Two Remain Hospitalized After Tubing Accident at Woodbury Ski Area [UPDATE]

Update, 1:28 p.m.

All tubing runs are open following the accident, Rod Taylor told Patch. He declined to comment specifically on the Jan. 1 accident but addressed questions of safety.

"The tubing runs are very safe, but customers have to use common sense," he said. "Start out on the beginner runs."

Woodbury Ski Area has 20 tubing runs, ranging from beginner to expert, Taylor said.

"Our expert trails are expert," he said. "All the problems happen when people start out on the expert trail because it looks good. It's just like driving — if you want to drive 80 miles per hour and go crazy — well, it's the same with tubing."

Children ages 10 and younger are required to wear helmets but he said people don't always want to pay to rent them. He said there are signs on the trails, staff who inform people of safety and a release form that must be signed prior to tubing.

"We give all recommendations but the bottom line is, people don't listen and then they get hurt," said Taylor.

Original article, 1:16 p.m.

Two people remain in intensive care, one at Saint Mary's Hospital and the other at Waterbury Hospital, following a tubing accident at Woodbury Ski Area, according to Fire Marshal Janet Morgan.

The accident occurred on Jan. 1.

"We were called there for an accident at around 6:30 at night," Morgan said. "Five people were taken to the hospital and three were released that night."

This is not the first such incident at the Woodbury business. In January 2012, three people were hospitalized after a snow tubing accident at Woodbury Ski Area.

The accident is still under investigation by the Woodbury fire marshal's office, the Connecticut State Police and the Bureau of Elevators and Lifts, she said.

According to its website, the Bureau of Elevators is responsible for certification and inspections of elevators, escalators, dumbwaiters, moving walks, private residence elevators, tramways and personnel hoists used for construction and demolition.

Woodbury Ski Area owner Rod Taylor was not available for comment as he was on the slopes. Patch will update the article with more information as it becomes available.