Survey of Ski Law in the United States
by James H. Chalat
To read cases specific to a particular state, click the state name, above.
NEW MEXICO - 2006
Ski Safety Act found at N.M. Stat. Ann. §§ 24-15-1 to -14. Primary responsibility for the operation and maintenance of lifts and tramways falls to operators, with primary responsibility for skiing safety resting with the individual skier. A skier or passenger must conduct his or herself "carefully" in recognition of the "inherent risks" of the sport. Operators are required to carry insurance, to maintain a ski patrol, and to perform certain enumerated warning and notice duties. Id. at §§ 24-15-7 to 24-15-9. Excepting negligent operation, maintenance, or repair, skiers may not recover absent operator breach of a statutory duty or where skier's own breach has contributed to an injury. Id. at §§ 24-15-13, 24-15-14. Pursuant to § 24-15-6, operators are not common carriers.
Cases
In Kidd v. Taos Ski Valley, 88 F.3d 848 (10th Cir. 1996), Kidd was injured when she failed to see a diversionary, single strand bumblebee rope, and skied out of bounds; facing defense evidence indicating rope's position since 1978 without skier incident, plaintiff failed to timely designate experts, and the court found that she failed to create a triable issue of fact as to whether the ski area breached its duty to "warn of or correct particular hazards or dangers known to the operator where feasible to do so." In cases that involve both skier and operator breach, comparative negligence applies, per Lopez v. Ski Apache Resort, 836 P.2d 648 (N.M. Ct. App. 1992), cert denied. However, in a later action, a court determined that the district court lacks jurisdiction over the Apache Tribe of the Mescalero Reservation for injuries at the ski area, and that the Tribe has not waived their sovereign immunity by engaging in commerce. DeFeo v. Ski Apache Resort, 904 P.2d 1065 (N.M. Ct. App. 1995), cert denied. A question of fact existed as to whether unloading guest was a passenger or skier for purposes of Ski Safety Act application in a case alleging negligent lift. Wood v. Angel Fire Ski Corp., 774 P.2d 447 (N.M. Ct. App. 1989).
