The victim is reportedly doing well after the harrowing rescue.
The brave man who saved an unconscious skier as he hung from a chairlift has been hailed a hero.
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Mickey Wilson’s quick thinking and incredible climbing skills helped save a skier hanging by his own backpack as he loomed over the snow at about 11 a.m. on the Lenawee Mountain Lift in Colorado Wednesday.
“I said we need to get to this guy! He’s dying,” Wilson told Inside Edition. “He's lifeless, hanging like he's being hung. That's when people yell, ‘he's being choked! He’s being choked!”
Wilson and his buddies tried to form a human pyramid to reach him, but the snow was too deep and slippery.
Wilson, who has a bachelor’s degree in physics and a master’s in microelectronic material with an emphasis in solar cell physics, recalled: “He had already been unconscious for two minutes and the clock was ticking.”
The rescuer, who also happens to be a professional slackliner, said: “I climbed up the tower, 20-foot-high and across the 20-foot-long cable climbed down onto the chairlift.”
He said “it didn’t matter” he was risking his life to save the man in distress.
“The fact that he was gonna die was almost certain,” he said. “I wasn't thinking about risking my life.”
Wilson tried to kick the backpack loose but the strap wouldn't break, so he yelled down for a knife which was thrown to him and he was able to cut the man down.
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The ski patrol quickly resuscitated the skier and he's now doing just fine.
“He wants me to tell you guys he's doing really well,” Wilson said.
Inside Edition demonstrated a safe way to take a backpack on a ski lift which is to have it in the front of you at all times when riding the gondola.
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