Eagle – After Julia Parsons slashed her knee on an old skier bridge at Vail ski area, she filed a lawsuit contending that the resort was negligent in its maintenance of the railing.
Now, Vail Resorts is suing her back, claiming breach of contract because she signed a waiver for her season pass that purports to protect the ski area from liability lawsuits – even if resort operators were negligent.
“It was never a big case, but now they’re coming after her and threatening her with attorney fees,” said her lawyer, Joseph Bloch. “This is the first time they’ve ever done it, where if you assert your right to sue, they’ll come back and sue you for breach of contract.”
Vail Resorts officials declined to comment, citing a policy against discussing pending litigation, but a spokeswoman acknowledged that it is the first time the company has filed a countersuit in a skier-injury case.
The case could have wide-ranging implications for the tens of thousands of skiers who purchase season passes to any of Colorado’s resorts, each of which has similar waivers in place that have not yet been legally tested.
Bloch suggests that season-pass holders who must sign liability waivers are asked to give up more of their rights to sue for negligence than those who buy daily lift tickets and do not sign any agreements.
“The crazy part of this is, if this is allowed and you buy a Buddy Pass or any other skier pass … you’ll be exempt for suing for the negligence of the resort or any one of its employees for anything, including death.”
In court filings, the company’s attorneys argue that Parsons lost control and collided with the bridge, and was thereby at fault. The company seeks attorney fees and related costs for defending the case.
They cite the Colorado Ski Safety Act, which specifies that people ski under control.
“The plain language of the Ski Safety Act expressly bars any claim against … any ski-area operator for injury resulting from any of the ‘inherent dangers or risks of skiing,’ ” Vail attorney Christopher Yvars wrote.
“They want to get immunity from everything, and I mean everything – to where if they serve you bad food, too bad; if the lift blows up, too bad; if they fail to clear their lift, too bad,” said Jim Chalat, a prominent ski-injury attorney in Denver who is monitoring the case. “It’s a real, real key issue for ski safety.”
The case stems from an incident in February 2004, when Parsons, 45, of Vail banged into the railing on the bridge, a notorious bottleneck that funneled skiers over Gore Creek and to the Lions head base area.
Parsons, who declined comment, contends that she severely cut her knee on a protruding metal bracket that may have been bent out of position by snow-grooming equipment and never repaired because the bridge was slated for replacement later that spring.
Photos taken in the weeks afterward show the bridge railings in what even District Court Judge Tom Moorhead termed a “state of disrepair,” with peeling paint, broken timbers and the metal bracket wrenched away from the wall far enough to slide a finger behind it.
The case is scheduled to go to trial in March. Vail attorneys indicated in filings that if the original case is dismissed, they will drop the countersuit against Parsons.
Staff writer Steve Lipsher can be reached at 970-513-9495 or slipsher@denverpost.com.
