A skier at a Southern California ski resort recently shared her experience of nearly falling from a chairlift, describing the feeling of being “deadly high.” The incident, which was captured on video, occurred at Big Bear Mountain when Lula de Miranda Arce slipped from her seat and dangled in mid-air, with only her twin sister and best friend able to grasp her.
“Oh, I’m definitely going to die,” Lula recalled in an interview this week, reflecting on the terrifying day spent on the slopes. “I looked down, and it was so high up that it looked like death.” Initially, her twin sister, Raisel de Miranda-Arce, thought it was a joke. “I thought she was joking, and I was like, ‘Hahaha, whatever, dude.’ But then she said, ‘No, I’m serious. I need help,'” Raisel explained.
As the situation became more dire, Raisel and Makenna Dumlao sprang into action, desperately trying to help Lula, who was visibly terrified. At one point, screams echoed as Lula struggled against the fear of plummeting to the ground.
Even though her friends urged her to stop moving, Lula admitted that panic took over. “I wasn’t even thinking about moving; I was just panicking,” she said. Ultimately, the trio managed to hold on until they reached a point where Lula could place her skis on the snow safely.
Raisel noted that without the lift’s safety bar, the outcome could have been much worse. “Seriously, put the bar down,” she advised other skiers. It’s still a mystery how Lula slipped through the safety bar in the first place.
Big Bear Mountain is situated around 40 miles east of San Bernardino. The resort later commented, saying, “As soon as our staff became aware of the situation, they acted quickly to stop the lift and ensure everyone was safely brought down.” Thankfully, there were no major injuries reported.
Earlier this month, another alarming video surfaced showing a 12-year-old girl hanging from a chairlift before falling at Mammoth Mountain, highlighting concerns over lift safety.
