Pennsylvania parents are facing endangerment charges after their young son fell out of a ski lift he was riding in alone. Micah Porter and his wife, Maya, were out skiing with their three children. The family separated, and Maya was left skiing with them alone. Apparently, her youngest child doesn’t like to listen, as many kids don’t, and didn’t heed her warnings to wait before going up the ski lift. Because he knows what he’s doing, he figured everything would be fine, but that wasn’t the case. Thankfully, the boy was wearing a very good ski helmet, because it saved his life.
The boy got away from his family.
The 5-year-old boy was skiing with his family at Blue Knob Ski Resort in Kimmel Township on March 1, 2026, when the incident took place, read an affidavit for probable cause obtained by People. He was riding on the ski lift alone when he fell 20 feet into the snow. The affidavit also claims that it took resort staff 15 minutes to locate his parents afterward.
The lift operator told police he had seen Micah Porter get on the ski lift with the boy and his brother that day. When he saw them next, however, the little boy wasn’t with them.
The dad allegedly told investigators that the boy had ridden the lift by himself only once before, per People. He had allegedly missed the chair and was right behind his dad. But the lift operator told police he’d seen the boy get on the lift by himself three or four times that day.
Micah and Maya Porter were charged with one felony count each of endangering the welfare of a child, People reported. They were arraigned on April 21 before being released on unsecured bail. Micah Porter’s bail was set at $50,000, and Maya Porter’s was set at $30,000.
The fall was an accident.
Resort Mountain Manager Gary Deitke spoke with state police later in March about the incident, WTAJ reported. He explained that the boy told him he fell when he twisted around in the lift chair while trying to adjust his goggles.
Deitke also told police that when he spoke to the boy’s father, he explained that his son was capable of riding the lift alone.
Micah Porter also spoke to state police, telling them he heard a person asking for someone with the last name Porter. That’s when he heard about his son falling from the ski lift. When he was taken to the boy, he found him wearing a neck brace.
Days after the incident, the manager spoke with WTAJ, saying he talked to the Porters and their son after he was released from the hospital. The boy told Deitke that he was ready to come back to Blue Knob and ski.
Wearing a helmet saved the boy’s life.
After the incident, the Porters and their son, whose name is Brody, sat down for an interview with WTAJ about the incident.
“It was really really scary, the initial feeling of shock and sadness,” Micah Porter said of finding out about his son’s fall.
Despite not feeling any tenderness or soreness at the scene, the boy was life-flighted to Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital to check for any injuries that might not be immediately noticeable. “You don’t really know with that type of an incident if there’s something that you don’t see or that doesn’t flare up right away,” Micah Porter said, per WTAJ. Shockingly, doctors confirmed he didn’t have any injuries.
“The first thing the doctor said to me was helmets save lives,” Maya Porter shared. The parents explained that they had gone through an intensive search for the best possible gear for their kids.
“We went through that process of finding them these helmets that were fitted to their heads, we did the wobble test, we have like the most industrial helmets,” she said.
Apparently, Brody is quite the skier.
Brody told the interviewer his favorite part of skiing is “Going fast.” His need for speed on the slopes is evidently what contributed to his tumble from the ski lift. Even though he’s only been skiing for two years, he got ahead of his mom while going down the mountain.
“I asked him to wait for me at the bottom, but kids just don’t always listen,” his mother said. Instead of waiting, he got impatient and got back on the ski lift and fell.
Brody really enjoys skiing with his older siblings, and they love it too, they told WTAJ. “He’s the best brother in the world, and I love skiing with him,” older brother Silas said.
Speaking about his brother’s accident, the boy had a reminder. “It’s very important to like, have your helmet on and be safe,” he said.
