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Boulder, Colorado. CGH Injury Lawyers represents ski accident victims statewide from our Denver, Colorado office.
Boulder, Colorado

Boulder Ski Accident Lawyers for the County With Its Own Ski Area

Eldora sits inside Boulder County, up Boulder Canyon past Nederland, rather than in a mountain county hours away. That single fact can put the resort, the injury, and the courthouse inside the same 20th Judicial District. We handle Colorado Ski Safety Act claims from our Denver office at 2701 Lawrence St., and we never charge a fee unless we win.

No fee unless we win
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Our Denver Office CGH Injury Lawyers 2701 Lawrence St., Suite 201 Denver, CO 80205 (303) 209-9395 Se habla español
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  • Colorado handles ski injuries under its own statute, the Ski Safety Act (C.R.S. 33-44-101 et seq.), which divides the risks a skier accepts from negligence that belongs to someone else.
  • Two years is the window either way: C.R.S. 33-44-111 for a claim against a ski area operator or its employees, and C.R.S. 13-80-102(1)(a) for a claim against another skier.
  • Because Eldora is in Boulder County, a claim arising there can belong in Boulder County District Court rather than a mountain county several hours away.

If you were hurt at Eldora or on any Colorado slope and were treated at Foothills Hospital in Boulder or Good Samaritan in Lafayette, this page covers the law that governs your claim and the local ground a Boulder case is worked on.

The law on the mountain

The Colorado Ski Safety Act and your Boulder ski accident case

The Colorado Ski Safety Act sits at C.R.S. Title 33, Article 44, and it governs ski areas across the state. It reaches skiing, snowboarding, and the other ways people slide downhill on snow or ice at a Colorado ski area. A Boulder resident hurt at Eldora, in Summit County, or anywhere else on Colorado snow is working inside this statute from the moment the injury happens.

Ski claims used to be argued under ordinary negligence rules, and the outcomes did not line up with each other. The statute imposed a structure with three parts:

  • It lists the inherent dangers of skiing, the conditions a person takes on by choosing to go up the hill at all.
  • It assigns duties to skiers and to ski area operators, so conduct on a slope can be measured against a written standard.
  • It preserves a damages claim where the cause was negligence rather than one of those inherent conditions.

So the first question in any Boulder ski case is which of those two buckets the injury falls into. That single answer controls who is on the hook, what damages are reachable, and whether a claim exists.

The critical distinction

Inherent danger versus resort negligence

Almost every contested Colorado ski case comes down to one boundary: a risk the skier accepted versus a failure that belongs to somebody else. Skiers are regularly waved off by an insurer before anyone has looked hard at which side of that boundary they are on.

Inherent dangers (no recovery)

  • Changing weather and visibility on the mountain
  • Variations in terrain and natural snow conditions
  • Collisions with natural objects such as trees, rocks, and cliffs
  • The ordinary risks that come with the sport itself

Resort negligence (recovery possible)

  • Failing to mark man-made hazards such as lift towers, hydrants, and grooming equipment
  • Chairlift, gondola, or tow-rope failure traced to deferred maintenance
  • Missing or inadequate trail signage and closure markers
  • Poorly trained or poorly supervised patrol, lift, and grooming staff

Context decides it. A skier who hits a tree has generally met an inherent risk of the sport. A skier who hits an unmarked stump left by the resort's own clearing crew may not have, and C.R.S. 33-44-112 bars an operator claim only where the injury resulted from the inherent dangers and risks of skiing.

Skier duties and the downhill rule

When another skier caused your injury: duties under C.R.S. 33-44-109

Plenty of ski injuries have nothing to do with the resort. When another skier hits you, C.R.S. 33-44-109 supplies the rules, and it opens with something valuable to injured skiers: under subsection (1), a skier/skier collision is neither an inherent risk nor a risk you assumed when you bought your pass, in an action by one skier against another.

  1. Speed, course, and lookout

    A skier has to hold speed and course within their own ability and watch for the people around them. The statute assigns the primary duty to the person skiing downhill to avoid hitting anyone or anything below, and that is the provision most collisions are argued under.

  2. Signs, ropes, and closed runs

    Dropping into a run marked closed breaks the statute by itself. A skier is also treated as having seen and understood whatever is posted at the base area lifts, on the lifts, and along the trails they skied that day.

  3. Entering a trail and restarting

    A skier who is stopped, or who is coming onto a run from the side, owes the duty of avoiding skiers already moving on it. Merging without looking uphill is a routine source of shared fault in Colorado.

  4. Retention devices

    Every ski and board has to carry a strap or brake capable of stopping it if it releases, with cross-country skis carved out. There is no helmet requirement in the Act at any age.

  5. Alcohol, drugs, and hit-and-run

    Riding a lift or using a run while impaired is prohibited. So is leaving an injury collision without first giving your name and current address to a patroller or ski area employee, unless you are leaving to get help for someone.

  6. What the penalties are, and how fault gets split

    Breaking the closed-run, impairment, or closed-lands provisions is a civil infraction with a fine of up to $1,000. Leaving the scene of an injury collision is handled separately under C.R.S. 33-44-109(12)(b) and is a petty offense. Neither penalty decides your civil claim, but a citation is evidence worth having.

    Fault is divided rather than assigned wholesale. C.R.S. 13-21-111 permits recovery so long as your negligence was not as great as the other party's, and reduces the award by whatever share is yours. In practice the patrol report, the witnesses, and any resort footage are what move that number.

The truth about waivers

Does the waiver on my lift ticket end my Boulder ski case?

A waiver comes with every lift ticket and every season pass sold in Colorado, and those documents carry real weight. They are not, however, the end of the inquiry, and an insurer citing one is not the same as a court applying one.

Colorado courts have generally given effect to recreational waivers signed by adults where ordinary negligence is alleged, while treating some conduct as sitting outside what a release can reach. Which side a given injury lands on depends on the drafting of the document and on what the operator knew, or should have known, beforehand.

Where the injured skier is a child, the legislature wrote the rule down. C.R.S. 13-22-107(3) allows a parent to release a child's future negligence claim, and subsection (4) forecloses any release covering a willful and wanton, reckless, or grossly negligent act. We read the pass agreement against the facts at no cost during the first conversation.

Local Knowledge

Two Level II centers in the county. The 20th Judicial District. A ski area, also in the county

Boulder County lines up in a way that matters after a ski injury: the hospital, the courthouse, and the ski area can all sit inside the same county.

Trauma Care

Foothills and Good Samaritan, both Level II

Boulder Community Health Foothills Hospital at 4747 Arapahoe Ave. in Boulder is a Level II designated trauma center. Intermountain Health Good Samaritan Hospital in Lafayette, also in Boulder County, is a second Level II designated center. A skier with a severe head or spinal injury may still be moved on to a Level I center in Denver or Aurora, and that transfer, along with the reason for it, becomes part of the damages record. We order the complete chain from the resort patrol report through discharge.

Courthouse

Boulder County District Court, 20th Judicial District

Boulder County is the 20th Judicial District, with the Boulder County Justice Center at 1777 6th St. in Boulder and a second court location in Longmont at 1035 Kimbark St. Venue usually follows the defendant or the place of injury rather than where you live, which normally sends a resort claim to the ski county. Because Eldora operates in Boulder County, those can be the same place here. We tell you which courthouse your case is headed for before you sign anything.

The Corridor

Boulder Canyon, the Peak to Peak, and I-70

Boulder skiers have two very different trips. Eldora is up Boulder Canyon on State Highway 119 through Nederland, close enough for a half day, so a Boulder injury can happen at a resort other Front Range skiers treat as a full-day outing. The I-70 resorts are the other direction, out US-36 and through Denver. Reconstructing an injury starts with knowing which resort, which route, and which day, and the two answers point at different counties and different insurers.

Compensation

What compensation can an injured Boulder skier recover?

Once negligence is on the table, Colorado permits recovery both for losses that can be added up on paper and for the harm that never generates a receipt.

Economic damages

  • Emergency transport off the mountain, including air ambulance
  • Surgery, hospitalization, and specialty care at Foothills, Good Samaritan, or another receiving hospital
  • Lost wages and lost earning capacity during recovery
  • Physical and occupational rehabilitation
  • Future medical care and life care plan costs
  • Out-of-pocket costs tied directly to the injury

Non-economic damages

  • Pain and suffering from orthopedic, spinal, or head injuries
  • Permanent disability or loss of physical function
  • Loss of enjoyment of life, including skiing and the outdoors
  • In a fatal accident, funeral costs and loss of companionship

The Ski Safety Act damages cap, and the exceptions inside it

C.R.S. 33-44-113 puts a ceiling on what a skier collects from a ski area operator: $1,000,000 in present value overall, $250,000 on any derivative claim brought by someone else, and $250,000 on anything attributable to non-economic loss. Several qualifications sit inside that ceiling.

  • Injuries to a passenger riding a passenger tramway, which includes chairlifts, are excluded from that cap by the text of the statute.
  • The cap governs claims against a ski area operator. It does not govern a claim against another skier whose negligence hurt you.
  • The statute lets a court award more than the limit on good cause shown, but only for excess future lost earnings or excess future medical and health care costs, and only where applying the limit would be unfair.

The statute also directs that the limits and their exceptions are not disclosed to the jury.

Deadlines and fault

The two-year filing deadline and partial fault rules

The window is two years, which is shorter than the three most people associate with a car crash. C.R.S. 33-44-111 requires any action against a ski area operator or its employees, for injuries tied to the maintenance, supervision, or operation of a ski area or passenger tramway, to be filed inside two years of when the claim arises. A claim aimed at another skier instead runs on the general tort deadline in C.R.S. 13-80-102(1)(a), which is also two years.

  • Accrual is governed by C.R.S. 13-80-108(1): the period starts once the injury and its cause are known, or should reasonably have been known. For a collision or a marked hazard that is almost always the day itself, and holding off until the medical picture is complete buys nothing.
  • Comparative fault is modified, not pure. Under C.R.S. 13-21-111 you recover only while your negligence is not as great as the defendant's, and the award shrinks by your share, so a finding at 50 percent or above ends it.
  • The proof decays quickly. Patrol reports, lift inspection files, grooming logs, and camera footage all cycle out on short retention schedules, which is why a preservation letter has to go out well before treatment wraps up.
Why CGH

Why injured Boulder skiers choose CGH Injury Lawyers

Lawyers who actually work inside the Ski Safety Act, a Denver office you can walk into, a trial posture rather than a settlement posture, service in Spanish, and no fee unless we win. We publish no ski settlement figures, because a headline number says nothing about your injury or the resort behind it.

The Statute

C.R.S. 33-44-101 et seq.

The Ski Safety Act is a narrow statute with rules that do not appear anywhere else in Colorado injury law. We work in it directly and know where the line between inherent risk and negligence falls.

Eldora Is Local

Same county, same district.

Eldora operates in Boulder County, so a claim arising there can belong in the 20th Judicial District rather than a mountain county. We work out venue before anything is filed.

Fast Evidence Action

We move before footage disappears.

Patrol reports and lift camera footage can be gone in weeks. We send preservation requests to the resort as soon as we sign a case.

Two-Year Clock

Shorter than you think.

The deadline against a ski area operator is two years under C.R.S. 33-44-111, a year shorter than most Colorado motor vehicle claims. We track it from day one.

Trial-Ready

Built for trial.

Managing Partner Kevin Cheney is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and has tried more than 25 cases to verdict. We prepare every case for trial rather than for whatever the first offer turns out to be.

Bilingual

Hablamos español.

Spanish-speaking attorneys and staff serve Spanish-speaking clients across Boulder County, including resort and hospitality workers hurt on the job in ski country.

No Win, No Fee

Contingency only.

You pay nothing out of pocket for legal fees. We advance costs and collect only from a settlement or verdict in your favor.

How it works

How we handle a Boulder ski accident case

Six stages, from a free look at the facts through to a jury if a resort or a carrier will not deal fairly. Most cases end before that point, and we build all of them as though they will not.

  1. Free case evaluation

    We go through what happened, explain where the Ski Safety Act applies to your facts, and answer your questions at no cost and no obligation. Call (303) 209-9395 or come to the office at 2701 Lawrence St.

  2. Evidence preservation

    We send preservation letters to the resort and request patrol incident reports, maintenance and grooming records, lift inspection documentation, and any on-mountain camera footage before it cycles out.

  3. Liability analysis

    We separate inherent risk from negligence and identify everyone responsible, whether that is the operator, another skier, an instructor, or an equipment manufacturer. We also evaluate what the waiver in your pass agreement does and does not reach.

  4. Medical records and damages

    We collect the patrol report, the transport records, the emergency and surgical care at Foothills, Good Samaritan, or wherever you were taken, and the rehabilitation that followed, so nothing gets left out of the damages claim.

  5. Demand and negotiation

    We present documented damages to the resort's insurer or the at-fault skier's carrier and negotiate from a position of trial readiness rather than a willingness to take the first number offered.

  6. Filing suit

    When there is no fair resolution, we file, whether that is in Boulder County District Court in the 20th Judicial District or in the ski county where the injury happened. Our trial attorneys are prepared to put the case to a Colorado jury.

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Questions

Boulder ski accident, frequently asked questions

I was hurt at Eldora. Where would my case be filed?

Possibly in Boulder County. Eldora operates in Boulder County, which is the 20th Judicial District, with the Boulder County Justice Center at 1777 6th St. Venue generally follows the defendant or the place of injury rather than where you live, and for a Colorado skier that usually means a mountain county. For an Eldora injury those can be the same county you live in. We confirm venue before filing, because getting it wrong costs time you may not have.

How long do I have to file a ski accident claim if I live in Boulder?

Two years. Against a ski area operator or its employees, C.R.S. 33-44-111 sets a two-year deadline running from when the claim arises. Against another skier, the general two-year tort deadline in C.R.S. 13-80-102(1)(a) applies. Under C.R.S. 13-80-108(1) the clock generally starts once the injury and its cause are known or reasonably should have been known, which in most ski cases is the day of the accident. Waiting until treatment ends does not extend it.

Does the waiver on my season pass mean I have no case?

Not automatically. Colorado courts have generally enforced recreational waivers signed by adults as to ordinary negligence, while treating certain conduct as beyond what a waiver covers. Whether yours applies depends on how it is worded and what the resort knew before you were hurt. If the injured person is a child, C.R.S. 13-22-107(4) is explicit that a parent cannot waive a child's claim for a willful and wanton, reckless, or grossly negligent act. We review the document at no charge.

Another skier hit me from behind. Is that automatically their fault?

It is a strong starting position, not an automatic result. C.R.S. 33-44-109(2) places the primary duty on the person skiing downhill to avoid colliding with anyone below them, and subsection (1) says a skier/skier collision is not an inherent risk or an assumed risk in a claim between skiers. Fault can still shift if you stopped in a blind spot or entered a run without looking uphill, and Colorado divides fault comparatively under C.R.S. 13-21-111. The patrol report and witnesses usually settle it.

I am a CU student on a season pass. Does that change anything?

The Ski Safety Act applies the same way regardless of whether you ski once a year or three days a week. What a pass changes is paperwork: multi-resort passes carry their own waiver and arbitration terms, and student or group rates sometimes come through a third party with additional documents attached. Bring every document you signed, including anything from a club or a rental package, so we can see the full set rather than the one page the resort points to.

Is there really a cap on what I can recover from a resort?

Yes, with several exceptions worth knowing. C.R.S. 33-44-113 limits total recovery against a ski area operator to $1,000,000 present value, with derivative claims and non-economic damages each capped at $250,000. Injuries to a passenger riding a chairlift or other passenger tramway are excluded from the cap by the statute's own terms, the cap does not apply to a claim against another skier, and a court may exceed it on good cause shown for excess future lost earnings or future medical costs. Which of those applies is fact-specific, so confirm it with an attorney.

The other skier took off before I got their name. What now?

That conduct is prohibited. C.R.S. 33-44-109(10) bars a skier involved in an injury collision from leaving before giving their name and current address to a ski area employee or a patroller, except to go get help, and under subsection (12)(b) doing so is a petty offense. Report it to patrol immediately, ask them to document it, and collect witness names before you leave the mountain. Resort and lift scan data sometimes helps identify the person afterward.

What should I do right after a ski accident?

Get medical attention first. Then make sure patrol files an official incident report and get a copy before you leave the mountain, photograph the scene and your injuries without moving equipment, and collect names and contact information for witnesses and any other skier involved. Do not give a recorded statement to any insurer before you have talked to an attorney. You can reach our Denver office at (303) 209-9395 or use the form on this page.

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