Rachel Zoe and Rodger Berman detail son Skyler’s chairlift accident: ‘He started getting strangled’

Skyler, now 10, said he’s ‘totally fine’

Rachel Zoe and Rodger Berman at an event on 22 October 2019 in Beverly Hills, California (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)

Rachel Zoe and her husband Rodger Berman have opened up about the accident that saw her young son fall about 30 feet from a chairlfit.

Zoe and Berman detailed the event in the latest episode of their podcast, Works for Us with Rachel Zoe and Rodger Berman.

The incident occurred in December 2020. Berman was skiing with Skyler, who is now 10, and his other son with Zoe, Kaius. The group also was accompanied by a ski instructor called Scott, whom Berman described as a “huge hero” after the incident.

Berman and Zoe also featured a snowboarded named Luis Yllanes, who placed a mat underneath Skyler to help him land safely. The pair titled the podcast episode “Skyler's Fall: A Conversation with Hero, Luis Yllanes”.

Berman explained that he, Skyler, Kaius, and Scott all got on the chairlift together. He said he noticed that the lift was “just a little bit higher than normal”, meaning it hit Skyler “above his butt” and “pushed him forward”.

Berman said he and Scott each grabbed one of Skyler’s arms. “Skyler never fell out of a ski lift, he never got on the ski lift,” the father said.

According to Berman, the chair was about 28 feet high when the lift stopped. At that point, he said he and Scott worked to get Skyler’s skis off, so that he wouldn’t injure himself by falling onto them.

Even after Yllanes placed a mat underneath Skyler, Berman and Scott remained reluctant to let go of the boy, worried he wouldn’t land on the surface.

Eventually, though, Kaius pointed out to his dad that Skyler’s ski gear was impairing his ability to breathe.

“When you’re holding onto someone for that long – his helmet, his jacket, all that stuff started going up to his neck, and ultimately he started getting strangled. Kaius turned to me and went, ‘Daddy Daddy, Skyler can’t breathe,’” Berman said.

At this point, Berman, Scott, and Skyler had no choice but to all let go. Skyler ended up falling but quickly sought to reassure his father, telling him from the ground that he thought he was OK.

Skyler shared an audio message with listeners of the podcast, stating that he’s now “totally fine” and that the accident has not put him off skiing.