Ski Areas can be held liable for lift accidents causing injury or death – Inside Edition
Ski areas can be liable for accidents that happen due to poor lift safety and ski area negligence or recklessness. In the video from Inside Edition below, Joseph D. Bloch is interviewed by Inside Edition to discuss liability for ski lift accidents. The interview references a 2020 Vail ski lift accident. This caused the strangulation death of a rider on the Skyline Express ski lift in Vail, Colorado. It also references a previous Vail ski lift accident in which Mr. Bloch fought for justice on behalf of another ski injury victim on the same Vail lift.
Skiing has inherent risks and a ski area’s liability for accidents is often limited by laws that favor the outdoor recreation industry in Colorado. However, ski areas are NOT absolved from all injury claims. As, Joe Bloch explains, “There’s inherent risk in skiing. It’s a dangerous sport but riding a chairlift and being strangled and asphyxiated is not one of the inherent risks of skiing.”
