Injuries at New Jersey Ski Resorts

by Matt Bonanno, Esq.

New Jersey Ski Resort Injuries: What You Can Do

Injuries occur on New Jersey’s slopes at a rising rate, reaching nearly 50 severe or fatal injuries in the past few years. There are only three ski resorts in New Jersey, including one indoor destination. Still, skiing is such a popular activity in the state that it has adopted legislation to handle ski area injuries. At RAM Law, our experienced New Jersey personal injury accident lawyers can help you to protect your rights if you end up injured at a ski resort.

Responsibilities of New Jersey Ski Resorts

New Jersey ski resorts, like other public venues, have a responsibility to take proper care of their premises to minimize the likelihood of accidents caused by their negligence. If the resort’s management and owners fail to live up to this required standard of care, visitors and patrons can experience serious injuries, catastrophic medical bills and other damages.

Some common causes of ski resort accidents include negligent management and operation. If ski resort owners do not properly maintain the property, the resort can quickly become dangerous, with additional hazards piled atop the existing risks of outdoor winter sports. Some of these hazards linked to owner negligence include:

• Defective ski equipment provided by the ski resort
• Misplaced or mislabeled objects on the ski paths
• Malfunctioning chair lifts
• Icy conditions in inappropriate places
• Poorly maintained roads and potholes
• Improperly trained ski instructors

In some cases, ski resort accidents occur due to instructors giving inappropriate or careless advice and guidance, directing new skiers in dangerous ways. Other skiers may be responsible for injuries if they crash into others in the mountains due to their recklessness or carelessness. If you have experienced injuries at a New Jersey ski resort, a personal injury accident lawyer can help you to understand the responsibilities of the resort and the potential to seek compensation for your damages.

Injuries Caused by New Jersey Ski Resort Accidents

Accidents at a ski resort can cause serious damage with long-term consequences. Skiers can suffer multiple injury types, including spinal cord damage, traumatic brain injury, sprains, fractures of the extremities, joint injuries, concussions, facial injuries, and broken bones.

While there are accidents on the ski slopes, these are not the only incidents at ski resorts. Resorts are also responsible for maintaining the roads, hotels and other properties on their premises. Poorly maintained roads may lead to auto accidents, while dangerous conditions in a hotel or lodge may lead to slip and fall or similar injuries.

In many cases, these injuries happen due to one party’s negligence, even though the injury occurs far from the ski slopes. In addition, motor vehicle accidents can cause a range of severe injuries and property damage.

New Jersey Ski Accident Law

New Jersey has a Ski Slope Statute to help define the responsibilities of skiers, ski resorts, and other ski area operators. Because skiing involves certain inherent risks, the statute delineates the difference between the risks caused by operator negligence and those related to the risks that participants voluntarily assume. For example, skiers cannot recover from injuries caused by the weather, the conditions of the slopes or other skiers. However, this does not mean all the risks associated with skiing are inherent.

Dangerous items in the area that cause injury and yet remain in place with the operator’s knowledge or likely knowledge are not part of the inherent risks of skiing, nor is the presence of drunk or intoxicated skiers in the area. Operators should also know how to operate the ski lift safely and perform frequent maintenance checks. In many ways, your ability to recover compensation for an injury at a ski resort depends on whether the issue encountered is an inherent risk of skiing.

To hold a ski resort owner accountable, the operator must have known or should have known about the dangerous conditions on their property. In general, operators of businesses have a responsibility to maintain and understand their property. Still, there may be sudden events that it would not be possible for them to know about or correct in advance.

The skier must also live up to their responsibilities under state ski law. For example, skiers agree to conduct themselves according to their skills and ski knowledge and to know how adept of a skier they are. In addition, they must take responsibility to avoid dangers and conduct that could harm themselves or others. For example, skiers should not ski directly into obvious obstacles like equipment or vehicles. The details may vary from case to case, but the law expects skiers to engage in their sport responsibly.

Even though skiers have these responsibilities, operators of resorts still must warn them about the degrees of difficulty involved. For example, if a resort tells a beginning skier that an advanced trail is for beginners, this could potentially rise to negligence. Therefore, ski resorts are also responsible for monitoring hazards and removing them on an ongoing and regular basis.

This issue may arise as part of your ski resort injury case. For example, suppose comparative negligence is an issue in your dispute. In that case, the experienced personal injury accident lawyers at RAM Law can help to analyze your case and understand whether or not your injury was caused by inherent risk or by owner negligence.

When Can You Sue for a New Jersey Ski Accident?

It is important to note that New Jersey’s Ski Slope Statute requires injured parties to notify the ski operator that they intend to sue within 90 days of the accident. There is also a two-year statute of limitations for personal injury claims, and cases need to be filed within this time to be eligible for compensation. There may be some exceptions where the accident victim is a minor, but consulting with a personal injury attorney shortly following the incident can help to protect your rights to pursue damages.

If you want to pursue compensation for the injuries you suffered in a New Jersey ski accident, start by consulting with a personal injury accident lawyer and pursuing a liability claim. The experienced personal injury attorneys at RAM Law can work with you to develop a clear timeline and determine who was responsible for the accident. In addition, fact gathering can help you and your attorney to establish that the ski operator was negligent in maintaining their property and causing the accident. For example, you could show that there was inadequate maintenance of marking of the grounds, that the operator distributed inaccurate information or that the owner knew about hazards and left them in place.

The evidence you collect should include documentation of your injuries, medical bills and doctor’s reports, photos of the hazards and dangerous conditions, any pictures or videos of the accident, and testimony from other witnesses who saw what happened that day. It would also be beneficial to obtain an official weather report for the day of the accident.

Contact a New Jersey Ski Accident Attorney

The personal injury lawyers at RAM Law have extensive experience advocating for and successfully winning compensation for the victims of accidents throughout New Jersey. Contact our team of attorneys if you have injuries from a ski resort due to a ski operator’s negligence. We can review your case to determine the best next steps forward. To set up an initial consultation for a case review, contact us at our New Brunswick and Somerville offices at 732-394-1549 or submit our online form.