People who sue skiers should be shot?

[ak_powder_monkey]

Why not just ski BC? not to many people there, and way more pow pow

[PrankMonkey]

About seven years ago, my dear old mum was out at breck for an instructors clinic and got crushed by an out of control snowboarder (it was on a blue too, what kind of pussy loses control on a blue) and the fucker just got up an slid away leaving her to try and get herself down to ski patrol. Ever since then her back has been completly fucked up (degenerating disks, sciatic nerve problems, etc, etc) . She's constantly in the physical therapist's office, she can't run or lift weights and she can only ski pussified groomers. Now I know that her first mistake was skiing Breck in the first place, but if I went from being able to ski nearly anything, to having to stick to groomers b/c a rough fall today means not walking tomorrow, I'd be fuckin pissed! I don't know who this jackass was, but it's fuckers like this that need to get shot. To have wreckless disregard for other peoples safety, potentially fucking up their entire lives, is on the drunk driving level of uncool. [decends from soapbox/]
On the same token, skiing is always a risk, and punitive damages are just retarded. Lawsuits should be aimed at actual losses due to an event, i.e. medical bills. In this case I think that the Physical therapists bills would have been plenty of punishment (perhaps w/ a good ass kicking thrown in)

[Arnold Pants]

First year Torts class all over again. Oh the horror.

Yes, assumption of risk will bar you from suing under most situations in most states. The scenarios described here probably won't cut it. To get into court, you'd need to show that the person who hit you (I picture a snowboarder, is that wrong?) was acting outside the bounds of normal ski area behavior - drunk, hitting people intentionally, straightlining in a full tuck on 220's, that sort of thing. It might help if they blew past a few SLOW signs. When you bought your ticket, you also waived your right to sue the resort (that's the small print on the ticket), though, depending on the state, that waiver may not be enforceable.

If that situation does occur, and you win a suit against the bastard, you can collect against whatever they've got, garnish their wages, all sorts of fun stuff. But, unless they are pretty well off, you probably won't get much.

As to whether you should? Well, seems to me that if you were badly injured by someone's dangerously reckless conduct, not just bad luck when someone pushed it and lost control (and ahem, who here hasn't done that?), that person has a moral, not just legal, responsibilty to make you whole. The court system unfortunately might be your only means of enforcing that responsiblity on them. And "whole" doesn't just mean paying your deductible, especially if you lose serious ski time, or have permanent injuries.

I'm not sure what more resorts can do about this sort of thing. I've worked speed patrol at Squaw, and while it can be kind of fun to pull over an out of control gaper and yell at them, it is a lot like speed traps on the road. For everyone one you stop, 20 more go whipping by. Clipping passes at 3pm on a Sunday afternoon, which is really the danger time, doesn't stop anyone, they're all headed back to the flatland anyway. Sure didn't worry me too much when I was 14 year punk ass kid. We tried to let patrol let us use paint pellet guns, and while I think they agreed in spirit, that was a non-starter. Otherwise, it's just more slow signs, more mazes, more rules.

Oh, of course they could slow down the lifts and limit ticket sales, but that ain't gonna happen.

[gramps]

Medical expenses are beside the point, a serious injury sucks, and you might never be the same again. If it's some out of control idiot, I'd make him pay, or at least get a fat settlement. Yeah, the legal system sucks, but getting a fat check could make the months of recovery go by a little quicker. I'd go for it, until something made me change my mind and let it go, which would probably happen pretty quickly. This really has nothing to do with suing the ski resort - that's never the right thing to do.

[random]

When I was learning how to ski at the Lake, this Japanese dude crashed into me… I don’t remember the incident at all, being all of 4 at the time but my parents tell the story a lot because after he crashed into me my brother who was 6ish started yelling at the guy. Apparently he didn’t speak a word of English, so he just kept bowing at me. Maybe I should track the guy down and blame my current knee/back issues on him?

I guess if it’s legit, there was gross negligence, and you need some bling to cover medical expenses, then ok… But people who exaggerate and use it as an excuse to get rich quick make me sick. Skiing = risk. If I were to skid on the road and crash into a street lamp I wouldn’t sue the city…

[seldon]

I'm not sure if suing is the right answer (especially for punitive damages) but I can definitely see that better enforcement of basic rules would be a good thing. 2 dickhead slowboarders ripped a beginner friends ACL getting of a lift (they jammed his tails into their rear strap in bindings intentionally and then split in directions, and skied off while myself, the liftie, and another of my friends ran over to help my friend who was screaming in pain. I'd fucking crush the bastards if I could remember his face and ran into him again.

But I can't imagine skiing w/o medical insurance... though I know people on the board do it, it seems like a pretty bad idea given the catastrophic injuries that occur in our sport.

[StormRider]

Don’t sue. Find (or become) your local Don Corleone.

[MikeB]

I try to take matters into my own hands and ski faster than anyone else (that way I can't get hit from behind). I also avoid groomers at all costs (although it's usually necessary to ski one back to the lift...). If people are dumb enough to be skiing out of control on a crowded run, and hit someone, they should be fair game for lawsuits...

[subtle plague]

Sue em all !
What the hell are you thinking about moral issues? you live in America the land of the sued ! Get your share !

[splat]

I have a friend who got hit by a snowboarder flying blind and out of control over the top of a steep. Almost took his knee out. Broke a new $100 poles. When he told the boarder he owed him a new set of poles, the boarder chukled and took off. About 300 yards later, my friend skied up on the boarder making his getaway, slid one ski on each side of his board and KO'd him, saying "I'll take $100 of satisfaction." Is that the correct thing to do?

[Mrs Roo]

Rape his wife/daughter/mother/sister , but don't sue.

Not even a winky makes this statement at all witty or amusing, JONG!
Learn some respect.


Re: litigation
The British don't sue, they just queue.

[yentna]

(I picture a snowboarder, is that wrong?)

Yes.
(I got hit from the side by a skier who launched off a wall hit and landed across traffic. I was stunned and woozy from the impact, and all I remember is the skier yelling at me for being a stupid snowboarder. So there are idiot people in both sports. Fair is fair...)

But I can't imagine skiing w/o medical insurance...

No kidding, the kinds of injuries we get? Injuries from our own dumb mistakes as well as those caused by out of control skiers and boarders...insurance is a need, not a want.

Not even a winky makes this statement at all witty or amusing, JONG!
Learn some respect.

Well said Mrs Roo. Rape is NEVER a joking matter, thanks.

[L7]

I have a friend who got hit by a snowboarder flying blind and out of control over the top of a steep. Almost took his knee out. Broke a new $100 poles. When he told the boarder he owed him a new set of poles, the boarder chukled and took off. About 300 yards later, my friend skied up on the boarder making his getaway, slid one ski on each side of his board and KO'd him, saying "I'll take $100 of satisfaction." Is that the correct thing to do?

He opened with the opportunity of letting the boarder make it right, boarder laughed and took off. Yep that was absolutely one of the right things to do.

[sea2ski]

[QUOTE=Arnold Pants]When you bought your ticket, you also waived your right to sue the resort (that's the small print on the ticket), though, depending on the state, that waiver may not be enforceable.
QUOTE]

You would think you couldn't sue. However, having placed enough ad time for ambulance chasers, a good lawyer can usually find a way to sue. An example I would use was a Denver lawyer who sued Keystone. The case involved a skier who had gotten drunk and smashed into a tree and killed himself. The family sued and got around that waiver on the back because he had gotten drunk at one of the bars the mountain owned.

I think most people on this board would say the family of the guy who was killed should look at the situation and accept that his actions were the cause of this tragic event. The jury didn't see it that way.

[Benny Profane]

I have a friend who got hit by a snowboarder flying blind and out of control over the top of a steep. Almost took his knee out. Broke a new $100 poles. When he told the boarder he owed him a new set of poles, the boarder chukled and took off. About 300 yards later, my friend skied up on the boarder making his getaway, slid one ski on each side of his board and KO'd him, saying "I'll take $100 of satisfaction." Is that the correct thing to do?

Please explain that move a little better. Sounds good.

[mrw]

My daughter got her clock cleaned by an out of control snowrider (political correctness here). The ahole kept right on going leaving her splattered. If I found him, I would have needed the lawyer. He would have needed a hospital.

[365wp]

A friend of my gf was skiing and got hit hard by a snowboarder...shattered her knee. He rode away...the people with her were too busy taking care of her to go after him.

[midget]

That's the way it should be.

If you hit someone and fuck them up, you're responsible for their medical bills.

If you hit them, fuck them up for life, they should be able to sue you for as much as they want.

If someone hits an object, natural or man made, they shouldn't be able to sue the resort.

Wow, I agree too.
If you hit an object that's your tough shit that you weren't paying attention, unless the object is a resort snowmobile hauling ass up the run you are on......but that, the resort shouldn't be held liable, it should be the dumbshit driver.