(Editor’s note: The video below contains language some might find offensive.)
LAKE LOUISE – What’s the last thing you’d expect to see riding up a chairlift?
If that is someone flying through the air at you and crashing into a downloading chair, then you missed out on a rare occurrence.
On March 2, skier Ivan Jones of Idaho, took to the air off a natural jump and smashed into the Top of the World Express at Lake Louise Ski Resort.
The incident was caught on video and has pulled in more than 26 million views on the original post and millions more across multiple reposts from other accounts.
Dan Markham, a spokesperson for Lake Louise Ski Resort, said they don't condone the actions of the video, and encourage skiers and riders to use the terrain parks when looking to catch air-time.
"We have terrain parks for those kinds of things. We also have a mountain competitions that were held that weekend, last weekend, as well, for people to be able to do things in a safe environment," said Markham.
Markham said the area where the skier took to the skies won't be blocked off as it's a regular part of the resort and there are multiple similar places in which someone could possibly do the same thing.
"We couldn't really lock off that area because there's multiple places all over the resort where people could do something like that, but we highly advise and discourage against it," said Markham.
Ski and Bike Magazine reported in the original post shared on social media that Jones walked away with only some bruising.
"Our ski patrol team, of course, saw the individual when he skied down, he was able to ski down, [he] came to the patrol shop and our guys did an evaluation on him and then returned to his parents," said Markham.
He said that it "could have been more tragic" if there were people on the chairlift that Jones hit.
Jones posted the video to his personal Instagram with one-word caption, "oops."
Professional skier Cole Richardson of Canmore commented on the viral video on social media saying, "It was always something that was talked about but never thought it was ever gonna actually happen."
Jones did not get back to the Outlook before the time of publishing. However, Jones took to social media and wrote "please don't try and copy this, risking your health is not worth interview views."
"I'm so very grateful to walk away without any major injuries last weekend. I have a tweaked knee and some slight concussion symptoms. This is a rare case of extreme luck, and this could have been very different. I am not immortal, the universe just decided to spare me and I'm very blessed to have my health. Thank you to everyone who's checked in. I uploaded the video because it's my story and I thought it was funny. I was not doing this as a publicity stunt, it just happened and I decided to share it," Jones wrote.
Markham said that this type of incident has not happened at Lake Louise before.
