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.
UTAH - 2006
Utah Code Ann. §§ 78-27-51 to 78-27-54, "Utah Inherent Risks of Skiing Act," provides for skier assumption of the inherent risks of skiing, together with warning and notice posting requirements of operators. Operators remain liable for negligence and must exercise reasonable care in eliminating risks that can be reasonably eliminated. Provided that proper training has been taken, any ski patrol member offering emergency services or rescue is exempt from civil liability, unless they have acted in a willful or grossly negligent fashion.
Cases
A skier injured when a fellow skier lost control and fell into him, causing both to slide into a tree, brought suit. Judgment notwithstanding the verdict was entered in defendant's favor, and affirmed. Court found that absent defendant skier's negligence, he was not liable merely because there had been a skier/skier collision. While skiers have duty to behave reasonably and remain in control, an inadvertent fall does not breach this duty. Ricci v. Schoultz., 963 P.2d 784 (Utah Ct. App. 1998). In Clover v. Snowbird Ski Resort, 808 P.2d 1037 (Utah 1991), the court declared that the legislative intent in passing the state's inherent risk-based statute was to preserve the common law defenses available to ski resort operators, such that the courts would not extend comparative negligence to ski cases. Clover was struck by resort employee who ignored danger of a blind jump of which resort was aware and warned skiers to avoid. The court held that determination of what "inherent risks" are determined as a matter of law on a case by case basis. However, the court held that the statute did not foreclose claims of negligent design and maintenance against operators, even if an injury involves a defined "inherent risk." To the extent that bare spots, forest growth, rocks, and structures are not risks that skiers wish to confront, they are not "inherent" in the sport of skiing. Operators must eliminate those risks that can be removed by reasonable care, or warn patrons of them; the ones that cannot be eliminated are "inherent risks" from which operator is exculpated from liability. White v. Deseelhorst, 879 P.2d 1371 (Utah 1994) (skier paralyzed after encountering an unmapped "cat track"). Even where an operator had posted trail boards in compliance with statute, the court allowed a skier's claim to proceed on a theory of negligent instruction; the court held that an operator owed a higher duty to its ski students, including the duty of its ski instructors to explicitly warn of "crud" snow that exists in the Spring in Utah. Ghionis v. Deer Valley Resort Co., Ltd., 839 F.Supp. 789 (D.Utah 1993) (also stating that a release signed by Ghionis was ambiguous, and thus not a bar to recovery).
