Industry News
In March of 2022, near the end of the day, 16-year-old Annie Miller skied up to the Paradise Express lift at Crested Butte, Colorado, expecting a routine chairlift ride. Unfortunately, she could not settle into the seat and slipped off. She tried to hold on, but eventually fell 30 feet to the hardpack snow, shattering her vertebrae, bruising her heart, lacerating her liver, and injuring her lungs. The accident left her paralyzed and she will never walk again.
The incident prompted the family to sue Crested Butte and its owner, Vail Resorts, claiming it “consciously and recklessly disregarded the safety of Annie” when they failed to stop the chairlift. The suit, filed in December 2022, was dismissed by the Broomfield County District Court in April 2023 because the family had signed the liability waivers. Now the family has appealed the ruling to the Colorado Supreme Court.
In general, The Colorado Ski Safety Act gives ski areas a broad range of protection from lawsuits filed by injured skiers. Skiers and snowboarders assume responsibility for the wide-ranging “inherent dangers and risks of skiing,” and the most a suing rider can win from a ski area is limited to $250,000. However, the distinguished legislation limits protections for resorts if a skier can prove gross negligence or reckless, willful misbehavior.
- Related: Do Waivers Grant Ski Areas Complete Immunity From All Lawsuits? It May Appear That Way in Colorado
Over the past several decades, the Colorado Ski Safety Act has been tested in dozens of lawsuits by injured riders or the families of riders who died at resorts. None of these lawsuits have done anything to jeopardize the legislation that protects the ski areas. The fine-print liability waiver contracts that are part of most lift ticket and season pass sales essentially waive a skier’s right to sue a ski resort.
The Miller family’s case will be heard by the Colorado Supreme Court this week. They are requesting that the court “consider whether a ski area in Colorado can create contractual immunity from the statutory duty of care in a contract that is part of a ski lift pass.” Vail Resorts is arguing that the Epic Pass agreement that the Miller family signed states that guests must “have the physical dexterity and knowledge to safely load, ride, and unload lifts,” thus protecting them from liability. The gross negligence claim is still in the Broomfield District Court but has been paused while waiting for the outcome of the appeal to the state’s highest court.
The decision by the Colorado Supreme Court could have wide-ranging implications for the millions of people who visit Colorado ski areas every year. Multiple groups have joined the case in defense of Crested Butte and Vail Resorts. The list includes the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA), the Colorado Ski Country USA trade group, the Colorado Camps Network, and the Colorado River Outfitters Association.
Colorado Ski Country said in its brief that if the Colorado Supreme Court weakens the enforceability of liability waivers it will “decrease or eliminate the availability of many recreational options for children, while simultaneously raising the costs of the remaining options.” Additionally, the Colorado Camps Network stated in its brief that liability releases “are essential to providing children with the ability to participate” in organized recreation.
Statistically, riding a chairlift continues to be about 10 times safer than riding in a car. According to the NSAA, there have been 32 chairlift fatalities since 1973. In over 50 years, riders have taken 18.3 billion chairlift rides, traveling 9.2 billion miles. That equates to 0.142 deaths for every 100 million miles traveled on chairlifts.
The Colorado Safety Act’s purpose is to establish reasonable safety standards for operating ski areas. In this case, the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association has asked to join the plaintiffs in arguing against the use of liability waivers by ski areas to avoid responsibility for chairlift accidents. Either way the ruling plays out, it will be noteworthy for anyone planning to ski in Colorado and potentially the rest of the country.
