A couple of folks were saying above that this sort of thing is not going to close Terrain Parks. Think again my friend.
Where this sort of action will lead is the inability or lack of desire for a resort to operate a park on an Financial level. Resorts carry a huge insurance policy, or in the case of larger resorts (like Intrawest as a whole, and I am sure others) they are self-insured. Every time a claim is made in this way, REGARDLESS of how it is settled, premiums are raised to a point where they approach being unviable.
In terms of fault and resort responsibilty; some of you may recall the Snowboarder in the Park at Whistler who sued the Resort, the School board and Teachers who brought him on a the trip. Though WB settled out of court, they were still found liable for a percentage of fault. I don't think many of you appreciate that the question of 'should we even have a park' was on the table.
The jist of that court action in regards to WB was that no one told the student enough that there was a risk. Like it or not, that is the case. Yes, there is far more signage now, as well as a hard fence around the park, but those are largely in response to this incident. The fact is, that yes there are inherent risks to skiing and riding, but once folks start BUILDING things, the risk changes and increases. Resorts MUST deal with this.
Lesson learned for us: Do what the resorts say in terms of park rules. The mere fact that the parks are there show that they are on our side and want to provide for us. Help them keep the parks operating by working with them within the VERY tight rules that their insurance providers are giving them.
'The money's in the medicine, not the cure!' Harvey