THIS is the harrowing moment a girl, 12, plunged from a chairlift before narrowly missing a safety net and smashing into the icy slopes of a US mountain.
Footage shared on TikTok shows the urgent – but unsuccessful – operation to save the snowboarder in Mammoth Mountain in California.
Gripping tightly to a person’s hand, she is seen dangling 28 feet in the air for at least 15 second, kicking her feet in despair.
Mountain staff rushed to assist, dragging padding and a net underneath to catch her.
Despite her best efforts, the girl plummeted to the ground, missing the net.
In the moments after the incident, she is seen slowly lifting her head as emergency services check in on her.
Read more on ski incidents
Shared by influencer, Hello Kristen, the video is titled “The importance of using a ski lift safety bar.”
“I wasn’t going to post this but I know so many people who argue with me about putting the bar down,” the caption reads.
“It’s mandatory in Europe and it should be here.”
It is still unclear how the incident happened and whether it was caused by the girl not putting down the safety bar.
One person in the comment section of the video, who claimed to know her and her family assured everyone that she had not suffered any major injuries.
People quickly described what happened as their “literal nightmare as a child” and a “scene from a horror movie”.
The incident comes as The Sun reported on the death of a 22-year-old Australian woman in a ski lift accident while on a working holiday in Japan.
Brooke Day sustained critical injuries while snowboarding at the Tsugaike Mountain ski resort in Otari, after her backpack got tangled in a lift buckle.
It is understood that she was dragged through the snow while her chest strap was still fastened.
Resort staff pressed an emergency button to stop the lift and Brooke, who had reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest, was taken to hospital in an ambulance.
Tragically, she was pronounced dead shortly afterwards on Sunday.
