VAIL, Colo. -- What a way to start the New Year.

A lift mishap left a skier at Vail hanging from the lift, half naked.

The chairlift's fold-down seat was not in the correct position, which caused the man to partially fall through the resulting gap, according to the Smoking Gun Web site.

The Web site said the man's right ski got jammed in the chairlift, the man's pants got stuck on the chair, so he ended up hanging from the lift with his pants down as the lift ascended the hill.

Skiers near the Skyline Express lift took several pictures showing the half-naked man hanging upside down without his pants. Those uncensored pictures are on the Smoking Gun's Web site.

The lift was stopped shortly after the botched boarding but it took workers about 15 minutes to back the lift and rescue the man.

"Lift operators immediately stopped the lift and Vail Ski Patrol was called to the scene. Lift mechanics were able to reverse the lift approximately 10 to 12 feet, at which point the man was released. He was not injured," said Vail Resorts spokeswoman Liz Biebl in a news release issued on Tuesday.

The man has not been identified and is not recognizable in the photos on the Smoking Gun Web site. Vail Resorts told Denver television station KMGH that the 48-year-old skier was "suspended for approximately seven minutes."

Biebl did not explain what happened during boarding other than to say that the skier "attempted to load a chair" when he was "caught on the chair and was suspended."