5 skiers were hospitalized due to a chairlift malfunction at the Lake Tahoe winter resort

Five people were hospitalized Monday after a chairlift apparently malfunctioned on the Nevada side of Heavenly Mountain Resort, which straddles both sides of the California-Nevada border in the Lake Tahoe region.

The incident occurred in the early hours when the Tahoe Douglas Fire Protection District responded to the scene around 10 a.m. local time. Two locomotives and three ambulances were sent.

A fire department statement reported that five people were subsequently hospitalized in Reno, Nevada.

Three people suffered injuries directly related to a fall from the ski lift.

The chair they were sitting on seemed to slide backwards, eventually hitting the chair behind it.

The length of the fall onto the snow was estimated to be approximately 30 feet.

According to a recording of the 911 call obtained via Broadcastify, two of the people were described by firefighters as a 60-year-old man and a 71-year-old man. The former was reportedly wearing a helmet at the time of his fall, but suffered loss of consciousness.

The same recording noted the presence of a third injured person and indicated that a rescue aircraft may be required at the scene.

While the cause of the incident is still unclear, the weather system that hit the West Coast over the weekend was responsible for producing strong winds in parts of the Sierra Nevada mountains, where a weather monitoring station was located at the highest point at Heavenly Mountain Ski Resort reported on Sunday, a day before the chairlift incident, a gust of 78 mph.

A spokesman for the ski resort confirmed Monday that an “incident” had occurred at the Comet Express chairlift, saying, “The safety of our guests is our top priority and the resort is investigating the incident.”