Brighton Ski Accident Lawyers, and Why Your Case May Not Be Heard Down the Street

Often not, and that surprises people. Brighton is the seat of Adams County and the 17th Judicial District courthouse is at 1100 Judicial Center Drive, but venue in a ski case generally follows the defendant or the place of injury rather than where the injured person lives. For a claim against a resort that usually means the county where the resort operates. Brighton also crosses into Weld County, which is the 19th Judicial District in Greeley, so even the local answer depends on your address. We identify the right court early.

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. Ongoing treatment does not pause it.

It should not affect your right to bring a claim, but it does change how the record has to be assembled. Intermountain Health Platte Valley Hospital in Brighton is a Level III designated trauma center, so a severe injury is often stabilized there and moved to a Level I center such as Denver Health or UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital. Each facility creates its own records, and the handoffs are exactly where insurers look for gaps to argue about causation. We order the complete chain rather than whatever the carrier requests.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.