article_snippet: On Saturday afternoon, David Segre, who was standing in the crowded lift line, described the terrifying moment the machine started traveling backward, picking up speed by the second.
article_snippet: It was like a gear had let loose and a gear was slowly picking up speed going the wrong way.
article_snippet: So all the chairs... all the chairs were slipping backward,' said the 42-year-old skier. '
article_snippet: And as gravity works all the chairs started to go faster and faster and people were jumping off at the lower levels,' the 42-year-old skier added, estimating that a ski lift traveled backward for up to 300 yards before stopping.