• Welcome to AlpineZone, the largest online community of skiers and snowboarders in the Northeast!

    You may have to REGISTER before you can post. Registering is FREE, gets rid of the majority of advertisements, and lets you participate in giveaways and other AlpineZone events!

Boarder sues other Boarder/Skier who hit him on moutain. From Colorado

Domeskier

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 15, 2012
Messages
2,278
Points
63
Location
New York
I noticed this link on that same page....This one intrigues me more. Criminal responsibility? I'm sure there is more to this one though.

http://www.firsttracksonline.com/20...nsiders-filing-charges-in-aspen-skiing-death/

Indeed. "Ninth Judicial District Attorney Sherry Caloia told the Aspen Times newspaper that her office expects to reach a decision this week on whether or not to file charges under the Colorado Skier Safety Act." Anyone know if the Colorado Skier Safety Act actually provides criminal sanctions for violations? Seems highly unlikely to me. I would imagine any criminal charges would have to be based on assault or some other theory that would require proving intent.
 

MidnightJester

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 7, 2011
Messages
1,030
Points
83
I call them "People trees". Random people off all ability levels that stop in all different locations most of them bad. If you aren't on the side side of a trail you should not stop. The merging areas of trails are the worst both entering trail junctions and merging areas. Lets wait for friends, look at trail map, look at trail signs, just stand mid trail, are the worst. Their need to be some protection for a person coming down hill and a person stops just over a hill or past a bend in the trail.
 

MadMadWorld

Active member
Joined
Jan 10, 2012
Messages
4,082
Points
38
Location
Leominster, MA
Indeed. "Ninth Judicial District Attorney Sherry Caloia told the Aspen Times newspaper that her office expects to reach a decision this week on whether or not to file charges under the Colorado Skier Safety Act." Anyone know if the Colorado Skier Safety Act actually provides criminal sanctions for violations? Seems highly unlikely to me. I would imagine any criminal charges would have to be based on assault or some other theory that would require proving intent.

Looks like no charges were filed in the end http://blogs.westword.com/latestword/2013/03/natalie_egleston_skiing_death_no_charges_aspen.php

While researching that case, I found this one. It's from about 10 years ago but the guy was convicted of Negligent Homicide. It seems like he was used to set an example of since he only got 90 days in jail for a crime that could have been 10 years

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/11/18/us/colorado-skier-is-convicted-in-fatal-collision-on-slopes.html
 

AdironRider

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 27, 2005
Messages
3,744
Points
83
The laws in most States don't agree with you. One needs to act as a reasonable person would under the circumstances. If it is snowing out, a driver is under a hightened duty to drive carefully given the conditions. If they don't, they are negligent.

Again, how do you intend to prove they were negligent. Theres no radar guns, etc. Skiing is inherently dangerous.
 

MadMadWorld

Active member
Joined
Jan 10, 2012
Messages
4,082
Points
38
Location
Leominster, MA
Again, how do you intend to prove they were negligent. Theres no radar guns, etc. Skiing is inherently dangerous.

It's going to be really hard even if there are witnesses. There just isn't a science behind accident investigation for skiing like there is for cars.
 

Domeskier

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 15, 2012
Messages
2,278
Points
63
Location
New York

mbedle

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 24, 2013
Messages
1,769
Points
48
Location
Barto, Pennsylvania
One interesting fact is why this doesn't seem to happen in every other sport. Just about every other kind of sport have these kind of accidents and I can't really remember them heading to courts for civil and criminal cases. To name a few, horse racing, football, NASCAR, basketball, etc... You would think that after every NASCAR crash when someone gets killed they would be filling charges against the other drivers that caused the accidents.

Another thing I was thinking about is the OP case is a civil case. Depending on Mr. Prices financial status, would a judgement against him really be worth it? Say the guy works at Best Buy and pulls in 40K a year, garnishing his wages is not going to help the other guy to much. On the other hand, if Price has a couple of million in assets or some really good insurance umbrella plan, it might turn out better. No matter what, I don't support these types of cases. However, if someone is straight lining down an intermediate or beginner hill, doing 65 mph drunk as a skunk, bowls me over and I've got out of pocket medical costs - you can bet I'm going to go after him.
 
Top