Snow King, WY, Being Sued for Chairlift Accident

In June 2020, Sabita Shrestha, 75, and her daughter were downloading on a chairlift at Snow King Mountain Resort in Jackson, Wyoming, when a nasty accident happened. The chairlift knocked both her and her daughter into the protective netting below causing significant injuries, including Shrestha breaking her ribs.

Shrestha is suing Snow King Mountain Resort for over $75,000 for the incident. So what happened, and why does Shrestha think Snow King is liable?

After taking the scenic chairlift ride to the top of the mountain, Shrestha and her family were ready to take the chairlift down. The lawsuit says that;

“The family members told the chairlift operator that they did want him to stop the lift, and the chairlift operator said that he would stop the lift to enable Sabita Shrestha to safely board… When the chairlift operator realized that he had failed to hit the stop button in time to stop the chair to allow Sabita Shrestha to board, he ran in front of the chair to try to help Sabita Shrestha to get up on to the moving chair.”

The lift operator’s failure to stop or help the guests’ board resulted in their injuries. Snow King’s response is that the lift operator,

“…took appropriate action to try to manually stop the chair in order to prevent injury or damage.”

Snow King is pressing that the Wyoming Recreation Use Statute will prevent Shrestha from being able to sue, but as of now, a jury trial has been scheduled for May 2021.