Ski Resort Fined $43K over Worker Death

ski resort

The Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OR-OSHA) fined Mt. Hood Skibowl LLC $43,180, including a $40,265 “Serious” penalty tied to a workplace fatality, after an investigation into an April 30 chairlift maintenance basket failure that killed a 30-year-old technician and critically injured another worker.
Investigators found Skibowl purchased a new CH-61D maintenance basket from Superior Tramway Co. in August 2025 but never trained staff on the manufacturer’s safety limits — including a 35-degree maximum cable incline and a requirement that workers stay on the basket’s lower platform while moving — and could produce no legally required training plan when OSHA requested it.
The report determined the basket was operated on a slope that exceeded the 35-degree limit while both workers rode on the upper and lower decks, causing it to strike a tower guide assembly with enough force to dislodge from the cable and send the men falling roughly 30 feet before tumbling another 105 feet down the mountain.
OSHA also cited Skibowl for a second serious violation after finding its safety committee hadn’t met since Jan. 29, and only convened while the resort was open to the public. Oregon OSHA says that left year-round maintenance staff without a safety reporting channel.
Skibowl is formally contesting the citations in court.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened an investigation into the death of a foreman with BK2 Electrical & Design after he died while working at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri.
Fire department dispatch logs show the Columbia Fire Department responded to a medical call at the stadium’s construction zone on June 5, with a report obtained by KOMU 8 News describing an incident involving a reported electrocution and energized wires, though identifying details were redacted.
BK2 Electrical & Design publicly acknowledged Sooter’s death in a June 13 Facebook post describing him as “a leader, a mentor, a friend, a brother, and a man of faith,” and a GoFundMe has been set up to support his wife, Angela.