serious about that. That’s why you always see a sign on the lift posting that Vermont law requires you to bring the chair lift safety bar down,” said Parker Riehle, who served as president of the Vermont Ski Areas Association for 12 years.
Riehle is no longer with the Vermont Ski Areas Association. While he continues to advocate for the ski industry, he now owns and operates his own company, Get On Snow, which focuses on snow sports.
“It’s always surprising for folks in the east to go west and find chairlifts with no safety bars at all, and I understand that’s just how the way of the west can be,” Riehle said.
Curdy argues there are lessons to be learned from Vermont
Chairlifts in the United States are supposed to follow standards set by ANSI, the American National Standards Institute. In 2017, ANSI changed its requirements, mandating that all new chairlifts come equipped with safety bars.
Most chairlifts in Montana are several decades old and aren’t required to meet those standards.
Riehle says retrofitting old ski lifts with safety bars also isn’t as easy as it might sound.
“It’s very complicated, not just costly. You add more weight to each chair and that makes an impact on how many chairs can be on a cable at one time and how they behave when they come around the towers with all the mechanics,” he said.
That leaves many ski resorts in Montana in a predicament. Many have aging chair lifts and infrastructure, operating in an industry with minimal oversight.
“Vermont does it for a reason there and there’s a good reason there. It goes back to skier safety, said Curdy.
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