By Attorney Christopher L. Strohbehn

It is about to get much more difficult to purse a ski, snowboard or snow sport injury claim in Wisconsin if the recent bill proposed by the Wisconsin Senate passes. On January 19, 2012, Senators Grothman, Galloway, Wanggaard, Schultz and Kedzie introduced 2011 Senate Bill 388. This proposed senate bill relates to the duties of ski area operators and participants in snow sports, the liability of ski area operators and other potential rule-making authority.

This proposed law would address a number of issues important to Wisconsin residents, visiting skiers, snowboarders and other snow sport enthusiasts.

This proposed law seeks to impose a certain set of "duties" for individuals engaged in snow sports. Individuals engaged in snow sports would have to do the following:

•1. Obey all posted warnings and signs

•2. Keep off of closed trails and out of closed areas.

•3. Know the range of his or her ability and engage in skiing or sledding within that ability.

•4. Assess the difficulty of trails and terrains that are open to skiing or sledding.

•5. Maintain control of his or her speed or direction.

•6. Comply with any posted limits that are imposed on the number of passengers or on the amount of weight of the sled or other sledding device while it is being ridden.

•7. Be able to stop or avoid other individuals or objects.

•8. Yield to other individuals engaged in skiing or sledding who are ahead or who are down the slope.

•9. Not stop at a point that will result in the individual obstructing a trail or not being visible from above.

•10. Yield to other individuals engaged in skiing or sledding who are uphill when starting downhill or merging onto a trail.

•11. Be able to safely board, ride, and deboard any lift serving and are open to skiing or sledding.

•12. Board and deboard a lift only at designated sits.

Many of these proposed duties are common sense duties that most skiers, snowboarders and snow sport enthusiasts likely adhere to everyday. That being said, a number of these "duties" are certainly ambiguous and confusing.

For example, as the law is drafted, how can skiers, snowboarders and snow sport fan be expected at all times to "[b]e able to stop or avoid other individuals or objects." This duty is more than simply asking skiers and snow sport enthusiasts to "control" themselves on the slopes. It is also imposing a duty on those skiers and snow sport enthusiasts to be able to "avoid other individuals and objects." Now, if this proposed Wisconsin Senate bill is passed, Wisconsin skiers and snow sport fans will have a duty avoid other negligent individuals and potentially unknown hazards or hidden inanimate objects on the ski slopes. These unknown or hidden hazards could be well-known to the owner of the ski slope, property owner or resort operator. If this law is passed those parties will likely be given a free pass.  What happens if a child is injured colliding with a steel stake or marker that was left completely obscured in a snow banks by the heavy snowfall on bottom of an active slope? Should we absolve ski resort owners for failing to remove or warn patrons about unknown hazards and dangers like these?  Who is the party in the best position to know the property? The owner or operator of the property or the visiting skiier, snowboarder or snow sport fan?   

Giving free passes and blanket legal protections for ski resort and property owners are unnecessary in this era of common sense.  This proposed law seeks to fix a problem that does not exist. Wisconsin skiers, snowboarders, sledders and snow sport fans are injured everyday in Wisconsin. It is clear that not all of these ski slope injuries are the type of injuries that provide a basis to initiate a personal injury lawsuit. Accidents happen and it is not always someone else's fault. Lawmakers should understand that people understand that reality. That being said, there is no reason to overreact and give ski resort owners carte blanche to ignore the maintenance, design and safety of their properties. If this proposed law passes, the end result will be allowing ski resort and ski slope owners to operate their properties in a manner that will be much more dangerous to the general public in Wisconsin.  As it stands, this law benefits the safety of no one in Wisconsin and is a recipe for disaster.

If you have been endured a ski injury, snowboard injury or other personal injury accident at a ski slope or resort in Wisconsin, please do not hesitate to contact the personal injury lawyers at Gimbel, Reilly, Guerin and Brown, LLP.