Rachel Zoe's husband says he had to let their son fall 30 feet from a ski lift because the 9-year-old couldn't breathe

Advertisement
Rachel Zoe's husband says he had to let their son fall 30 feet from a ski lift because the 9-year-old couldn't breathe
Designer Rachel Zoe (left) and Skyler Morrison Berman attend the Brooks Brothers holiday party with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital on December 5, 2015, in Beverly Hills, California. Donato Sardella/Getty Images for Brooks Brothers
  • Rachel Zoe and her husband, Rodger Berman, discussed their son Skyler's skiing accident on their podcast.
  • Berman said Skyler wasn't able to sit on the lift, so he dangled as his father held him up.
  • Berman said he had to drop Skyler 30 feet because Skyler's ski gear was strangling him.
Advertisement

Rachel Zoe and Rodger Berman revealed new information about their son's skiing accident on Tuesday's episode of their Apple podcast, "Work for Us with Rachel Zoe and Rodger Berman."

In December, Zoe said her 9-year-old son, Skyler, had fallen from a ski lift during a trip to Aspen, Colorado. Zoe initially said on her Instagram Story that the fall was 40 feet, but on the podcast the couple said it was closer to 30 feet, or about three stories.

They said Berman, Skyler, and their other son, Kaius, had been trying to sit on a ski lift with their ski instructor, Scott.

Berman said Skyler was never actually sitting on it because the seat was too high.

"Skyler never fell out of a ski lift," Berman said. "He never got on the ski lift."

Advertisement

A post shared by Rachel Zoe (@rachelzoe)

"It pushed him forward," Berman said, adding that Skyler started slipping.

Berman said he and Scott grabbed Skyler to prevent him from being run over by the ski lift.

Berman said he tried to get the operators to stop the ski lift, but it didn't stop. He said he and Scott each held one of Skyler's arms as the ski lift rose, adding that it stopped when their seat was about 30 feet above the ground.

Scott and Berman tried to get Skyler back into the chair, but they couldn't do it from their seated position, Berman said.

"We're up there literally holding on to Skyler for dear life," Berman said, adding, "I don't know how long it actually was, but it felt like forever."

Advertisement

A post shared by Rachel Zoe (@rachelzoe)

Skyler kicked his own right ski off, Berman said. Berman said Scott managed to kick his ski off and use his boot to remove Skyler's left ski so that Skyler wouldn't injure himself on his skis if he fell.

The couple said Luis Yllanes, who was snowboarding, saw that Skyler was in danger of falling and grabbed a mat for him to land on. Zoe called Yllanes their hero.

Berman said that even though there was a mat, he and Scott didn't want to drop Skyler - until Kaius noticed that Skyler's ski gear was strangling him.

"Kaius turned to me, and he goes, 'Daddy, daddy, Skyler can't breathe,'" Berman said on the podcast.

Berman said that they let him go and that Skyler fell on the mat, preventing any serious injuries.

Advertisement

Skyler has fully recovered - he even made an appearance on the podcast episode, assuring listeners that he was doing well and wasn't afraid to ski.

Rachel Zoe's husband says he had to let their son fall 30 feet from a ski lift because the 9-year-old couldn't breathe
Rachel Zoe, Skyler Morrison Berman, Rodger Berman, and Kaius Jagger Berman attend the Seventh Annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic, Los Angeles, at Will Rogers State Historic Park on October 15, 2016 in Pacific Palisades, California. Rich Polk/Getty Images for Veuve Cliquot

"I'm totally fine," Skyler said on the podcast. "I felt like I was going to be OK when I was hanging from the chair lift because I knew that there was snow.

"And also it looked pretty high," he said. "It was just, if I landed on any part other than my neck, I didn't think it would be fatal."

He added: "Thank you to everyone that called my mom and sent her stuff to see if I was OK, and just a lot of thanks to Luis.

"And I'm not scared to ski," Skyler went on, adding, "I'm not one of those people who, like, get hurt and then never do it again. Get back on the saddle, as some people say."

Advertisement

Zoe and Berman did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

{{}}