Woman dies in fall from Utah resort chairlift

SALT LAKE CITY - A 19-year-old University of Utah student likely suffered a medical episode before she fell from a ski lift at a popular Park City ski resort and died, an official said Monday.

The woman dropped about 30 feet from the High Meadow lift at Canyons Ski Resort just before noon Sunday, resort spokesman Steve Pastorino said.

"There was no malfunction of the lift," Pastorino said. "Other than a brief delay, the lift was not taken out of service."

Ski patrol arrived on the scene within one minute of the fall, and the woman was pronounced dead a few hours later, he said.

The woman, who authorities haven't named, was with friends on the lift at the time of the incident. The resort said she was a college student.

Pastorino said it wasn't immediately clear if the woman and her friends had been using the lift's safety bar when she fell.

The High Meadow lift serves the mid-mountain area largely leading to beginners' slopes, and ranges from roughly 15 to 50 feet off the ground.

The investigation was being handled by the Summit County Sheriff's Office, which was expected to release additional details later Monday.