The $12.4 million jury award to Annie Miller marks a historical ruling against ski resorts, which have long argued that skier liability waivers give them blanket immunity from lawsuits.
The Colorado Sun reports 16-year-old Miller was at Crested Butte Mountain Resort with her Oklahoma church group in March 2022 when she slipped and fell from the Paradise Express lift. Miller’s 30-foot fall shattered her C-7 vertebrae and left her unable to walk.
Her family argued lift operators at the Vail Resorts-owned mountain were negligent when they failed to stop the chair after Miller didn’t load properly.
Citing the Colorado Ski Safety Act, Vail Resorts argued it was immune to the negligence claims. The act requires skiers to follow several safety rules, including knowing how to load chairlifts, and caps lawsuit awards at $200,000.
The resort also cited the liability waiver the Miller family signed when they bought passes in November 2021. Waiver arguments have been successfully made for decades with very few courts siding with skiers.
But, this week’s jury decision is a first-ever crack in the armor that waivers and the safety act had provided to resort. It could send ripples through the recreation industry, including rafting outfitters and youth camp operators.
The decision could also spike insurance costs, raise prices and force recreation businesses to excuse young visitors.
