Legal Mags and others...Interesting skiing Liability Case

[fomofo]

Anybody know how much this guy got because of Vail lifty’s inattention?


That made me always check chairs coming around the bullwheel to make sure the bench is down.

If anyone's unclear on what that's all about this article by Edward Stoner should fill in some blanks...

https://www.vaildaily.com/news/vail-...bout-7-minutes

[Shred Baron]

After the lift op didn’t heed Grandpa’s yelling to “back the chair up”, he purposely exited the chair and collapsed like a rag doll on landing.

Putting a lift in reverse isn’t always as easy as just pushing “start reverse”. I’m not super familiar with Bachelors vintage of lifts, but sometimes there’s a log in (lifty may not be given access to) and then selecting reverse, then a start. If you expect that they can/will reverse a lift to make up for your shortcomings, you may be in for a bad time.



Sent from my iPhone using TGR Forums

[TBS]

^^^In my case there was the added problem of people already sitting on the following chair. Disgorging them or backing them backwards around the bullwheel were not really feasible options.

Especially when they could just put the kid on a following chair - couldn’t be any more unsafe with randoms than with Grandpa & uncle

[goldenboy]

The bottom terminal on the Paradise chair where the girl was injured now has not one, but two big signs reminding the lifties to "look up the line". I've been watching them since I read the article a few days ago and I don't think they actually do look up the line all that much.

[Brownski]

If there was no liftie at the controls, the hill is gonna have a problem. That being said, it’s on us to know how to get on and off the lift. Know the code

[fomofo]

In March of 2022, 16-year-old Annie Miller boarded the Paradise Express with her father, Mike, at the end of the first day of their ski vacation in Crested Butte, Colorado. The Oklahoma teen slipped from her seat as the lift rose from the bottom terminal, holding onto the chair as it climbed to 30 feet before she lost her grip, falling onto the hard pack below. She shattered her C7 vertebrae, suffered bruising to her heart, injured her lung, and lacerated her liver. The accident has left her paralyzed from the waist down.

According to the Millers, they, as well as the people standing in the lift line, were screaming for the lift operator to stop the chairlift from the time she boarded until the chair traveled 30 feet in the air, but that there were no operators standing at the lift controls. The lawsuit filed in December of 2022 claims that because of this, Crested Butte “consciously and recklessly disregarded the safety of Annie.”

https://www.skimag.com/news/vail-res...sort-liability

UPDATE 05/21/24

A decision that just came down from the Colorado Supreme Court has the potential to disrupt the state’s ski industry. The seven justices of the state’s highest court ruled 5-2 that the broad liability waivers we all sign when we purchase our lift tickets don’t hold ski resorts immune from lawsuits in all situations.

https://www.skimag.com/news/colorado...t-fall-lawsuit

[halliday]

UPDATE 05/21/24

A decision that just came down from the Colorado Supreme Court has the potential to disrupt the state’s ski industry. The seven justices of the state’s highest court ruled 5-2 that the broad liability waivers we all sign when we purchase our lift tickets don’t hold ski resorts immune from lawsuits in all situations.

https://www.skimag.com/news/colorado...t-fall-lawsuit

When you are skiing you are kind of on your own to make decisions regarding terrain, obstacles, etc. When you are interacting with the lift machinery that is a different story. There is a reason that operators need to be present and watching what is going on. Ski resorts and their lift operators definitely have a high level of liability once you are making contact with their equipment.

[Core Shot]

Sure. If a lift malfunctions you should be able to sue.

This wasn’t a lift problem. It was a user problem. Allegedly some people shouted out to the liftie to stop the ride. But he wasn’t there or wasn’t paying attention. Even if the liftie was on his game You can still fall from a lift and get hurt.

Not the best outcome long term for ticket prices. Also expect automatic lift bars coming to a resort near you (in Colorado)

[halliday]

I get it but they need to present and on the job. More than likely fault probably lies with the skier.

[TBS]

This ruling just sez CO’s Ski Safety Act doesn’t give resorts blanket protections against any and all claims, especially when it sure looks like VR has culpability.

So it goes back to the lower court to be heard on merits.

Sounds like CO is catching up to OR’s liability environment

I wonder if the Miller’s insurance company is paying for and driving this litigation

[singlesline]

I wonder if the Miller’s insurance company is paying for and driving this litigation

Nah, this is being driven by a big Denver Personal Injury firm that's probably working on contingency.

I don't think an insurance company would expend this much effort on a risky case (that required a visit to the state supreme court just to proceed) just to subrogate their medical expenses. This case needs the lure of a potential multi-million non-economic damages number to be worth the effort.

Though the insurance company will still benefit--usually they have the right to recapture any medical expenses they paid out when there's a PI settlement (which is part of why when you sue someone, you ask for the $200k the surgery "cost," not the $1000 in copays/deductibles you actually paid).

[old goat]

That there should be a lift operator able to stop a lift in an emergency seems like a no brainer. I have seen lift ops do this multiple times. People will still fall off of lifts and hurt themselves but if the lift is stopped promptly (which doesn't mean instantly) I don't see suits being successful. BTW has anyone ever seen a deployment, successful or otherwise, of the "deceleration" nets that have appeared just above the loading ramps recently. Seems unlikely that one could be used in time.

Lift op failed to notice that the people in line behind us sat in the chair we were waiting for before it reached us. We were knocked into the pit. No one hurt. Lift op failed to notice that the snowboarders behind us had grabbed our safety bar to pull themselves forward and pulled the bar down in the process, knocking us over and the chair then hit me in the head. No injury. (Some might claim otherwise.) I'm all for anything that makes resorts keep their lift ops awake and alert. And for shit's sake--anyone who fucks up loading the lift gets to go to the end of the line, not get on the next chair.

[halliday]

^^Fucking snowboarders

[rideit]

Didn’t know where else to put this…

https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/02/...ity-precedent/

[byates1]

Unleash an army of Luigi's on ppl that sue ski areas.

[old goat]

There's a little detail in that piece that caught my attention. The witness says he passed the victim "previously" and turned right and the victim skied across the tails of his skis. Sounds to me like the witness was at fault for passing the guy and then turning right in front of him so the guy didn't have a chance to react.

If SV loses the case it seems like something the legislature can straighten out. Or since the courts and legislators are mostly lawyers, maybe they prefer a suit-happy environment.

[Harry]

There's a little detail in that piece that caught my attention. The witness says he passed the victim "previously" and turned right and the victim skied across the tails of his skis. Sounds to me like the witness was at fault for passing the guy and then turning right in front of him so the guy didn't have a chance to react.

If SV loses the case it seems like something the legislature can straighten out. Or since the courts and legislators are mostly lawyers, maybe they prefer a suit-happy environment.

Good point, that “witness” is an asshole, and so is the deceased. Opening weekend, only one run open, two intermediate dudes bombing down in poor control. The D in WROD is for Death, exactly what happened after those two assholes collided.

Why is the ski area being sued?