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
Overview prepared for 2008 SKILEX International Conference, Tarvisio, Italy, Feb. 28 - March 2, 2008
First release of overview prepared for 4th annual Recreation & Adventure Program Law & Liability, Denver, Colorado, April 3 - 4, 2006
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
attorney@chalatlaw.com
www.chalatlaw.com
www.chalathatten.com
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Ski Law in the News
- Skier facing a criminal charge after collision with a Kissing Bridge ski instructor, precedent-setting New York ski case.
- Letter to Utah Association for Justice, published in Utah Trial Journal
Collison causes severe brain injury, plaintiff was knocked out of his skis and 30 feet into a nearby tree.
- 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.
- 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 previously awarded in a ski case.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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?
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- By Ginny McKibben, Denver Post
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