In March, according to a report made public last month by the Stowe Reporter, the state's workplace safety agency concluded that the lanyards Lewis wore to prevent catastrophic falls were old and worn - and likely failed as a result. More than six months later, the results of an investigation conducted by the Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration brought renewed grief. The fatal accident on one of Stowe's marquee summer attractions shook the community. As he neared the end, two lanyards that were supposed to keep riders fixed to the cable trolley burst apart, hurtling Lewis past the landing platform and into a tower. Lewis reached speeds as fast as 82 miles per hour, according to a personal GPS tracker he wore. For the final leg, a 3,484-foot line known as the Perry Merrill Zip, Lewis and a coworker slid down the pair of side-by-side cables so they would be able to then receive their guests at the bottom. Last September, Lewis was helping guide customers through the zip line's three steep spans. Riders soared at highway speeds just above the dense canopy. In warmer months, he assisted riders on the resort's massive zip-line course, one of the longest in the country. During the winters, he gave skiing lessons at Stowe Mountain Resort. In order to live near the mountain and support his three children, the 53-year-old also worked on it. Lewis hiked its trails and studied its topography with a joy that was palpable to those around him. He learned to ski on its slopes, and, once an adult and a father, he refashioned his life away from Wall Street in order to orbit Mansfield's peak. Scott Lewis let Mount Mansfield's pull him in. To those who behold them, mountains can exert an almost gravitational force.
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