Ski resorts’ long history of immunity threatened by Colorado Supreme Court case
The case involving a teen who was paralyzed after a fall from a chairlift challenges the use of liability waivers, which the resort industry says protects recreational opportunities for children in the state
Dean Krakel/Special to The Colorado Sun
Annie Miller’s family wants the ski industry to share responsibility for injuries she suffered when she fell from a Crested Butte Mountain Resort chairlift. Whether that happens depends on the seven justices of the Colorado Supreme Court, who, in the coming months, will issue a ruling on how much protection liability waivers can provide ski areas.
The high court’s decision could have sweeping impacts on Colorado’s signature industry and the long-standing Ski Safety Act that has protected ski resorts for several decades. If the Colorado Supreme Court rules that parents cannot sign liability waivers for their kids, recreation providers like camps, rafting companies and ski resorts argue insurance costs will climb and they will be unable to provide opportunities for children.
Miller’s lawyers on Tuesday asked the Colorado Supreme Court to reverse a lower court’s decision that pointed to liability waivers signed by Miller’s dad when he bought lift tickets in its dismissal of the family’s negligence claims against Crested Butte ski area and its owner Vail Resorts. It’s the first time the state’s highest court has considered the now-ubiquitous use of liability waivers by ski resorts.
“Crested Butte and the ski industry as a whole is attempting to get complete contractual immunity to overcome any duty to the highest care and any duty based upon a regulatory statute,” argued Bruce Braley, the attorney representing the Miller family. “So if you can waive any negligence claim, including any claim based on the highest duty of care, any claim based on statutory duty, and if you don’t have a right to recover for gross negligence under Colorado law, even though the parental waiver statute specifically carves out an exception for gross negligence and recklessness claims, what’s left?”
Read more from Jason Blevins at ColoradoSun.com
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