Colorado
Waivers don’t shield ski resorts that violate state law from liability, Colorado Supreme Court rules
The pages of fine print that skiers and snowboarders must agree to when hitting the slopes in Colorado — waivers of liability — do not protect ski resorts when resorts violate state laws or regulations, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Monday.
The ruling, handed down in the case of a 16-year-old girl who fell from a ski lift at Crested Butte Mountain Resort and was paralyzed two years ago, likely ends a years-long push by the ski industry to use waivers to shield resorts against almost all lawsuits, even in cases where ski areas violated state law, experts said.
“It’s a sea change, in terms of ski areas’ responsibilities and consumers’ ability to be protected from ski areas’ negligence,” said Evan Banker, a personal injury attorney at Denver firm Chalat Hatten & Banker. “…From a consumer protection standpoint, it’s huge. Because liability breeds responsibility.”
In their 5-2 decision, the Colorado Supreme Court justices considered a lawsuit brought by Annie Miller and her father, Michael Miller, over Annie’s 30-foot fall from a lift at Crested Butte, which is owned by Vail Resorts. The father and daughter from Oklahoma boarded the Paradise Express chairlift, a four-seat, high-speed lift at the resort, on March 16, 2022.
Annie couldn’t get properly seated, and grabbed the chairlift to keep from falling. Her father and others began to yell for the lift to be stopped as she was dragged forward, but the lift continued with Annie hanging from the chair and her father trying to pull her back to safety.
Eventually, Annie fell and landed on her back. Even then, the lift did not stop, and Michael Miller was forced to ride to the top and ski down to his daughter, who suffered severe injuries and was paralyzed after the fall.
Michael Miller brought a negligence lawsuit against Crested Butte, arguing that the resort employees should have stopped the lift well before Annie fell and that failing to do so violated Colorado’s Ski Safety Act and the Passenger Tramway Safety Act. A lower court ruled much of Miller’s claim was invalid, and he appealed to the Colorado Supreme Court.
Monday’s ruling partially reversed the lower-court decision and allows Miller to continue to pursue the negligence lawsuit against the resort.
Sara Huey, a spokeswoman for Vail Resorts, declined to comment on the ruling because the Millers’ lawsuit is ongoing. In court filings, attorneys for Vail Resorts argued that the lawsuit misstated the precedent in Colorado around private liability waivers, which skiers and snowboarders must agree to when buying lift tickets and passes.
“Colorado courts have upheld private recreational waiver agreements, even where the plaintiff could have (or did) point to a statute regulating the activity,” attorney Michael Hofmann wrote. “The existence of recreational safety regulation has never been enough to prohibit private parties from agreeing that a waiver defense will be available.”
“Big victory for ski safety”
More broadly, the state high court’s decision likely ends efforts by the ski industry to expand the protections that waivers of liability give ski areas.
“This was a big victory for ski safety in Colorado,” said Bruce Braley, who represented the Millers. “It says unequivocally that ski areas cannot force skiers and snowboarders to sign away their rights to protection under the statutes and regulations that govern the ski industry in Colorado.”
The ruling turns back the clock on liability in some Colorado ski accident cases, Banker said.
“For many, many years… everyone sort of agreed that when you sign that waiver you are waiving claims of negligence, but you can always still make claims if the ski area fails to do the things it is required to by law, like maintaining the lift properly,” Banker said.
But since about 2017, the ski industry has been successfully challenging that understanding through targeted litigation, winning key court cases that strengthened the protection afforded by waivers and pushing to essentially provide complete immunity for anything that could happen at a ski resort unless there was gross negligence, Banker and Braley said.
“So what this has done is change that,” Banker said. “It brings us back to the landscape everyone understood it to be many years ago. Which is, you can waive claims of negligence, but the ski area doesn’t get to avoid its legal responsibility, its responsibility in statute and regulations, by having you sign a waiver.”
Adrienne Saia Isaac, a spokeswoman for the National Ski Areas Association, a Lakewood nonprofit that represents more than 300 sk- area members, said it is “too early to tell how the ruling will affect the Colorado ski industry.”
The association argued in court filings both that the lift operator at Crested Butte was not required to stop the lift in response to Annie Miller’s mishap, and that liability waivers do not allow ski areas to get around statutory regulations.
“While chairlift accidents within the reasonable control of ski area operators will never be eliminated, they are rare,” wrote Brian Birenbach, an attorney in Breckenridge representing the National Ski Areas Association. “This will not change by the continued enforcement of liability waivers in the courts.”
Two dissenting voices
Two justices dissented from the majority’s Monday ruling, arguing that the state Supreme Court should have upheld the lower court’s ruling in Miller’s lawsuit.
Justice Monica Márquez wrote in the dissent that the type of negligence Miller claimed, “negligence per se,” or negligence in violation of a specific statute or regulation, is practically no different from ordinary negligence — that is, negligence that violates a general reasonable duty of care — and so shouldn’t be treated differently from a claim of ordinary negligence.
“The dissent essentially says, ‘It’s still negligence, and you can waive claims of ordinary negligence, so there is nothing special about a per se duty of care,’ whereas what the majority opinion said is, ‘When the legislature speaks and sets out duties of care, it means something,’” Banker said.
Braley said the ruling should encourage Colorado ski areas to pay closer attention to safety laws and regulations.
“I think the industry as a whole is going to have to accept responsibility,” he said, “and take more seriously these statutory and regulatory requirements they have to comply with to provide safe passage on chair lifts in Colorado.”
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Law enforcement agencies are seeing a spike in smash-and-grab robberies across the northern part of the Denver metro area and up into Northern Colorado.
The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office is looking for what they are calling the Panda Bandit. Investigators say three young suspects, one dressed in a panda costume, burglarized a gas station in Superior and took vape products.
In Greeley, a clothing store is asking for help after thieves drove through their front window.
A similar burglary happened at Vibez Vape and Smoke shop in Arvada, where a stolen car caused thousands of dollars in damage.
“These guys they don’t give up,” employee Ashton Kimball said.
Surveillance cameras captured video of the crime. After the front steel door is smashed down by the stolen car, eight thieves pour into the store in the video.
“They wear gloves. They are masked up so you can’t really get any sort of description on them,” he said.
The video shows the hooded suspects clearing the shelves in a matter of seconds.
Unfortunately, Kimball says it’s now the fifth time they’ve been hit.
“We are all struggling in this economy as much as it is. We don’t need people making it harder on us,” he said.
The first time, thieves used a rock to break through the glass and the owner quickly reinforced the front using a metal gate. Thieves then used a crowbar to pry the gate open, so they added even more security including the steel door which covered the entire storefront.
“Now a full-on vehicle. What’s next? Are they going to start using guns? It has just escalated. Something needs to be done,” Kimball said.
According to Arvada police, in 2023 they had a total of 66 burglaries of the smash-and-grab type. So far, in 2024 they are at 67, with 24 since Sept. 1.
“They are taking whatever they can, and they are reselling it,” Arvada Police Detective Adam Ross said.
Ross says they are seeing similarities in cases beyond their jurisdiction, with thieves hitting in the early morning hours and almost all involve young suspects.
“Facebook Marketplace is a big place for vape products, but really a lot of these criminals are giving them to their friends and family who may not know that these products are stolen and then they are going to school and are actually selling those products at the school,” Ross said.
He says when they’re caught, they’re not deterred.
“They realize the consequence are a little bit soft in this area. I think it needs to be impactful really to hold these guys accountable,” he said.
For businesses like Vibez, it has means thousands of dollars in product lost, tens of thousands more spent cleaning up and whatever it will costs to add even more protection, which Kimball says they will do.
“We still got a couple more ideas. We are not throwing in the towel yet,” he said.
If you know anything about this crime or the others in the area you’re asked to call Arvada police.
Allegiant Airlines will begin services out of Colorado Springs and new Denver routes next year, the airline announced Tuesday.
With 44 new routes being offered in cities throughout the U.S., this expansion is one of the largest in the airline’s history. The three new routes out of Denver will begin in May, and two service offerings out of the Colorado Springs Airport will begin in February.
Colorado Springs Airport was one of three new cities Allegiant Airlines will offer flights out of, alongside Gulf Shores International Airport in Alabama and Columbia Metropolitan Airport in South Carolina.
New routes at Colorado Springs Airport will be to Phoenix-Mesa Airport beginning Feb. 12, to Santa Ana via John Wayne Airport in Orange County starting on Feb. 13, and to Tampa, Florida, via St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport beginning Feb. 14.
Allegiant Airlines at Denver International Airport will also offer new routes beginning on May 22 to Idaho Falls Regional Airport in Idaho and Stockton Metropolitan Airport in California.
To celebrate this expansion, Allegiant Airlines, based out of Las Vegas, is offering one-way fares as low as $39 for some cities. The reduced fare rates will be offered until Wednesday for travel by July 25, 2025.
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Originally Published:
Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig’s NFL draft stock continues to soar as the Colorado Buffaloes strong safety builds an impressive resume in his second season in Boulder. At 5’11 and 185 pounds, Silmon-Craig may be considered undersized by traditional standards, but his on-field impact defies those metrics. A team captain and defensive leader, he wears the “L” on his jersey for leadership, embodying the “dawg mentality” that Deion Sanders, values in his players.
Silmon-Craig’s journey began at Trinity Christian High School, where he caught the eye of Sanders, linebackers coach Andre’ Hart, and cornerbacks coach Kevin Mathis. Despite being overlooked by many programs, the trio recognized Silmon-Craig’s physicality, ball-hawking skills, and leadership potential. Initially committed to Florida Atlantic University, Silmon-Craig decommitted to follow Sanders to Jackson State. The move paid off, as he earned All-SWAC First Team and HBCU All-American honors during his sophomore season, solidifying himself as a standout in the conference.
When Sanders and his coaching staff transitioned to Colorado, Silmon-Craig followed, making the leap to Power Five football. In his first season at Colorado, he tied with Heisman hopeful Travis Hunter for the team lead in interceptions (three) and finished sixth in tackles (44). This year, he’s elevated his game further, leading the team with 76 tackles, including three double-digit tackle games and a career-high 14 against Baylor. While he has yet to record an interception this season, his ability to track the ball and disrupt passing lanes suggests it’s only a matter of time before he adds to his turnover tally.
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If Silmon-Craig remained at Jackson State, his draft prospects might have been limited to a late-round selection or even undrafted free agency. However, his success at Colorado demonstrates his ability to compete and excel at the highest level of college football. Comparisons to NFL safeties like Jimmie Ward of the Houston Texans and Jordan Poyer of the Miami Dolphins highlight his versatility as both a box defender and a coverage safety. His leadership qualities, physicality, and football IQ make him a strong candidate for a mid-round selection in the upcoming NFL draft.
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With at least two games left in the regular season and potential postseason appearances, Silmon-Craig has an opportunity to surpass 100 tackles, a milestone that will further cement his NFL readiness. His combination of skill, tenacity, and leadership ensures he’ll not only be drafted but also become a cornerstone for an NFL defense in the years to come.
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