IMPORTANT NEWS - Jury gives $14 million to skier paralyzed at Snoqualmie

I wonder how effective a park pass would really be. There's a full liablility release on the lift ticket you buy, it seems like if someone can ignore it once they could ignore it twice too.
 
exactly. it doesn't matter if you have to sign 30 goddamn waivers, you can still sue someone successfully.

we could argue for all of eternity as to who is responsible. each party is to an extent, that is inargueable. the difficulty ensues when the individual levels of responsibility are sought. that is to say, exactly how responsible is said skier? and how responsible is the ski area?

in the end, this will only result in the decline of fun terrain parks being built for experienced riders to enjoy.
 
grouse should read this article and realize that their jumps arent very safe considering the lips shoot you right into the knuckle most the time, and build better for us and more safe for us jumps so they dont get sued.
 
And exactly what do you base that statement on? Testimony of slimy ass lawyers and their hired "experts" who are willing to say anything to make some $$$.

Maybe you should get personal injury lawyers to build your park jumps, since you seem to be taking their word about the quality and safety of park features.

Don't you get it, a lawyer could say all of the same things about the best designed jump in the best park in the North America. And now, thanks to this case and the precedent it sets, they probably will.

Have fun when the only jumps available are the "perfectly engineered, according to strict safety specifications" ones on a FIS aerials site.

 
And to everyone in this thread who keeps calling out the Snowqualmie park builders for building a shitty jump....

Did you get so caught up in the fancy lawyers argument that you didn't bother to read Dev's post? You know, the one where Snowqualmie is his home mountain, and the park features are as well built as they are at most parks, and there was nothing wrong with the jump in question, the guy just overshot because he took way too much speed.

But hey, why trust a local who skis in that park all the time, when you can take the word of some laywers who have probably never even skied in their life?
 
the park was fine, it was good all year, there are just mad whack mutherfuckers at snoqualmie, its my home mountain, and has been for my whole life, i watched that other kid that died a few years ago, they are talking about, i literally watched him point the whole face into the park and hit a 10foot jump like 50 miles an hour, and go 80 feet on it,.... stupid people do these kind of things, and it sucks that the mountain got sued,
 
i know everyone involved in this at snoqualmie, and it is complete bullshit, they all do a good job, shit is striaght dope all year, most of the time the ONLY complaint you hear in the park from the locals is that the jump is to small in general, just that the shit needs to get bigger.
 
maybe they should have a bunch of kids who hit the same kicker that day testify as witnesses that there was nothing wrong with the jump and it was just user error? does snoqualmie scan passes electronically? if so they'd have proof that the person testifying was actually there.

but i think this is bullshit, especially when this precedent starts sliding down the slippery slope.

by participating in the act of downhill skiing, you take on the responsibility that you might potentially FUCK YOUR SHIT UP and be paralyzed for the rest of your life. going off a kicker without any knowledge of the amount of speed to take in is no less irresponsible than dropping a cliff without knowing if it's 10 feet or 100.

i feel bad for the guy, but it is unfortunately his own damn fault.
 
this dude knows wats up, snoqualmies jumps are built fine ive never once gotten hurt on them, if anything its hard to get speed sometimes and you case. but fuck, this kid must have straight lined from the top of the park. fucking sucks for snoqualmie
 
this is retarded. i've never been to snoqualmie but im sure they have signs saying that terrain parks are dangerous and shit, check yourself before you wreck yourself, all that jazz. its not like the dude wasnt warned, he was just an idiot. plus, when you get lift tickets / season passes whatever, it says right on it that the resort takes no responsibility for serious injury or death. however, if it was a shitty jump, it shoulda been closed or fixed.
 
yea when i first heard about this...i mean sure i feel bad for the guy, he has to live like that for the rest of his life but when i read he fell 37 feet....that his his own fault. Snoqualmie's jumps have never been a problem so this guy obviosly didn't "Look Before You Leap".
 
"If you're going to be throwing kids 37 feet in the air, these jumps need to be engineered, designed and constructed properly."

but that jump wasnt engineered, designed or constructed to throw people 37 feet in the air. that guy threw himself 37 feet in the air.

this is seeming more ridiculous every time i hear about it.
 
yes, the guy needs the money to survive.

All of us Washington folk should crash our cars on the West side of snoqualmie, and use this Jack Connelly to attack the DOT because they didn't engineer a design to fill a pothole, and instead eyeballed it with a SHO-VEL.

the jump had a damn landing, the dude just left all his common sense at home.

I feel bad for the guy, his life was dramatically changed. But as for Mr. Connelly....

He must not know shit about the incident. Apparantly hitting this jump was like dropping from a 3 story building. I hit that jump. I didn't drop 3 stories. All it takes is some common sense. Don't start 200 feet higher than everyone hitting the jump.

 
thats gay.. conditions are never going to be perfect.. you have to compensate for that type of shit...

i would just really like to see a picture of this jump that is so "unsafe"..
 
Exactly. I have a real problem with that type of logic. It would not be the car manufacturer's fault in that case, so there is no reason they should pay. If I'm worth 100 million and someone hits me in my car, and ends up paralyzed, it is not my responsibility to pay for their wheel chairs, if I am not responsible for the accident. Whether the car manufacturer can pay or not has nothing to do with the situation.
 
That is a problem with our medical system. It does not justify a lawsuit.

On a related note, I really hope everyone on this site has health insurance.
 
It is lawsuits like this which are WHY insurance companies "rape" their customers. Companies charge the premiums they need to charge in order to stay in business. If an insurance company goes bankrupt, which is what would happen if they lowered their premiums to the levels most find acceptable, they would not be of much use.
 
Thats why they should start making X Ray gogles so you can see through the jump it wouldnt be a problem anymore. Anyone think about that
 
i could go off for ever about this. what it comes down to is he chose to hit it like he did. Ski through the park, do speed checks. you may not hit the jump 100% perfect but you wont overshoot it to flat. A perfectly engineered jump can still be taken to flat. You chose to hit it, its your fault.

If I straightlined the mountain, dodged all the slow signs and smacked into the wall of the lodge would I be able to sue. NO. It is no different than that. People are saying close everything but the groomers to make shit safe. Hell in whistler the groomers are the most dangerous place, and the resort made them. Should they be liable.

Fuck, I guess we could sue the hills if we get hurt anywhere on the resort. They built lifts up the mountain which allowed us to hurt ourselves. Ya, they totally held a gun to my head and made me hit that jump.

We could even sue the government for skiing in the BC. They didnt do everything in their capacity to stop us from going out there, which obviously means they are liable.

If a jump has metal spikes in the landing and there is a sign clearly saying so, and a sign saying that you should check landings before hitting them, the hill should not be liable. yes it is extreme, but it is the exact same prniciple.

I would tell this guys straight to his face that he is a reckless, irresponsible piece of shit. I dont give a fuck that he is paralyzed, that is what happens to stupid people. Drunk drivers die when they crash their cars because they are stupid, how is this guy different. As mcuh a people try and pussy shit up, the world will always be survival of the fittest. Cover shit with pillows and some fuckhead will still be able to hurt himself, you know why, because he had it coming.

 
^i still have some sympathy for the kid's injuries, but i think this no mercy shit may hold some water. darwin awards, right? he did sue the hill which is total bullshit... ok, you convinced me. karma wins again.
 
it sucks that he is paralyzed, of course. but its his own complete fault, stupidity, and a bit of bad luck.

there's a point in one's life when they realize how shit works, and some people don't ever figure it out. There are also a couple types of people out there and for those that think rationally it is not worth their time to worry about seriously stupid, shallow or negligent people.
 
what about all of those "smart style" signs that are in the beginnings of parks? the phrases "start small and work your way up" and "do not use features that are above your ability level" should ring a bell...
 


if the kid did not have a helmet on, then he was exhibiting dangerous activity that snoqualmie cannot be held accountable for.

no helmet in the park could be alluded to driving a car without a seatbelt: you ignored the warnings and put yourself in danger and could not sue the automobile company.

i dearly hope this does not open the door to lawsuits on the ski industry.
 
why didnt they bring dumont up in this case? i mean he almost died on a jump that was perfectly built and engineered, and hes a professional. no its not the park crews fault that he over shot, i would say that its mainly his fault for thinking he needed to be goign mach 5. but anyway if anyone says its the mountains fault i want to punch them in the dome
 
I agree this is not the mountains fault, this kid could have hit is slower or skied past for a better look. Coming from pennsylvania and skiing the last 5 years or so of upcoming parks i have passed up on many a sketchy jumps, the beauty of freestyle is your complete self responsibility and decision making. If everything is engineered a certain way it takes away from individuality of style IMO, if a feature is sketch you may just have to work a little harder to make it work for you.

I think park passes may cut down on gapers and that would help some. EASY HERE don't jump down my throat cause I don't like ski patrol nazis as much as the next guy, but if there were some type of park patrol, like ppl with freestyle experience to just chill in the park and kick gapers off the landing or testify in court that someone was way out of control that might help also.

I think they should set the engineers from this case on the task of computing how fast this moron was going when he hit the jump to prove he was skiing beyond responsibility. I don't feel for the kids injury cause he got what he was asking for now he should man up and take it. I have a friend who is paralyzed from the waist down from a neck injury he got hitting a dirt jump on a 20 inch bike, for weeks after the accident he was hounded on the phone by lawyers begging him to let them take his case against a private land owner and he could have won. No this said friend was a man and took responsibility and didn't sue.

I think this sort of thing happens more in areas not accustomed to the mountain dangerous lifestyle, in big skiing areas i don't think this shit would fly cause locals have a better understanding of the risks. Where I ski in pennsylvania we have plenty of mtns with enough snow to open tree runs (glades) but we are not allowed to ski in the trees for some reason, signs and fences actually say stay out of trees. If you go up to new england and maine area signs say ski in the trees at your own risk, they are just more lax about it cause they know its a good time.
 
the lawyer is an idiot.

37 feet of air?

andreas only gets 36 feet.

PAAAAAKFKEGHGCCO-2.JPG
 
It is impossible for ski areas to become less paranoid when this sort of thing happens. The average jury does not know shit about the risks involved in park skiing, often they will be the same oblivious people who decide to take a rest stop on the landing of the jump you are sessioning.

As a country, we need to take more responcibility. Even moreso if you are involved in an extreme sport. If you cannot accept the consequences of your actions, then you belong nowhere near a terrain park.
 
-didn't find an e-mail, but if anyone feels the urge to write, call or fax this piece of shit ambulance chasing douche...

The Law Offices of

John R. Connelly, Jr.

Office Location(s)

Tacoma, Washington

2301 North 30th Street

Tacoma, Washington 98403

Telephone: 253-593-5100

Fax: 253-593-0380

 
i'm not sure which one it was.. but snoqualmie's never had any jumps that were like "whoa" ..was probly just a normal 20-30 foot stepdown.
 
damn...didn't know the guy is from Tacoma. His office is less than a five minute drive from my house....

My whole take is: This situation sucks for everyone. I feel horrible for the guy involved. His life is more or less ruined. BUT.....it was his fault he got hurt. While the jump may have been poorly made, but the description of the incident, he took it with way to much speed and way over his ability.

If I were in his position, I would have probably sued too (but I dont think I would ever be in his position because I am not an idiot. I recognize my ability and the risk involved with skiing.)

What sealed the deal for me was when he compared skiing to an amusement park and how you expect it to be as safe......bullshit. completely different.

It is going to suck if this case sets a presedent where tons of people now decide they are going to sue the area.

I give that guy the best of luck, becuase he is going thru shit I will never have to, just sucks how this all turned out.

Lesson of the whole thing.....KNOW YOU FUCKING ABILITY. When they said he fell 37 feet, pretty sure that statement is accurate. How does one fall 37 feet off a jump like that? Skiing outside of their ability. He took the jump way to fast and he paid the price. Sad, but true.
 
Sweet now northstars jumps are gonna go from 30 feet to 0 feet.

Next people are gonna sue over pipes then they're gonna be gone.

It will happen with jibs and before you know it parks will be gone.

This sucks because now insurance for parks is going to sky-rocket so that means less parks and less features.

 
other people were injured on the same jump in the weeks before Salvini's accident, including a snowboarder who broke his back. A week after Salvini was injured, 19-year-old Peter Melrose of Bellevue died going off a different jump at the same terrain park, he said.

by reading that it sounds like the mountain is still partly liable even after someone broke their back and someone died going off the jumps the mountain didnt do anything to fix them.
 
i take part of that back because the jumps in the pictures are made pretty much perfectly i thought it was a much sketchier set up to flat landing.
 
I'm pretty sure I just read someone say that kid who died overshot by bombing into a little jump and overshooting.

I guess Snoqualmie and every other ski are with a terrain park should put starting lines and landing lines for everyone and consider all the variables for every individual skier. Then engineer a jump to facilitate every rider who wants one. You know like Starbucks, where they make very specific coffee, just the way you like it. Sounds like a solution to me...

Ski areas can only do so much to facilitate the demands of their customers. Businesses are not obligated to offer everything potential customers want. Take what they offer, or do not participate. Go somewhere that offers what you're looking for, rather than suing because something the resort offered did not meet your demands. The Summit at Snoqualmie never, to my knowledge, offered a jump specifically engineered to this particular skier's needs and demands. They did, however, feel obligated to inform customers what they did offer. They offered a terrain park where skiers, snowboarders and anyone using approved snow-sliding methods, could enjoy man-made features at their own risk.

If you are not willing to read and adhere to the constant barrage of warnings concerning skiing and snowboarding, and more specifically terrain parks, do not purchase what these areas offer and go out and find your own.

 
I didn't read all the posts, but I agree with this 100%...it was his fault, he hit the jump and took the risk, too bad he got fucked up, but that's what medical insurance is for.
 
I didn't read all the posts either, but all of you seem to make good points.

Did anyone notice that the aeronomic "engineers" that came to the conclusion of the jump being "unsafe" were from the University of CA? Have any of these "professional" engineers even skied through a terrain park, let alone go off a jump? Do any of them even ski?! How can these professionals come to this consclusion?

As a park ranger at Vail, managment made the Cats doze out our two jumps, 40 and 55 footers, because of this incident. We now have 2 five foot jumps only in the mini park. Vail is not the only one either. Heavenly dozed their larger jumps down and rumor has it that Breckenridge did as well.

This event caused a Domino effect throughout the Terrain Park industry. This court case could become the next Peer Vs. Aspen, or Stratton Vs. Sunday (which both contributed to the birth of the Skier Safety Act).

The answer to this problem of "bad terrain park/jump design" is to make everything small and safe or to just close down Terrain Parks all together! This is the only choice that the ski areas are going to have if this madness continues!

It can and would ruin our passion of skiing.

You can already see it happening. Vail is no longer allowed to have gaps to their rails larger than five feet. Our 65 foot booter was open for only a week of the entire season. Mountain management shut it down because a few gapers got hurt on it (didn't have enough spped, landed on deck).

WHAT THE FUCK!!!

There is a sign at the top of all parks that explains why terrain parks are dangerous and suggusts being safe!

I give people so much shit when they duck a rope to get into the park because they don't ski past the liability signs!

I think this event is going to change the terrain park industry forever.
 
I feel sorry for the guy, sure, but it was his decision to take the jump. Theres a line between liability and your own responsibility. When you ski, the ticket you buy says that you take your own safety into your own hands when you're on the mountain.
 
first time i can truly say that i think it was good this happened...seeing that 8((not positive on #) other people were injured including death and broken back, i think its a good thing. normally id be pissed at the guy for suing, but this is an exception to me....
 
i hope and pray that Gore mtn. never hears of this cuz they would downsize their allready piece of shit little jumps to nothing, oh and its simple math to build a jump you just need to know how to use angles and such
 
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