In general, premises liability laws apply when a paying customer gets injured in an accident arising from unsafe conditions at a place of business. Many premises liability lawsuits involve venues where people participate in recreational activities, such as amusement parks, skating rinks, trampoline parks, and ATV parks. Plaintiffs can prevail if they can demonstrate that the business owners did not maintain the attractions or any part of the venue open to customers in safe condition.
Meanwhile, recreational land use statutes protect the owners of land where people engage in recreational activities without paying. Therefore, premises liability laws apply if you get injured while swimming in a swimming pool at a hotel or water theme park, but not if you get injured while swimming in a lake on public land. Likewise, business owners can prevail if they can demonstrate that the accident resulted from risks inherent in the activity and, therefore, were not due to negligence on the part of the business owner. Avalanches at ski resorts fall in a legal gray area. If you have been injured in an accident at a ski resort, contact a Santa Fe slip-and-fall and premises liability lawyer.
Climate Change and Increasingly Risky Ski Resort Design are a Perfect Storm for Avalanches
An avalanche occurs when a large amount of snow and ice falls down a mountainside in a short period of time. People who get trapped under the snow are at risk of serious injury or death unless they are rescued quickly. In the past several years, several avalanches at ski resorts in the southwestern United States have resulted in injury or death for skiers. The only such incident in New Mexico occurred in 2019 at Kachina Peak in Taos. Matthew Zonghetti, 26, and Corey Borg-Massanari, 22, both died shortly after being rescued from under the snow after an avalanche enveloped them while they were skiing.
New Mexico laws regarding premises liability and ski resorts state that the ski resort is not liable for injuries arising from risks inherent in skiing, and they list unpredictable changes to snow conditions as one of those risks. In other states where victims’ families have sued ski resorts where fatal avalanches have occurred, the courts have sided with the ski resorts. An avalanche is an act of nature; ski resort owners argue that this places it in a different category from, say, a chair lift malfunction or a faulty pair of rented skis. That may change in the coming years, though. Avalanches have become more frequent, especially as ski resorts have established ski slopes on more dangerous terrain. Plaintiffs may be able to argue that the ski slope was inherently unsafe and that the resort’s negligence lies in conducting business activities by opening it to the public.
Contact Slate Stern About Premises Liability Lawsuits
Slate Stern is a personal injury lawyer who represents plaintiffs injured as a result of skiing accidents. Contact Slate Stern in Santa Fe, New Mexico, or call (505)814-1517 to discuss your case.
Sources
https://coloradosun.com/2019/01/18/ski-area-avalanches-inbounds-lawsuits-fail/
Photo by Wouter De Praetere on Unsplash