Jury finds SkiCo negligent, awards snowboarder $100K

A federal jury on Monday ruled that the Aspen Skiing Co. was negligent when a female snowboarder from Vermont collided with a snowmobile at Snowmass in March 1997. As a result, the SkiCo must pay her $100,000.

With interest, the judgment should be about $123,000, according to Denver attorney James Chalat, who represented Emilie Lee in her lawsuit against SkiCo.

The 12-member jury’s verdict came after a trial that began last Tuesday in Denver. Closing arguments were Monday, and the jury spent two-and-a-half hours in deliberations, which included lunch time. The case was tried before U.S. District Judge Daniel B. Sparr.

Lee, who attends college in Arizona, filed suit against SkiCo last year. She claimed that while she was on vacation at Snowmass with her family on March 16, 1997, she collided with a snowmobile driven by SkiCo employee Rickey Reh.

Of the $100,000 that the jury awarded her, $60,000 went toward her pain and suffering and $40,000 was for her disability and disfigurement.

Chalat said SkiCo offered a "nuisance value settlement" that wasn’t accepted, and the case ultimately went to trial.

"They didn’t seem to be very cooperative," Lee said. "And I don’t feel they had much of a case, but we ended up going to trial anyway."

Lee was knocked unconscious in the accident, and underwent surgery at Aspen Valley Hospital. She sustained a broken ankle and tendons were ripped from her bone. Chalat said Lee had "a promising running career that was ruined."

The accident occurred at the bottom of Whispering Jesse, where it is intersected by the Trestle run. Lee had claimed that the snowmobile driver failed to yield the right-of-way to downhill skiers and snowboarders while attempting to cross the trail against traffic.

"We alleged he was going 30 to 35 miles per hour," said Chalat, adding he was "thrilled" with the verdict.

SkiCo attorneys Dave Bellack and Steve Hopkins could not be reached for comment late Monday. SkiCo Chief Operating Officer John Norton declined to comment, having little knowledge of the case.

Lee, who was 15 years old at the time of the accident and is now 18, said, "I feel it’s a very fair verdict."

"It was the first day of my vacation and the first run of the day," she recalled. "I was one of the first people on the lifts and I was coming down the trail and I hadn’t made it down the first run and this man was driving the snowmobile across an intersecting trail and he failed to look and slow down. There was a blind spot there, and I really don’t remember much after that."

Chalat said his client’s case was bolstered by the testimony from an eyewitness who said the snowmobile driver failed to slow or look uphill to determine if the area was clear before crossing the slope.

The Colorado Snowmobile Act provides that "no person shall operate a snowmobile in a careless or imprudent manner without due regard for width, grade, corners, curves, or traffic of trails ... and all other attendant circumstances."

The jury found that Lee was blameless in the accident, although it was instructed that she had a duty to maintain a lookout, and to avoid vehicles on the slopes and trails, as well as follow all warnings and obey all signs on the slopes and trails, per the Colorado Ski Safety Act.