By Bill Lindelof blindelof@sacbee.com
A line from a nearby lift tangled with another Lake Tahoe lift occupied by a man and his wife, knocking the man out of the ride and onto the rocks 50 feet below, a fall that killed him Monday.
El Dorado County sheriff's officials today released details of the incident that claimed the life of Mark Alan Dickson and injured his wife, Rebecca Gonzaga.
Dickson, 51, of Glendora in Los Angeles County and his wife, Rebecca Gonzaga, 47, were riding on Heavenly Lake Tahoe's Tamarack Express Chair about 2 p.m. Monday when the chair tangled with a rope that was part of a zip line, a high-speed ride that takes strapped-in riders downhill on a cable.
El Dorado County sheriff's officials said Dickson died at Heavenly Lake Tahoe's Base Lodge first aid station.
Gonzaga did not fall from the chair lift but suffered a leg injury and was treated at Barton Memorial Hospital.
Exact cause of the accident is unknown, but preliminary indications are that there was a malfunction with part of the zip line coming in contact with the chair lift.
"This appears to be an accident," said El Dorado County sheriff's Lt. Les Lovell. "One of the guide ropes from the zip line became entangled with the adjacent chair lift and ended up catching the chair lift cable and around the female's leg. That may have kept her from getting her thrown out of the chair."
The chair, which was being ridden downhill by the couple, was upended and spilled Dickson onto the rocks, but the Gonzaga was able to hang on.
"It is still unclear to me how this rope could have come across and connected with the chair," said Lovell. "We are going to have to continue our investigation on that. But it looks like there was enough slack in the rope that allowed it to swing over and catch on the chair lift."
The rope is not part of the apparatus that straps in zip line riders for the elevated ride downhill.
"It is a secondary rope," he said. "There is either a retrieval rope or a rope that runs alongside the zip line that developed a bunch of slack in it. I'm not sure if it was a malfunction or something else happened."
Lovell said it was windy on the mountain Monday.
The couple was on their honeymoon and had planned to live in the South Lake Tahoe area, Lovell said.
The ski resort's Web site says the "Heavenly Flyer, a ZipRider experience" is at Adventure Peak. Participants take the Heavenly gondola to an elevation of 9,156 feet. From there, participants take the Tamarack Express to get to the zip line take-off deck.
The elevated zip line is billed as the longest such ride in the contiguous 48 states.
Lovell said an independent investigation will be undertaken by an organization that investigates chair lift and tram accidents. He said the investigation will look at possible malfunctions and the wind conditions.
"Right now it is too early to say," what caused the accident, he said.
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Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.
