Broomfield, Colorado — Vail Resorts is facing a hefty bill following the resolution of a multi-year lawsuit.
Courthouse News Service reports that a jury sided with a skier whose life was altered from a fall off a Crested Butte chairlift. They found that the employees at the ski resort engaged in negligence, but not gross negligence, in the moments leading up to the injury. The jury awarded the skier $12.4 million, finding her 25% at fault for the incident, while putting 75% of the blame on the ski resort. The ruling fittingly came at the Broomfield Combined Courts, which is in the same city as the headquarters of the operator of Crested Butte: Vail Resorts.
“It’s a good day,” said Annie Miller, the skier whose life was forever changed by the incident. “I’m beyond grateful to the jury for holding Crested Butte responsible and I hope something good comes out of it.”
This follows a 2024 ruling by the Colorado Supreme Court that the waivers of liability signed by skiers and riders before heading out on the slopes don’t protect ski resorts when they break state laws or regulations. This means that if Colorado ski resorts break the law and display negligence, they can be held liable for damages.
Vail Resorts issued the following statement regarding the ruling:
“We disagree with the decision and believe that it was inconsistent with Colorado law. Still, we recognize the personal toll this accident has taken on Ms. Miller and her family, and we wish her continued strength in her recovery. We remain committed to the highest safety standards in our operations.”
On March 16th, 2022, Michael Miller was on a ski trip to Crested Butte with his daughter Annie. While boarding the Paradise Express chairlift, Annie couldn’t get herself settled into the seat before the ascent. Despite people near the scene begging the workers to stop the lift, the employees allegedly did nothing, as there was no one present to intervene. Annie held onto the chair until she couldn’t, ultimately falling thirty feet onto the snow. The chairlift allegedly never stopped, even when Annie fell.
Annie will never be able to walk again. In addition, she suffered a bruised heart, lacerated liver, injuries to her lungs, and shattered C7 vertebrae.
Michael Miller sued Vail Resorts for negligence, gross negligence, and duty of care. A lawsuit was filed in December 2022 with the Broomfield County District Court. Two of the charges from the lawsuit were dismissed in April 2023, but the family appealed the ruling to the Colorado Supreme Court. This decision partially reversed the Broomfield County District Court’s decision and reinstated the negligence charge.
What ultimately protects ski resorts in the state are the Ski Safety Act of 1979 (also known as the Colorado Ski Safety Act) and the Passenger Tramway Safety Act. The Ski Safety Act of 1979 limits the amount of damages an injured party can recover to $250,000 and holds guests responsible for the risks associated with the sport. However, it does limit protections for ski resorts if the party can prove the operators engaged in gross negligence.
Evan Banker, a personal injury attorney at Denver firm Chalat Hatten & Banker, said the following about the Supreme Court’s ruling to the Denver Post in May 2024:
“It’s a sea change, in terms of ski areas’ responsibilities and consumers’ ability to be protected from ski areas’ negligence,. From a consumer protection standpoint, it’s huge. Because liability breeds responsibility…For many, many years… everyone sort of agreed that when you sign that waiver you are waiving claims of negligence, but you can always still make claims if the ski area fails to do the things it is required to by law, like maintaining the lift properly.”
Banker elaborated to the Post that for ski resorts, the good news is that their liability still holds up in situations where it wasn’t their fault, but not in instances where the operator is clearly violating the state’s rules:
“For many, many years… everyone sort of agreed that when you sign that waiver you are waiving claims of negligence, but you can always still make claims if the ski area fails to do the things it is required to by law, like maintaining the lift properly. So what this has done is change that. It brings us back to the landscape everyone understood it to be many years ago. Which is, you can waive claims of negligence, but the ski area doesn’t get to avoid its legal responsibility, its responsibility in statute and regulations, by having you sign a waiver.
So what this has done is change that. It brings us back to the landscape everyone understood it to be many years ago. Which is, you can waive claims of negligence, but the ski area doesn’t get to avoid its legal responsibility, its responsibility in statute and regulations, by having you sign a waiver.”
The question now is whether Colorado’s legislature will attempt to protect the ski industry from future lawsuits like this. While this is a fine that Vail Resorts can handle, it’s not as clear that a smaller ski area could. This has been demonstrated by the liability situation in Oregon, where lawsuits have weakened liability waivers and risk the future of the state’s ski industry. Given the importance of skiing to Colorado, additional protections may be forthcoming.
Image/Video Credits: Crested Butte Mountain Resort, Craig Hospital
