Ski resorts across the country received some reprieve last week when Supreme Court judges in Colorado ruled 5-2 that winter resorts are not liable for in-bounds avalanche deaths. Changing snow conditions, weather, steepness of a particular slope make for a mix that’s simply too difficult for resorts to control, the court ruled, and that areas are protected under the Ski Safety Act created in 1979 as a way to protect resort operators from liability when snowboarders and skiers die in terrain that is inherently difficult to keep safe.
The ruling came in the case involving the family of 28-year-old Christopher Norris who was killed in an in-bounds avalanche at Winter Park in 2012. His family was suing for $250,000 in damages. The second case currently in court is from the family of 13-year-old Taft Conlin, who died in an avalanche at Vail, ironically the same day as Norris.
In short, mountains are wild places and we’re extremely lucky to be able to access them via chairlifts, trams, pomas and rope tows. And these deaths are extremely sad so I understand litigation can also act as a means of closure to some. But I still find myself empathizing with resort owner/operators. In most cases, I’m never a fan of litigation. It just makes things inherently messy for the rest of us. I really appreciate resort models like they have in Le Grave, France: a chairlift on a mountain for access. It’s the rider’s responsibility after that. It’s a very simple concept. You ride the gnar, you deal with the consequences.
Despite what many of us may think, operating a resort is a tough endeavor. The prices of operation are extremely high from ski patrol to management to paying and managing instructors and maintenance crews, and everything in between. And those costs double and triple when resorts are thrown into lawsuit after lawsuit involving families of the deceased or injured.
But, and this is a big but, if resorts are now free of all responsibility when someone dies in-bounds, then it only seems fair that they shouldn’t be allowed to prosecute those who make mistakes accessing terrain from chairlifts in resort boundaries. Tit-for-tat. While the world doesn’t ever work this way, it certainly should. I contacted several resorts who deal with avalanche control and they weren’t necessarily eager to speak about the issue, for obvious reasons.
In January, I wrote that it was cruel to be allowed to prosecute those that are involved in deadly, or even near-death, slides. This after a teacher in the Les Deux Alpes region of France was with two students who were killed in an avalanche in an area of the resort that was closed. And then snowboarder Christian Michael Mares, who was riding Sugar Bowl Resort near Tahoe when he triggered a slide in a closed area and his POV video went semi-viral. He’s looking uphill at a heavy felony charge. That’s right, a felony. While the teacher in France was facing criminal manslaughter charges from authorities (no word on its outcome) Mares is being threatened by criminal charges from the resort itself. When asked if Placer County DA’s office or Sugar Bowl resort was pressing the charges, Sugar Bowl Director of Admin Services and Risk Management Nicole Lieberman said, “Both. Once we handed our information to the DA’s office, we were told they were pursuing (charges).” Sugar Bowl President Greg Dallas reiterated Lieberman’s stance, directing me to a recent press release: “The irresponsible and reckless decision to snowboard or ski in closed terrain endangers other skiers and ski patrol, and will not be tolerated.” This from the DA’s office: he’s “charged with 1 count of 182(a)(1) PC a felony and 1 count of 602R PC a misdemeanor.” Mares has a June 21 court date.
It’s a tough call in a dynamic world, where conditions can shift dramatically in a matter of hours, even minutes. I was once nearly taken out by an in-bounds avalanche at Montana’s Bridger Bowl resort when a slide careened down from the “Ridge” into an open bowl in the main part of the mountain. I came buy just as the huge pile of snow settled on the cat track. In-bounds avalanches are a real danger, but rarely do they kill us: according to the Denver Post, since 2000 only 11 of the 448 people killed in the U.S. from avalanche-related deaths was in-bounds. The same can be said of users who push the envelope in closed areas and get into avalanche scenarios. They are rare.
Photo: High Country News
Snowboarders like Mares make mistakes. Skiers do to. And resorts have to protect the general public. But it just seems like overkill. And the power now lies directly in the hands of resort owners and operators. The user seems somewhat powerless in this scenario.
Here’s another look at it: taking in the extreme element of chance, in-bounds avalanches can essentially happen any time a ski patroller fails to drop an M-80 on a particular slope, leaving it susceptible to a slide. Maybe that’s what happened when I was nearly caught? Or, an oversight could be made and a slope is opened before it should be. If ski resorts are no longer responsible for these situations, then how can a young rider be prosecuted when he hikes into an area that’s closed? Especially if he/she hikes in from below or above, where perhaps there was a lack of warning signage. In our rule-dominated society, the two situations carry equal fault. And assigning fault is never cut and dry.
But this is the world we’re living in—a suit-happy, litigious society where people can file a grievance if their hair is cut wrong, or a bump in the sidewalk causes a sprained ankle. The simple, idealistic answer is to take responsibility for your actions, on both sides of the fence. But from a user’s standpoint, if you ride snow, even in closed areas, it’s on you to know the code, understand how slope dynamics work with snowfall and what conditions cause avalanches. And on the resort side, perhaps a less curmudgeonly approach is called for. An understanding that people are going to go hard and sometimes, they’re going to get in over their heads. Victims paying for rescue efforts is fair. But prosecuting victims? If the courts just gave ski areas a pass, then shouldn’t skiers and snowboarders be given the same grace.
But again, that’s in a perfect world, one we certainly aren’t living in.
