Ski Safety and the Law
The merchants along Miner Street in Idaho Springs always know what season it is without consulting a calendar. When the fall leaves are changing, it may be hard to find parking in front of their shop, when mud season arrives it might be a good occasion to put up a "closed" sign and go to visit family out of state and, when the ski season arrives I-70 traffic will likely lead to diversions such as replacement mittens for a pair forgotten at home, or a slice of mountain pie at day's end at Beau Jo's.
The fact is that ski season is again is upon us and is an economic tour de force for the local economy as well as much of the State. Even in a law practice there is a seasonal market of clients connected to skiing. Inevitably, people will have rear-enders on the icy roads leading to lawsuits, truckers will be cited for chain law violations and out of bounds skiers will cause avalanches and be cited into court for their thrill seeking; all experiences which may engender a call to a lawyer for advice or representation.
But the law, which most directly addresses skiing, with my apologies to snowboarders who are certainly included in thoughts of law (but who a few skiers regard as their own brand of outlaws), is Colorado's Ski Safety Act.
Most people's familiarity with the act is limited to those annoying signs that adorn lift towers, warning us while we freeze our bodies traveling on lifts up hill, to "ski in control" or "ski with a friend". However, should an on slope accident occur requiring you to be carted off the slope in a ski patrol toboggan or down to Denver to a hospital in an ambulance, you might want to know whose fault it was, humanities first instinct usually being to never first blame oneself.
Under Colorado law, a skier assumes the risk of any injury to person or property resulting from any of the "inherent dangers" and risks of skiing and consequently may not successfully sue a ski area for ski injuries. What constitutes an "inherent danger" however, can be the crucial fact in determining whether or not an injury caused during skiing is compensable or is well, the responsibility of the injured skier alone.
For example, the reckless driving of a snowmobile upslope resulting in a collision and injury with a downhill skier is not an inherent danger of skiing. Therefore, the downhill skier can successfully make a claim against a ski area for employing a reckless snowmobile driver.
Nevertheless, not every collision with a motorized vehicle on the slopes, such as grooming equipment, is the ski areas fault and skiers are wise to keep a wide berth or those light flashing, siren blaring behemoths which form something akin to Panzer division as they travel en mass across the slopes.
Obviously, many ski hill injuries are a consequence of a skier's collision with a natural object, such as a tree, or an unnatural object, such as a snow fence, or even sometimes with another skier. In recognition of the danger posed by other skiers, during early season where there are only thin ribbons of snow available, I often assume the role of a trailing linebacker behind my kids as they navigate by traversing from side to side and come all too close to larger kids and adults careening down the slope.
Sadly, I recently witnessed a skier wincing in pain after their knee had bounced off a pine tree under a steep bumpy slope. Obviously, colliding with a tree is no ones fault other than the skier. I assume, and so will the law, that we all recognize when stepping into our gear at the bottom of a mountain each day that there are natural obstacles aplenty up there, a source of great enjoyment and a key attraction when experiencing the naturalness of Colorado beauty that a ski area has to offer but also are barriers to be avoided.
Colliding with a snow fence might be the type of "unnatural hazard" that by posting a sign could cloak a ski area from liability for, hence we see many early season signage pronouncing "rocks and other hazards below".
Skiers of course must ski in control and be careful to avoid other skiers and if they ski irresponsibly and end up colliding with another skier, they can be held financially responsible for their recklessness. That is one good reason why it is very important for parents and ski instructors to take the time to teach kids things like looking uphill before merging into another run, protecting others, and to stay out of the trees early in the season when snow pack may be thin with slightly hidden rocks and stumps, protecting themselves.
Remember that having a good time in any season rarely is accompanied by a trip to the office of a doctor, or a lawyer. Happy trails!
Bruce Brown is a lawyer for twenty-four years practicing in Idaho Springs. He can be reached at info@brucebrownlaw.com.
Bruce Brown, Attorney
Post Office Box 3366 ~ 1630 Miner Street ~ Idaho Springs, CO 80452
Tel. (970) 722-7778 or (303) 567-0111 ~ Toll free (866) 999-9529 ~ FAX (303) 567-9306 - Sitemap
Email: info@brucebrownlaw.com
