Silverton Mountain sued for severe injury to foot passenger on chairlift

[Monique]

I would not mind if this thread disappeared. The last thing I want to do is taint a jury pool or give some lawyers ammo to destroy a very unique ski area.

I wish the best for both parties in this unfortunate, horrific accident.

I've never seen this skier community, here or on Epic, side so heavily against the ski area. Maybe there's a reason.

 

[KingGrump]

Sorry to hear about the severity of the women's injuries.
I agree that sight seeing foot traffic doesn't make sense.

For the skiers, perhaps the ramp is the Darwinian test whether you should really ski there.

 

[Bruuuce]

I've never seen this skier community, here or on Epic, side so heavily against the ski area. Maybe there's a reason.

I actually thought about this because I usually line up with the ski areas. You are provided with a service with known risks. You pay your money and you take your chances. Opening this lift up to foot traffic was the mistake. I think it would have been different if an experienced skier had a problem, but I doubt she understood the risk she was taking. It's just sad for all concerned.

 

[tball]

I would not mind if this thread disappeared. The last thing I want to do is taint a jury pool or give some lawyers ammo to destroy a very unique ski area.

I wish the best for both parties in this unfortunate, horrific accident.

Consider that the current operation could be put out of business then a better operator would take over and skiing on Silverton mountain would continue more safely and with a more customer focused culture. I'd be thrilled to see that outcome, and would happily go back. The mountain, terrain, and scenery are incredible. I won't return otherwise after a poor experience there and know others who feel the same way.

 

[jmeb]

Someone has been buying up Four Corners ski areas and investing a lot in the past few years. Silverton could be a sort of crown jewel in that empire.

 

[fatbob]

I've never seen this skier community, here or on Epic, side so heavily against the ski area. Maybe there's a reason.

Yup. Think it's about a first in ski area litigation threads that no-one can find much positive to say for the ski area or the contributory negligence of the injured party. I think basically we've all looked at that picture and gone "Nope wouldn't fancy my chances on foot" - the disclaimer she signed better be a hell of a piece of boilerplate. I wouldn't even fancy my chances on skis if I wasn't overly confident of the skills of my chair partner.

 

[DanoT]

I worked in safety industry for years and will readily admit that some regulations and expectations are unrealistic, but this one fails a simple common sense test. I can't imagine that the insurer will allow this one to go to trial. If they do they are very brave. A tragic situation that could so easily have been avoided. It's not a surprise that something like this happened, only that it didn't happen earlier.

I'm also very surprised that the insurance inspector didn't address this. Our businesses were always inspected regularly by the insurance company to ensure that their liability was minimized.

As a former insurance claim adjuster I took one look at the off loading platform with untreated aspen posts with no cross bracing and I concluded that Silverton's insurance provider never did an on site inspection. The insurance company will probably do their best to get an out of court settlement but the paralyzed plaintiff is probably looking for a settlement that exceeds the value of the insurance coverage.

That whole platform looks like it is ready to blow away in the first good windstorm.

 

[SlideWright]

Someone has been buying up Four Corners ski areas and investing a lot in the past few years. Silverton could be a sort of crown jewel in that empire.

James Coleman. He's been pumping money and improvements into Purg. With no real basis I'm aware of, the rumor mill and pure conjecture sounds like SM would be a good addition to his shopping list.

 

[Snowfan]

...or perhaps Louis Bacon, the owner of Taos Ski Valley. He hikes for his turns.

 

[SlideWright]

@SBrown What is the connection between Telluride HeliTrax and Silverton Mtn, if any?

 

[SBrown]

@SBrown What is the connection between Telluride HeliTrax and Silverton Mtn, if any?

I'm not sure there is one. When Silverton was starting up its operation, they used Telluride's helicopter for some stuff, but that was real early. I think they may have bought some permits, too? Not sure. I'll try to find out.

 

[SlideWright]

I'm not sure there is one. When Silverton was starting up its operation, they used Telluride's helicopter for some stuff, but that was real early. I think they may have bought some permits, too? Not sure. I'll try to find out.

Maybe just permits, but for some reason I thought they were shuttling people over from The Peaks.

Article:

The Brills purchased Silverton Mountain in 2002, and started to offer heli-skiing about six years later after the company acquired Telluride-based Helitrax’s permit for the activity in certain areas of the San Juan Mountains.

 

[SBrown]

Maybe just permits, but for some reason I thought they were shuttling people over from The Peaks.

I think they did at first. But no longer.

 

[Monique]

Yup. Think it's about a first in ski area litigation threads that no-one can find much positive to say for the ski area or the contributory negligence of the injured party. I think basically we've all looked at that picture and gone "Nope wouldn't fancy my chances on foot" - the disclaimer she signed better be a hell of a piece of boilerplate. I wouldn't even fancy my chances on skis if I wasn't overly confident of the skills of my chair partner.

Yeah. You don't know what you're in for until you get to the top (whether on foot or on sliding equipment). You also have to sling your pack back in front of you as you unload - and packs are required.

 

[jmeb]

Not sure Silverton Mt follows pugski...but they dropped this info on another forum:

"Silverton Mountain can’t comment on the case (or reply to questions), but we wanted to clarify a few facts since there is much misinformation going around.

-Silverton Mountain’s thoughts and sympathies are with Ms. Goehrig.
-Ms. Goehrig was a foot passenger who received a complimentary lift ticket from Silverton Mountain as she had a relative that worked at Silverton Mountain.
-The top lift attendant was at his station monitoring the lift at his top lift shack, and slowed the lift down (to a speed slower than required by code for foot passengers).
-The chairlift is in compliance with Colorado law and is inspected at least twice per year by inspectors for the State of Colorado."

 

[SBrown]

Maybe just permits, but for some reason I thought they were shuttling people over from The Peaks.

Ok, clarification: yes, they do. Not with Helitrax involvement, though.

 

[Monique]

Not sure Silverton Mt follows pugski...but they dropped this info on another forum:

"Silverton Mountain can’t comment on the case (or reply to questions), but we wanted to clarify a few facts since there is much misinformation going around.

-Silverton Mountain’s thoughts and sympathies are with Ms. Goehrig.
-Ms. Goehrig was a foot passenger who received a complimentary lift ticket from Silverton Mountain as she had a relative that worked at Silverton Mountain.
-The top lift attendant was at his station monitoring the lift at his top lift shack, and slowed the lift down (to a speed slower than required by code for foot passengers).
-The chairlift is in compliance with Colorado law and is inspected at least twice per year by inspectors for the State of Colorado."

So, if she had a lift ticket, does that mean she agreed to the usual boilerplate about inherent risks etc? If the lift is indeed in compliance / inspected, maybe the picture is misleading. Maybe the law needs to be updated regarding risk of falling down a rock cliff (I don't remember specifically if it is truly a cliff, but it's definitely something).

 

[SBrown]

So, if she had a lift ticket, does that mean she agreed to the usual boilerplate about inherent risks etc? If the lift is indeed in compliance / inspected, maybe the picture is misleading. Maybe the law needs to be updated regarding risk of falling down a rock cliff (I don't remember specifically if it is truly a cliff, but it's definitely something).

Yeah, which is Silverton's defense ... but you and I both know that those waivers are worth about as much as the paper they are printed on, etc and so on.

 

[jmeb]

So, if she had a lift ticket, does that mean she agreed to the usual boilerplate about inherent risks etc? If the lift is indeed in compliance / inspected, maybe the picture is misleading. Maybe the law needs to be updated regarding risk of falling down a rock cliff (I don't remember specifically if it is truly a cliff, but it's definitely something).

The original news article about this implied she tacitly agreed to the standard boilerplate. The question as I understand it is whether Silverton was negligent / reckless with the lift somehow -- as those waivers don't apply if they were.

 

[Monique]

The original news article about this implied she tacitly agreed to the standard boilerplate. The question as I understand it is whether Silverton was negligent / reckless with the lift somehow -- as those waivers don't apply if they were.

I hope they were able to get the names of some witnesses who paid attention to what was going on prior to the event. (If I'd been there, I doubt I would have noticed anything prior to the accident.)