A 65-year-old skier who says he plummeted during windy weather from a chairlift onto the ground below filed a $3.6 million lawsuit Friday against Willamette Pass ski resort, saying he suffered a fractured spine and has undergone a grueling recovery.

The lawsuit, filed by Lincoln County resident Paul Richmond, also states that the Peak 2 chairlift didn’t have a lap bar or safety restraint bar that he could have lowered in front of him and his 10-year-old grandson immediately after they sat down on the three-person chair on Jan. 15, 2023. The suit says the chair was swinging unpredictably from side to side as Richmond and his grandson clung to the armrests on either side of them and that the chair “flung” Richmond off after it passed the lift’s second supporting tower.

“He desperately grabbed ahold of the bottom of the Lift chair, hanging in mid-air to avoid falling some twenty-five to forty feet,” states the suit, which describes onlookers watching “the horrific scene of a man suspended high in the air clinging to the bottom of the Lift chair.”

After “several seconds,” Richmond fell to the ground and suffered compression and burst fractures to four of his vertebrae, as well as multiple soft-tissue injuries.

The suit faults what it lists as owners and operators of the resort: Mountain Capital Partners in Colorado, Oregon Skyway and Willamette Pass Holdings, as well as Willamette Pass Ski Patrol. Mountain Capital Partners declined to comment because of the pending litigation. None of the others could be reached for immediate comment for this story.

It’s unclear how fierce the winds were when Richmond fell from the lift. But powerful winds are a constant danger and ski resorts across the globe have struggled with when to shut down their lifts. Last year, an Italian ski resort was heavily criticized for allowing skiers onto a lift in 60- to 70-mph winds, as caught on harrowing video.

Within the past decade, the American National Standards Institute established a new standard that all new chairlifts should have restraint bars.

Many lifts, including older ones, already did. Mt. Hood Meadows, one of the closest to Portland, has the bars on every lift with the exception of the Heather and Blue lifts, the latter which operates on a back-up basis for Mt. Hood Express. Even though the resort bought bars to install on the Blue lift, the bars didn’t leave enough clearance as they passed the towers and couldn’t be used, said general manager Greg Pack.

Mt. Hood Skibowl’s lifts don’t have restraint bars, which aren’t mandated by law, noted spokesperson Mike Quinn.

The suit against Willamette Pass states that Richmond was a seasoned skier.

“Despite having only one leg due to a childhood amputation, Mr. Richmond was an experienced skier and enjoyed an active lifestyle, focused particularly on skiing and swimming,” the suit states. In the aftermath of his fall, however, “his life and daily activities have been adversely affected,” the suit states.

It says ski patrol transported Richmond to a first aid station and he remained there “for some time” before he ultimately was hospitalized for four days in Bend. The following month, he was hospitalized for two weeks for emergency back surgery in Corvallis and months after that he returned to a hospital for hernia repair surgery, the suit states.

The suit says Richmond’s medical bills have exceeded $330,000 and he anticipates future medical costs of $250,000.

The suit was filed in Lane County Circuit Court by attorneys Darian Stanford, Paul Conable and Sadie Concepción.

Willamette Pass’ five ski lifts and 555 acres are located about 70 miles southeast of Eugene. It is known as one of Oregon’s most affordable ski areas, with weekend adult lift tickets this month dipping as low as $37.