A Snowboarder Clicked 'Agree' While Actively Suing Vail Resorts. It May Have Erased His Case

"In December 2020, Litterer was snowboarding down Wirepatch trail at Breckenridge Ski Resort. Turning left onto Peak 8 Road - a catwalk approved for snowmobile traffic - he was struck and injured by resort employee Dwight McClure, who was operating a snowmobile uphill around a blind corner. Court records show McClure was traveling under the trail's posted speed limit and attempted to bring the snowmobile to a stop before impact. That season's Epic Pass waiver specifically named collisions with snowmobiles as an assumed risk."

"In May 2022, nearly eighteen months after the collision, he filed a personal injury lawsuit against McClure and Vail Summit Resorts Inc. Then, in November of that same year, with the lawsuit still active, he purchased another Epic Pass and clicked through another waiver. The agreement came with an explicit warning: "PLEASE READ CAREFULLY... THIS IS A RELEASE OF LIABILITY... INCLUDING THE RIGHT TO SUE." It went further, releasing "any and all claims... including those... resulting from anything which has happened up to now.""

"Vail Resorts sees it differently. In filings before the Colorado Supreme Court, its attorneys argued that Litterer knew the nature of his injuries, knew he had an active lawsuit, and had the release in front of him. "That release was clear as a bell," they wrote."

A snowboarder injured at Breckenridge Ski Resort sued after being struck by a snowmobile operated by a resort employee. The Epic Pass waiver for that season identified collisions with snowmobiles as an assumed risk. After recovering, the snowboarder filed a personal injury lawsuit nearly eighteen months later against the employee and the resort company. While the lawsuit was still pending, he purchased another Epic Pass and clicked through a new waiver. The waiver warned it was a release of liability, including the right to sue, and released any and all claims including those resulting from anything that had happened up to that point. The resort company argued the rider knew his injuries, knew about the active lawsuit, and had the release in front of him.

Read at SnowBrains