Oregon Ski Area Sued for $4.6 Million After 4-Year-Old Injured on the Slopes

Lawyers representing a 4-year-old girl who was injured in an accident on the slopes have sued Hoodoo Ski Area in Oregon for $4.6 million, according to local news outlets.

According to the lawsuit, the ski area is to blame for the girl’s broken bones and concussion she suffered when an adult skier collided with her in a terrain park area with jumps and freestyle features.

The girl was skiing with her family and friends on March 7, 2021, when she fell below one of the terrain park’s jumps, the lawsuit said.

Then, the lawsuit said, a skier crossed into the terrain park, leapt over the jump, and landed on her. Before the collision, the skier didn’t hear the yells from the girl’s ski partners to stop, the lawsuit said.

Terrain parks at ski resorts are often cordoned off from other trails with visible ropes. This way, skiers and snowboarders can only enter them from one point.

However, the lawsuit said that Hoodoo Ski Area had removed the ropes around its terrain park about 30 minutes before its chairlifts closed. 

That makes the ski area at fault by not stopping skiers from entering the terrain park partway down the mountain, the lawsuit said, or warning them adequately of the dangers associated with skiing into the terrain park when they aren’t sure if the freestyle features are clear.

Scott Lucas, an attorney representing the girl, told The Oregonian that they aren’t suing the skier who hit the girl because the skier was unfamiliar with Hoodoo’s terrain park setup.

“All this would have been avoided if the resort had simply left its safety barriers in place until the resort closed,” Lucas told the newspaper.

Representatives from Hoodoo Ski Area told local news outlets that they couldn’t comment on the lawsuit.

Lawsuit Raises Concerns About Ski Resort Liability in Oregon

The Hoodoo Ski Area lawsuit comes as Oregon resorts are tangling with an influx of lawsuits that they worry could make it harder for them to stay insured and continue operating, The Oregonian reported.

In 2014, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled in favor of a paralyzed snowboarder, making the liability waivers that ski resorts use to ward off lawsuits weaker. Since that decision, Oregon ski areas, including Hoodoo, have seen more legal action.

Earlier this year, Safehold Special Risk, one of two major ski resort insurers in Oregon, left the state, citing a highly litigious atmosphere that made business too costly.

Some members of the Oregon legislature recently attempted to pass a bill that would strengthen liability waivers, but failed. Critics of the bill feared it would strip Oregonians of legal recourse if they were injured while skiing or participating in another recreational activity, like going to the gym.