A Colorado jury on Friday awarded $21 million to a woman who was paralyzed when she fell from a ski lift at Crested Butte Mountain Resort three years ago.
The jury verdict comes just over a year after the Colorado Supreme Court considered the woman’s case and ruled that liability waivers do not protect ski resorts when resorts violate state laws or regulations. That ruling allowed the lawsuit to go forward and likely ended a push by ski resorts to use such waivers to shield themselves from almost all lawsuits.
State
Waivers don’t shield ski resorts that violate state law, CO Supreme Court rules
The case and its $21 million verdict may open up new avenues for skiers to sue ski operators, particularly over incidents involving chairlifts, said Brian Aleinikoff, an attorney for Annie Miller, the woman who fell in 2022.
“For the longest time, ski areas have been so insulated from lawsuits,” he said. “…At the end of the day the ‘inherent dangers’ and risks of skiing aren’t going to change. If you are skiing and you hit a rock or a bare patch or some ice or you go over a cliff, that is on you. But I think how some of the ski lifts operate — that is really where this will have the biggest impact moving forward.”
Jurors on Friday awarded the family $5.3 million in non-economic damages, $10.5 million in economic damages and $5.3 million in damages for physical impairment and disfigurement, according to an order from 17th Judicial District Court Judge Jeffrey Smith.
Read the full story from our partners at The Denver Post.
Denver7 is committed to making a difference in our community by standing up for what's right, listening, lending a helping hand and following through on promises. See that work in action, in the videos above.
