Sixteen Teen-Age Campers Injured By Runaway Ski Lift At White Pass

At least 16 high-school students were injured at the White Pass ski area when they jumped from a runaway ski lift yesterday, Lewis County authorities said.

Nine were taken to hospitals in Yakima.

One student, 15-year-old Douglas Morse, of Spokane, was admitted to Saint Elizabeth Hospital with a broken leg and a sprained thumb. Another student, Mathew Davis, 15, also of Spokane, was admitted with abdominal pain, a broken right ankle and a sprained left ankle. Both were in stable condition, said Barbara Hood, hospital spokeswoman.

Susan Bonogofski, 17, and Trinity Henshaw, 16, both of Spokane, were treated and released, Hood said.

About 36 students, part of a cross-country running camp being held at the ski area, were coming down the ski lift when it malfunctioned, injuring the students before the operator could stop it, said Jerry Grill, spokesman for the Lewis County Department of Emergency Services.

Grill said an additional eight to 10 students were treated for scrapes and bruises at the scene.

Christine Dehlendorf, 15, of Seattle said she was riding the lift about 200 feet from the bottom when she felt it speed up suddenly.

``It seemed like it kept going faster,'' Dehlendorf said. ``I saw all the chairs swinging out, and I saw one of the chairs fall off.''

Dehlendorf had to jump off the lift at the bottom and was struck in the back by the chair when she tried to get out the way. She

said she was not injured, but the incident did leave her shaken.

``I didn't really have time to think about being scared until after I jumped off,'' she said.

Another passenger on the lift, Emily Johnson, 16, of Spokane, said she felt the lift speed up, then stop.

She said she was stuck on the lift, about 65 feet off the ground, for 1 1/2 hours before personnel from the lodge lowered her by rope to the ground.

``It was really cold and it was really scary,'' Johnson said.

Both girls were taken to Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital, where Johnson was treated for shock and released. Dehlendorf not treated.

Three other Spokane students were hospitalized briefly, then released. They were identified as Will Martin, 17, with a cut and bruised hip; Dan Halsted, 17, with a broken foot and elbow; and Michele Glenn, 16, who had been shaken up.

Grill said the cause of the malfunction was not known.

The White Pass ski area has four chairlifts, three of which were not operating at the time of the accident, said Mary Mahre of the White Pass lodge.

She said the lift that failed, chair No. 1, is kept running during the summer for recreational use by hikers and sightseers.

About 140 students from high schools across the state were taking part in the Clear Lake Running Camp, which began Sunday and ended today, Dehlendorf said.