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Big Boulder/Peak Resorts loose $2.5m lawsuit

drjeff

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So much of this case seems to be what is wrong with our legal system these days...

The guy and his friends had been out snowboarding early in the day. Took the afternoon off for lunch (maybe some drinks and who knows what else possibly...)

Went back out in the evening. Saw the rope across the trail which they said was down on the snow across the entrance to the trail when they found it, proceeded down the trail, which they said had been open earlier in the day when they were out, went off a "10 foot high" jump (?snow making whale??) and after launching off the jump, in mid air, realized that he was going to land on the fan gun, at which point he suffered his broken leg.

Somehow this is a 2.5 million award?? And if the aged old roughly 1/3 cut for the lawyer is true in this case, that's an 800K+ pay day for the attorney as well......
 

legalskier

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It will be interesting to see what happens going forward. This is far from the end of it.
 

abc

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Q: What's wrong with our legal system?

A: A good lawyer have a much better chance of winning a case against an ineffective lawyer.

TWO implications I can immediately see:

1) Rich people are able to hire more effective lawyers than poor people. So they have an advantage

2) Good lawyer may be attracted to well paying practices, e.g. injuries related lawsuits.

There may be more, but those were the 2 that jumps out to me.
 

Not Sure

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I guess just not being stupid isn't even an option anymore.

Nope. I personally know a lawyer who won a case for a drunk. Guy leaves first Bar after a drink ...totally sober. Goes to a second Bar and gets blasted. Injured someone... sues both Bars and wins. #%^**+€><<. Legal system is a joke!!!
What really pissed me off was he laughs about it.
 

BenedictGomez

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It's not always the legal system, it's often "the jury", which in this case seems likely. In some areas you are more apt to get bleeding-heart juries who hate "big corporations" & will stick it to them regardless of the case facts.

Smart (and/or evil depending upon your view) attorneys know this & routinely go "court shopping" for a "big corporation hating" populace to present their case (e.g. Southern District of Texas) , especially in class-action lawsuits.
 
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FBGM

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Hopefully someone sues Hunter next for the incompetent trail designs and dangers that led to deaths.
 

deadheadskier

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Yep, all Hunter's fault. Couldn't possibly be the skiers not properly maintaining their equipment and skiing out of control. Nope

And I don't mean to be insensitive towards any skier that dies or gets severely injured participating in this sport. That's just the risk we all take when we click in.

I guess the OP doesn't put much stock in personal responsibility.

Sent from my XT1635-01 using AlpineZone mobile app
 

urungus

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Yep, all Hunter's fault. Couldn't possibly be the skiers not properly maintaining their equipment and skiing out of control. Nope

And I don't mean to be insensitive towards any skier that dies or gets severely injured participating in this sport. That's just the risk we all take when we click in.

I guess the OP doesn't put much stock in personal responsibility.

3 deaths in 2 months seems like a lot to me ... how many people do you think should have to die before Hunter accepts some responsibility for what they built ?
 

drjeff

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3 deaths in 2 months seems like a lot to me ... how many people do you think should have to die before Hunter accepts some responsibility for what they built ?

So if they don't make any changes to the terrain pod, and lets say that nobody dies in that pod for the next 10?20? 50 years is it still an issue with the terrain? Obviously we can't know what may or may not happen in the future in this situation
 

urungus

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So if they don't make any changes to the terrain pod, and lets say that nobody dies in that pod for the next 10?20? 50 years is it still an issue with the terrain? Obviously we can't know what may or may not happen in the future in this situation

We can predict what will happen in the future, based upon what has happened in the past. So far they are averaging 3 deaths per season. To me that is too many to do nothing and hope (against the available evidence) that the law of averages will eventually even things out.
 

deadheadskier

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Did the deaths occur all at the exact same spot and under the exact same snow and weather conditions? How many thousands of runs were completed on that trail(s) without incident last year?

It sounds to me that this is more of a case of skiers being out of control. I could see adding more patrol actively engaging lesser skilled skiers to slow down, but I believe the terrain in question is groomed, snowmaking terrain. What are the current design factors that one can absolutely blame for the accidents?

Should the many natural trails in the east with ledges and other obstacles be blasted flat? A trail like Tramline at Cannon could easily become deadly. If someone dies on it, should Cannon be required to regrade it?

It's always tragic when someone dies or gets seriously injured participating in our sport, but placing blame on the ski area is a very slippery slope (no pun intended).

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FBGM

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It’s pretty clear that the cost cutting half assed job of the new terrain at Hunter has led to deaths due to negligence. They rushed. They had people in charge that had no idea how to create new terrain. It was sloppy.
 

AdironRider

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It’s pretty clear that the cost cutting half assed job of the new terrain at Hunter has led to deaths due to negligence. They rushed. They had people in charge that had no idea how to create new terrain. It was sloppy.


And your opinion is justified how outside of your own hubris?

Cutting down trees does not require a PHD. You going to start suing mountain because the DIDN'T modify natural terrain to make it safe also? You realize you don't get it both ways right?
 
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