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Articles

These articles present a wide array of material on ski safety and ski accidents. They are provided as a reference and may be copyrighted by their respective authors.

Ski Law Articles


by attorneys at Chalat Hatten & Koupal PC, Denver, Colorado.

  • 2006 Survey of Ski Law in the United States

    First release of overview prepared for 4th annual Recreation & Adventure Program Law & Liability, Denver, Colorado, April 3 - 4, 2006

  • Ski Law in the United States: A Practical Guide to Ski Accident Litigation

    Ski law covers a broad spectrum of claims and duties of care. This article presents an overview of the duties involved in skier collisions, ski operator collisions and ski lift accidents.

  • Ski Law in Colorado, The Timorous No Longer Stay at Home

    This article provides a current overview of Colorado ski law as it pertains to legal economics, legislation, and ski accident case law. It also compares ski law in other states and offers the Colorado lawyer some practice tips.

  • Ski Law For Beginners, Intermediates And Experts

    Skier/snowboarder safety has become a significant issue for the ski industry. Its significance is derived from two forces: the competition for the national skiing market, and national attention drawn to ski safety by the media frenzy stimulated by celebrity skier deaths in 1999, and recent homicide proceedings in Colorado.

  • Restitution And Ski Accidents

    After skiing very fast and out of control over a mogul field, Nathan Hall flew over a knoll on the “Riva Ridge” ski run on Vail mountain and collided with Allen Cobb. Mr. Cobb suffered a fractured skull and a fatal brain injury.

  • Liability Of A Skier For Collision With Another Skier

    Skiing safety has improved over time, with the improvement of alpine release bindings, heightened awareness of safety rules, and improved safety procedures at ski areas which were prompted by risk management concern over injury claims.

  • Ski Area's Liability For Skiing Accidents

    This article treats two types of ski accident cases: (1) the downhill skiing accident which leads to a claim against the ski area operator, (2) the ski lift related accidents which lead to claims against the ski area operator and the lift manufacturer.
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Ski Law in the News

  • Snowboarder doesn't want girl's father charged for fistcuffs

    By Electa Draper, Denver Post Staff Writer
    "Slope rage" incident involves a father who allegedly punched the snowboarder who collided with his 8-year-old daughter at Vail.

  • Appeal Denied in Virginia Skiing Accident

    By Liesel Nowak, The Daily Progress
    The Supreme Court of Virginia has refused to hear an appeal by Wintergreen Resort in the case of a girl severely injured in a skiing accident. The 2004 trial resulted in the largest jury verdict ever awarded in a ski case.

  • Charges Dropped in Skiing Fatality - Breckenridge Death Triggers Suit By Kin

    By Steve Lipsher, Denver Post Mountain Bureau
    Summit County officials dropped all criminal charges against a Briton involved in a fatal ski collision, even as the victim's family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in federal court.

  • British Skier Freed, Will Not Face Charges

    By Deborah Frazier, Rocky Mountain News
    A British man won't face criminal charges in another skier's death, but the victim's family filed a civil suit against him Thursday.

  • Boarder Sentenced In Skiing Collision

    By Ellen Miller, Rocky Mountain News
    A 20-year-old Texas man who got drunk and slammed into a children's ski school class at Sunlight Ski Area was sentenced Thursday to the heaviest penalty ever handed out in a Colorado ski-collision.

  • Colorado Leads Way In Helmet Rules For Ski-Schoolers

    By Jason Blevins, The Denver Post
    Several Colorado ski areas are forcing a shift in long-standing resort policy by mandating helmet use this season for kids in ski school.

  • Criminal Verdict In Skier Case

    By Jean Hellwege, Trial
    The Daily Progress
    A Colorado jury recently convicted a skier of criminally negligent homicide for slamming into and killing a fellow skier on the slopes at the Vail ski resort.

  • "Speed Kills" May Explain Increase In Ski Accidents

    By Jason Blevins, Denver Post
    Six snowriders dead on Colorado's ski slopes. Two paralyzed. Two fighting for their lives under the sweating brows of some of the state's most gifted surgeons. Could there be a reason beyond a statistical flare-up?

  • Skier To Stand Trial In '97 Vail Death

    By Deborah Frazier, Rocky Mountain News
    For the first time in Colorado's long history of skiing, a court jury has been summoned to decide what is criminally reckless behavior on the slopes.

  • Mom Fights 'Undefined' Ski Law

    By Jason Blevins, Denver Post
    A mother's long fight against Vail Resorts over her son's death while he was skiing appears to be heading for U.S. District Court in Denver, and the result could dissolve ambiguity in the long-standing Colorado Ski Safety Act.

  • Speed Demons - Should skiing too fast be a criminal offense?

    By Jane Stebbins, Breckenridge-Summit County Journal
    Ashley Robbins may only be 9 years old, but she know the dangers that lurk on the ski slopes.

  • Jury Finds SkiCo Negligent, Awards Snowboarder $100K

    By Rick Carroll, Aspen Daily News
    A federal jury on Monday ruled that the Aspen Skiing Co. was negligent when a female snowboarder from Vermont collided with a snowmobile at Snowmass in March 1997. As a result, the SkiCo must pay her $100,000.

  • CPSC Staff Recommends Use of Helmets for Skiers, Snowboarders to Prevent Head Injuries

    By Ken Giles
    The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) staff is recommending skiers and snowboarders wear helmets to help prevent head injuries from falls and collisions.

  • Off To Slopes? Then On With Helmet, Doctors Say

    By Ann Schrader, Denver Post
    As skiers shell out big bucks for boots, bindings and boards, experts are recommending that they don't forget to chip in a few dollars to protect their brains.

  • Hope Built On Tragedy's Pain

    By Ginny McKibben, Denver Post
    Brian Dovey has been missing a big piece of his life since his 11-year-old brother, Matthew, died three years ago in a skiing accident at Breckenridge.

  • Down Hill Litigator

    By Scott N. Miller, Eagle Valley Enterprise Sunday Extra
    Skiing's a pretty safe sport, overall. But a few times a year, the lawyers get called out.

  • Ski-Area Lawsuits Upheld

    By Howard Pankratz, Denver Post
    The Colorado Supreme Court yesterday refused to give Colorado ski-area operators blanket immunity from lawsuits by skiers injured on their slopes.

  • Dancer Wins $2.4 Million - Knee Injured in Ski Accident at Snowmass

    By Ginny McKibben, Denver Post
  
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