People who sue ski areas should be shot.

[GoldMember]

I didn't see this anywhere else but it reminds me of Scot Schmidt's famous line...

Skier Sues for Millions After Falling off Lift Without Safety Bar

https://www.powder.com/news/skier-su...VJ7tVdm_XVq1gg

[J. Barron DeJong]

I don’t know man. Maybe they should have upgraded the lift to meet some minimal safety level, or not run it in windy conditions since they didn’t bother?

[The Reverend Floater]

1. Dude is from Lincoln County. I’m not stereotyping, just saving time, when I say he was likely wearing a Trump watch and angry at all the pot smoking in the parking lot where he parked his dually with “Joe and the Ho” on the back.

2. Willamette Shwagg is the last of a dying breed. There are very, very few ski areas that still embody the true, affordable family ski vibe like the Shwagg does. We ripped it all the time in college and it was always jam packed with family’s, kids, etc, most of them in jeans. This really bums me out to hear it’s under fire. Such a fun place.


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[GoldMember]

I don’t know man. Maybe they should have upgraded the lift to meet some minimal safety level, or not run it in windy conditions since they didn’t bother?

Based on the number of Riblet lifts still in existence without safety bars but running reliably and well, they probably do meet minimal safety requirements as all these lifts are tested and inspected to meet the minimal requirements. As for running during wind events, that isn't the only factor that makes chairs sway. I've ridden lifts without safety bars for decades in windy conditions that have swayed. Hold onto the vertical post and the side rail and you're probably good to go. I'm not buying it that the area has an underlying responsibility to assure you can sit in a chair. Now if a chair falls off the lift and you're hurt, it's a different situation.

[XXX-er]

At Red mtn in Rossland the chair had no bar, it did have a little plastic package on the center bar which held some twine so you could pull up a rescue device cuz if the chair died with you on it, there was no way to get rescued from the ground

[toast2266]

they probably do meet minimal safety requirements as all these lifts are tested and inspected to meet the minimal requirements.

Because if something is inspected by someone, it's obviously safe.

I've ridden plenty of chairs without safety bars, including a bunch of laps on a riblet a few days ago. But by no stretch of the imagination are those things safe in any modern sense of the word. There are all kinds of things people did 40 years ago that we now look back on and acknowledge were not a particularly good idea. Old chairs like that are an anachronism that have only survived due to lax oversight and the very small number of them that still exist.

None of which is to say that the lawsuit is great. Guy knew what the chair was when he got on it. The danger was plainly obvious.

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[XXX-er]

Yeah i would have like a bar or something but nobody moves no body gets hurt

and so these chairs ran no problem for decades you kind of accept it when you get on the really old chair with no bar

or don't get on

[J. Barron DeJong]

Based on the number of Riblet lifts still in existence without safety bars but running reliably and well, they probably do meet minimal safety requirements as all these lifts are tested and inspected to meet the minimal requirements. As for running during wind events, that isn't the only factor that makes chairs sway. I've ridden lifts without safety bars for decades in windy conditions that have swayed. Hold onto the vertical post and the side rail and you're probably good to go. I'm not buying it that the area has an underlying responsibility to assure you can sit in a chair. Now if a chair falls off the lift and you're hurt, it's a different situation.

I just think that if there’s been a basic safety technology around for more than half a century, that has been legally mandated in many places for decades, that is now legally mandated in your area if building or moving a lift, and you’ve chosen not to upgrade your lift with this technology during these decades then it’s not surprising that you’re maybe opening yourself up to some legal exposure when something goes wrong.

[nest]

Fucking lawyers are the worst

[Conundrum]

Skiing is an inherently dangerous sport.

[::: :::]

I do wonder how many laps they’d put in before the one that caused issue

Guy was taking his grandson out in a storm
Normally I’d say he was getting after it and teaching the grom about ignoring any discomfort, but the suing part makes me wonder…

[TBS]

1. Dude is from Lincoln County. I’m not stereotyping, just saving time, when I say he was likely wearing a Trump watch and angry at all the pot smoking in the parking lot where he parked his dually with “Joe and the Ho” on the back.

2. Willamette Shwagg is the last of a dying breed. There are very, very few ski areas that still embody the true, affordable family ski vibe like the Shwagg does. We ripped it all the time in college and it was always jam packed with family’s, kids, etc, most of them in jeans. This really bums me out to hear it’s under fire. Such a fun place.


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1. Lincoln county votes blue https://www.co.lincoln.or.us/Documen...l-Election-pdf

2. Willie’s Ass has gone way downhill since you went there. Partly climate change, partly the prior management developed an intense dislike of both employees and customers. Lots of lift problems. Mountain Capital Partners bought them a few years ago and has plans to expand, but nothing concrete yet. Combo of cheap midweek tickets ($25 or so), a good snow year, plus MCP’s seeming LT commitment should help them out. I hope they can make a go of it, but it’s low elevation on the wet side of the hill.

IMO Hoodoo is the exemplar for KIR skiing in Central OR.

No idea whether WP negligently operated their chairs. Thing is, Oregon courts have ruled that ski resort liability waivers are without force. IOW, customers can still sue even if they accepted the waiver at time of service.

[old goat]

Yes and no. Anyone who falls off a chair with the safety bar up should have to pay the resort's legal bill. OTOH the people hurt recently at Heavenly seem to have a legitimate case, although if the bars were up they might be considered partly responsible.

I was riding a chair at Heavenly many years ago that seemed to have an alignment problem with the loading ramp--as soon as you left the ramp the chair starting swinging badly, coming within inches of the first tower. There was no wind. I rode once and avoided the lift the rest of the day. It derailed the next day., with injuries--the teenage daughter of the mayor of SF was paralyzed. Nothing but lawyers in that family--I doubt it took Heavenly much time to pay up.

Scaredest I've been skiing was riding one of the backside lifts at Big Sky--I was the last person on it before they shut it for wind. I was wishing I had the bar down but I was struggling too hard to hang on with both hands to pull it down once I was airborne.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

This is such bullshit. I ride lifts with no safety restraints every day, of course there’s a risk of falling. If you’re not willing to accept that risk don’t ride. This will kill small hills that can’t afford to upgrade to new lifts with safety bars.


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[Danno]

What a weird article, part news reporting and part editorializing.

And this? "It might seem hard to believe, but there are still a handful of chairlifts in The United States that do not have a safety or restraint bar." Most resorts I can think of have at least one lift that has no safety bar, so it's not hard to believe.

[m2711c]

What a weird article, part news reporting and part editorializing.

And this? "It might seem hard to believe, but there are still a handful of chairlifts in The United States that do not have a safety or restraint bar." Most resorts I can think of have at least one lift that has no safety bar, so it's not hard to believe.

that would depend on where the author was from. There are literally zero chairlifts in the northeast that do not have a safety bar. and if that bar ain’t down, you’re gonna get yelled at by every lifty and ski patrol that sees you on the way up.


it’s kinda like how in New Jersey they don’t let you pump your own gas so people from New Jersey don’t know how to pump gas.

[MagnificentUnicorn]

We have three fixed grip Riblet doubles, no safety bar or side support to speak of, center pole. I’ve never thought it unusual or unsafe. I had my daughters riding them at four or five. Chairlifts can be dangerous if you fall off but I think that’s on the user not the operator.


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[m2711c]

Yeah, you’re right… fuck that one legged son a bitch and his grandson too. fuckin’ pussys need to work out them grippin’ muscles.

[old goat]

that would depend on where the author was from. There are literally zero chairlifts in the northeast that do not have a safety bar. and if that bar ain’t down, you’re gonna get yelled at by every lifty and ski patrol that sees you on the way up.


it’s kinda like how in New Jersey they don’t let you pump your own gas so people from New Jersey don’t know how to pump gas.

I thought most people in NJ pumped gas for a living.

Of the places I've skied in the last 20 years--Palisades, NStar, Sugar Bowl, Mt. Rose--no chairs without bars. Anyway, it's one thing if a state doesn't require bars and people choose to get on a lift without them, it's another when a bar is available and people choose not to use it. No need for a resort to install bars if it doesn't have to or want to--a simple sign will suffice "NO SAFETY BAR, RIDE AT YOUR OWN RISK"

Guy I shared a chair with took it to a new level. He wore a climbing harness and clipped into the chair. He had epilepsy.

I'm not fond of the vertical bars that are supposed to keep little kids from sliding under the bar--they tend to come down in the wrong place--but having kids fall off chairs is bad for business. Around here nobody makes adults use safety bars but the lifties make sure the kids do.

Anyway Goldmember--shooting people who sue ski areas seems extreme. Save that level of anger for politicians, health care execs, etc. Or, as my grandfather used to tell me, capitalists.

[PNWbrit]

Might be subrogation?

Can pretty much guarantee you're all subject to clauses that would enable an insurer/employer to sue in your name if they decided to.

[irul&ublo]

I thought most people in NJ pumped gas for a living.

.

Only with a graduate degree from Rutgers



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[californiagrown]

I have never seen a riblet with a safety bar. Seems really awkward to make that happen.

Also, isnt it usually the insurance company that forces people to sue ski areas? Either because the insurance doesnt want to foot the bill for ongoing medical care, or because the person's long term medical bills are exorbitant and insurance wont cover much of the cost?

[californiagrown]

Of the places I've skied in the last 20 years--Palisades, NStar, Sugar Bowl, Mt. Rose--no chairs without bars. .

i havent been back in about 10 years, but Alpine chair at Alpine meadows never had a bar. Maybe it does now? Ive been on that a few times is some seriously windy conditions when they had summit chair shut down for windhold. I bet there are a number of other chairs at those places where you just never noticed there was no bar to put down... its not something that you really think about unless you are in the habit of putting a bar down EVERY lift ride.

[LHutz Esq]

No idea whether WP negligently operated their chairs. Thing is, Oregon courts have ruled that ski resort liability waivers are without force. IOW, customers can still sue even if they accepted the waiver at time of service.

This will have to be one of the first things we fix when Canada annexes Oregon. Along with universal medical, comes the freedom to accept the risk of doing risky things!

For those visiting the great north before the wall goes up - waivers here do mean something and do have force- so buy insurance.

[stealurface831]

Anyway Goldmember--shooting people who sue ski areas seems extreme. Save that level of anger for politicians, health care execs, etc. Or, as my grandfather used to tell me, capitalists.

people who fly drones into super scoopers should be shot. and their remains nuked from orbit.