Gwyneth Paltrow Deer Valley Collision and Trial

[clong83]

This time with Gwyneth Paltrow.

There was a recent thread on the hit and run in Breck that generated a lot of interest/debate. I am not taking sides in the current dispute, as there is not nearly enough public information to make an informed opinion, and I have no idea if she is at fault or not. Just thought I'd post this in an effort to keep up the awareness that these things happen, and that you should never leave the scene of an accident you are involved with without ensuring that all parties are okay first.

 

[graham418]

It happened 3 years ago, and he only just realized he was hurt now? That's a bit after the fact to me.

 

[clong83]

It happened 3 years ago, and he only just realized he was hurt now? That's a bit after the fact to me.

Don't disagree. But again, I am not trying to focus on this case at hand other than to point out that this is a common occurrence and try to raise awareness about what you should do in these situations. It has happened to me while I was waiting on a lift at mid-mountain, and thankfully I was not seriously injured.

 

[Coach13]

It happened 3 years ago, and he only just realized he was hurt now? That's a bit after the fact to me.

Maybe he just realized who hit him!

 

[coskigirl]

It happened 3 years ago, and he only just realized he was hurt now? That's a bit after the fact to me.

There may be strategic reasons such as finishing care for injuries, statute of limitations etc that they delayed filing. I don't think he's claiming he just realized he was hurt.

 

[François Pugh]

It seems to me that a ski instructor or mountain guide would know the skier's alpine responsibility code and would not have been berating the alleged victim if the alleged victim wasn't totally at fault in this collision. Then again many skiers don't understand the code as shown in the Epic red vs grey thread.

 

[coskigirl]

It seems to me that a ski instructor or mountain guide would know the skier's alpine responsibility code and would not have been berating the alleged victim if the alleged victim wasn't totally at fault in this collision. Then again many skiers don't understand the code as shown in the Epic red vs grey thread.

Or this particular one decided there was more benefit to him by defending the rich client than the person who was hit.

 

[Jim McDonald]

The guy indicates he had a difficult time finding a lawyer willing to file for him.
Having had similar family experience, that seems credible.

 

[CalG]

Trial by public opinion

Based on a news line

Got to love it

or not.....

 

[Bad Bob]

It will be interesting to see the culpability of the instructor she was skiing with, and Deer Valley. As a ski area employee this whole thing could get very sticky.

 

[Jacob]

Slightly off topic here.

The first time I skied at Deer Valley, I was quietly riding a lift with a few people who were having a good old chin-wag about how not having snowboarders around made them feel safer. Not 30 seconds later, a lady on the slope below us nearly slammed into the back of a kid in front of her. It was a wide slope that turned skier's left across the fall line, but the kid continued down the fall line more than the lady expected. She just yelled "Watch out, kid!" but had no ability to change course or slow down enough to safely avoid him, so it was pure luck that there wasn't a collision.

And yet, no one on the chair noticed.

 

[Pdub]

DV is crowded and icy. It is full of overconfident beginners and intermediates bombing (sliding) the slick groomers way too fast for safety. I would expect some collisions. I did not feel safe.

 

[blackke17]

place is difficult on heavily rockered skis with little to no edge that's for sure.

 

[Started at 53]

DV is crowded and icy. It is full of overconfident beginners and intermediates bombing (sliding) the slick groomers way too fast for safety. I would expect some collisions. I did not feel safe.

place is difficult on heavily rockered skis with little to no edge that's for sure.

Exactly why I always recommend going to other locations

 

[givethepigeye]

This is why there is such good off-piste skiing for me at the Buck

 

[Pdub]

place is difficult on heavily rockered skis with little to no edge that's for sure.

On our heavily sharpened race skis it was still no picnic

 

[RJS]

Even during President's week, the worst lines I've ever had at Deer Valley are maybe 10 minutes long, and even then there are plenty of ways to avoid the lines (Silver Strike instead of Northside, Sultan instead of Wasatch or Sterling, plus Mayflower and Lady Morgan usually don't have bad lines). During non-holiday weeks in late February and early March I haven't had issues with lines or crowding.

I frequently ski Cannon, so I have a decent idea about icy conditions, and Deer Valley is typically not very icy. The one big exception is the top of Bald Mountain, which perhaps due to a combination of wind and people scrapping off the snow due to the steep initial pitch is often fairly icy. The top of Supreme or Orion can also be pretty icy, again probably due to wind or people scrapping off the snow on chokepoints. Usually the right side of Orion will get soft or bumped out as the day goes on, so if I'm taking Orion to the Daly Bowl area I'll stick to the right side of that trail.

 

[Bad Bob]

Was hit more times at DV in the few days I have skied it than anywhere else I have ever skied. Always slammed from behind while skiing a corridor, some stopped, some not.

 

[HardDaysNight]

Was hit more times at DV in the few days I have skied it than anywhere else I have ever skied. Always slammed from behind while skiing a corridor, some stopped, some not.

This is no surprise. Deer Valley is the most dangerous resort in Utah for skier collisions. Several reasons: extensive, steep groomed runs which are statistically the most lethal; concentration of skiers into relatively few zones even though, overall, skier density isn’t too high; narrow, gloomy cat tracks and trail intersections in abundance. And, the most important factor, the Master of the Universe Syndrome - many of the gapers who infest Deer Valley have been successful in their careers. They assume that this competence translates into a high level of skill at everything they attempt, including skiing. This assumption is pretty much universally unwarranted! I have lived in Park City since 1986 and skied Deer Valley many hundreds of times; no where else have I seen quite the level of clueless disregard, not only for the safety of others but for their own safety, exhibited by some of these bozos. You’d be better off at the top of Steins with a dozen snow boarders behind you than a 50 something ex-CEO who thinks he skis like Ted Ligety!

 

[Lorenzzo]

This is no surprise. Deer Valley is the most dangerous resort in Utah for skier collisions. Several reasons: extensive, steep groomed runs which are statistically the most lethal; concentration of skiers into relatively few zones even though, overall, skier density isn’t too high; narrow, gloomy cat tracks and trail intersections in abundance. And, the most important factor, the Master of the Universe Syndrome - many of the gapers who infest Deer Valley have been successful in their careers. They assume that this competence translates into a high level of skill at everything they attempt, including skiing. This assumption is pretty much universally unwarranted! I have lived in Park City since 1986 and skied Deer Valley many hundreds of times; no where else have I seen quite the level of clueless disregard, not only for the safety of others but for their own safety, exhibited by some of these bozos. You’d be better off at the top of Steins with a dozen snow boarders behind you than a 50 something ex-CEO who thinks he skis like Ted Ligety!

I concur. There are a lot of steep, narrow trails that may not be NE ice but hero sideways ski action hones a pretty slick chalk that's great for carving turns but can easily lead to calamity for some. Today seemed to represent a significant increase over prior years' same time of season activity. The easiest to find trails were zooish.

Unfortunately these conditions have led to fatalities at DV, some of which I haven't been able to find reported in the local paper or on-line.