Mountain View, Colorado

Mountain View Ski Accident Lawyers, and the Mountain County That Is Not the Answer

Mountain View is in Jefferson County, and Jefferson shares the 1st Judicial District with Gilpin County, which is genuine mountain country. It would be reasonable to assume a ski claim from here therefore stays close to home. It generally does not, because Jefferson County has no ski area and the resorts nearest the metro sit in a different county and a different judicial district. We handle Colorado Ski Safety Act claims from our Denver office at 2701 Lawrence St., and we charge no fee unless we win.

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Colorado applies a statute written for skiing ahead of ordinary negligence law.
An injury on a lift and an injury on a run run through separate provisions, damages included.
A release is a contract, and a contract cannot excuse recklessness or gross negligence.
Two years is the deadline on both routes, from a different statute for each defendant.
The consultation costs nothing, and the fee is taken only from a recovery.

The law on the mountain

What the Colorado Ski Safety Act does to a ski injury claim

Bring most injuries to a lawyer and the first question is who failed to take care. Bring a ski injury and a statute answers first, because Colorado wrote one for this activity and courts apply it before common-law negligence. The Ski Safety Act of 1979, C.R.S. 33-44-101 and following, assigns duties to the ski area operator, assigns duties to the skier, and defines a set of hazards that supports no claim against anyone.

That set is defined at C.R.S. 33-44-103, and the definition is deliberately wide. Weather that changes. Snow in each condition it takes, listing ice, hard pack, powder, crust, slush, cut-up snow, and machine-made snow. Surface and subsurface conditions, meaning bare spots, forest growth, rocks, stumps, streambeds, cliffs, extreme terrain, and trees. Steepness that varies, from nature or from slope design, snowmaking, and grooming. Impact with lift towers, signs, posts, fences, hydrants, water pipes, and other man-made structures. An injury inside that set stays with the skier.

The section then restricts itself in 2 respects, and those restrictions carry the claims that succeed. Inherent dangers and risks of skiing do not include the negligence of a ski area operator as set forth at C.R.S. 33-44-104(2). And nothing in the section limits an operator's liability for injury caused by the use or operation of ski lifts.

Because unreliable accounts of this Act are common, 1 correction goes at the front. The statute rests on the term "ski area" and on sliding downhill or jumping on snow or ice. It does not classify resorts by style of skiing, and it sets no helmet requirement for a skier of any age.

Inherent dangers (no recovery)

Snow and ice in any state, and the ground beneath thin cover
Weather, and the visibility it leaves a skier with
Terrain the mountain came with: rocks, stumps, streambeds, cliffs, forest growth, trees
Pitch that varies, naturally or through slope design, snowmaking, and grooming
Contact with a lift tower, sign, post, fence, hydrant, or water pipe standing where it belongs

Operator negligence (recovery possible)

Lift breakdowns, poor loading, abrupt stops, riders dropped, unloading injuries
Signage the Act requires that was missing, wrong, or unreadable
Grooming or snowmaking machinery on an open trail without the required warning
Man-made obstructions in a skiing area left unpadded or unmarked
Careless conduct by patrol, instructors, or other resort staff

Hold the first sorting loosely. A lift tower strike appears inherent and belongs in the second column entirely if the padding required on that tower was absent. Ask before anyone settles on an answer.

Speed, course, and lookout

Every skier owes a duty to control speed and course at all times and to keep a proper lookout for other people and objects. Beyond that, the primary duty falls on the person skiing downhill, the skier descending from above, to avoid collision with any person or object below them. Establishing who held which position is where these cases are argued.
Signs and closed trails

Posted information and warnings must be obeyed, and a run posted as closed cannot be skied. A skier is presumed to have seen and understood the postings at base area lifts, on the tramways, and on the trails being used.
Starting and joining

Setting off from a stop, or entering a run from the side, carries a duty to avoid the skiers already descending.
Devices for loose equipment

Every ski or board needs a strap or comparable device able to stop it after it releases. Cross country skis fall outside the requirement.
Impairment, and leaving a collision

Riding a lift or using a trail while impaired by alcohol or a controlled substance is prohibited, and so is leaving the vicinity of an injury collision without giving a name and current address to a resort employee or a patroller. Leaving to secure aid is permitted, provided the information follows.
What the current penalties actually say

This subsection was rewritten and superseded copies still circulate, so precision is worth the sentence. C.R.S. 33-44-109(12)(a) makes it a civil infraction, punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, to violate the closed-trail provision, the impairment provision, or the provision on knowingly entering closed adjoining lands. C.R.S. 33-44-109(12)(b) makes leaving the scene of an injury collision a petty offense, a separate classification that sits outside that $1,000 group.
Comparative fault

Responsibility then gets divided. C.R.S. 13-21-111 lets a claimant recover only where their negligence was not as great as the negligence of the party sued, and reduces the award by the claimant's share. Once that share reaches half, the claim ends. Insurers know that threshold, which is why the earliest account of a collision matters.

Colorado treats a release as a contract, so contract law applies. The wording must be clear and unambiguous, and it covers only the conduct it names. A clause written against ordinary negligence covers ordinary negligence and nothing further.

The exclusions carry the claims that work. Willful and wanton conduct, recklessness, and gross negligence lie outside any release. Where a resort knew about a hazard and left it in place, skipped an inspection it was obliged to perform, or kept equipment running while aware it was defective, the document does not do what the resort expects of it.

Children fall under a separate provision. C.R.S. 13-22-107(3) permits a parent to release or waive a child's prospective negligence claim on the child's behalf, and subsection (4) provides that nothing in the section permits a parent to waive a child's claim for a willful and wanton act or omission, a reckless act or omission, or a grossly negligent act or omission.

Reading the form on its own and deciding nothing can be done is the frequent mistake. Bring it in and let it be read against what happened.

Venue

The 1st Judicial District has 2 counties, and 1 of them is high country

Mountain View is in Jefferson County. Jefferson County belongs to the 1st Judicial District, which it shares with Gilpin County. District matters are handled at the Jefferson Combined Court, 100 Jefferson County Parkway, in Golden.

Gilpin is the mountain half of that pairing. Seeing a mountain county in your own judicial district invites a reasonable assumption: that a ski claim from here stays inside the 1st. It generally does not, and the reason is straightforward.

Jefferson County contains no ski area. Neither the resorts closest to the metro nor the large destination resorts are in Jefferson or Gilpin. The ski areas nearest the Front Range sit in Clear Creek County, which belongs to the 5th Judicial District along with Eagle, Lake, and Summit counties. Venue in these cases generally follows the resort and the site of the injury, so a Mountain View skier's claim normally belongs to the 5th, not the 1st.

The practical version: the courthouse in Golden handles a great deal of what happens in a Jefferson County resident's life, and a ski injury is usually not part of it. Filing, hearings, and the county record on the incident belong to the county where the crash happened.

Trauma Care

Where the designated care is

There is no designated trauma facility in Mountain View on the state health department's designated facility list. Jefferson County's designated centers are:

Several freestanding emergency departments also operate in the county, in Arvada, Golden, and Lakewood, and none of them carries a trauma designation. They are emergency departments, staffed to treat emergencies, and a patient whose injuries call for a designated trauma center is transferred to one.

That distribution is worth knowing before anyone needs it. A Level I center sits at the top of the state system and a Level II has the surgical and specialty coverage for definitive care in major trauma, while a non-designated emergency department is a first stop and, for a serious injury, not the last one. Which door a patient arrives at is a clinical decision made at the time.

St. Anthony Hospital, 11600 W. 2nd Place in Lakewood, designated Level I.
Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital, 12911 W. 40th Avenue, designated Level II. The state's list records the mailing city for that address as Golden, because the ZIP code covering the campus is a Golden one; the hospital itself publishes the address as Wheat Ridge.

Trauma Care

What that means when the file gets built

A ski claim from here typically produces a record in pieces: patrol documentation at the resort in a mountain county, a first facility near the mountain, a transport record if the injury was serious, a receiving hospital on the Front Range, then follow-up care close to home. Each institution keeps its own chart and releases it on its own schedule, and none of them produces a combined version.

Two things follow. Records get requested facility by facility, and the actual name and address of each one gets confirmed instead of assumed. Where a hospital's listed city and its real location differ, and where several similarly named emergency departments operate within a few miles, working from a single discharge summary a year later is how a stage of treatment goes missing from a claim.

Venue

Where the claim itself goes

Venue generally follows the resort. From Mountain View that usually means Clear Creek County and the 5th Judicial District. The county the client lives in, the county that holds their hospital record, and the county that hears the case can easily be 3 different places. That is the ordinary shape of a Front Range ski claim, not a complication.

Economic damages

Removal from the mountain, air transport included where it was required
Emergency care, surgery, and specialist treatment through discharge
Wages lost during recovery, and earning capacity lost afterward
Physical and occupational rehabilitation
Care yet to come, including a life care plan where the injury justifies one
Out-of-pocket costs attributable to the injury

Non-economic damages

Pain and suffering after orthopedic, spinal, or head trauma
Permanent impairment, or lost physical function
Loss of enjoyment of life, including the sport
In a death case, funeral expenses and the loss of companionship

The operator cap, and the lift exception inside it

The amount recoverable from a ski area operator is limited by statute. C.R.S. 33-44-113 sets a total ceiling of $1,000,000 present value, caps any derivative claim by another claimant at $250,000, and caps non-economic loss at $250,000. Four features of the section shape how it applies.

Injuries occurring to a passenger while riding on a passenger tramway are excluded from the cap by the statute's own terms, which is why a chairlift case is analyzed separately from an injury on the snow.
The cap applies to claims against an operator only. A claim against the skier who caused a collision is outside it.
A court may award above the ceiling on good cause shown, limited to excess future lost earnings or excess future medical and other health-care costs, and only where applying the limit would be unfair.
The limits and the exceptions to them are not disclosed to the jury.

Against a ski area operator or its employees, where the damages were caused by the maintenance, supervision, or operation of a passenger tramway or a ski area, C.R.S. 33-44-111 applies and requires the action to be brought within 2 years after the claim for relief arises. Against another skier that section is inapplicable, since its language addresses operators. The limitation there is C.R.S. 13-80-102(1)(a), the general 2-year period for tort actions.

The starting point has its own rule. C.R.S. 13-80-108(1) provides that a cause of action accrues on the date both the injury and its cause are known or should have been known through reasonable diligence. For most ski crashes that is the day it happened. Injuries that surface gradually, which covers a good deal of head and spine trauma, are why the provision is written in those terms. Waiting to see how serious the damage becomes does not extend the period.

Fault is assessed separately. C.R.S. 13-21-111 allows recovery while the claimant's negligence remains below that of the party sued, reduces the award in proportion to the claimant's share, and ends recovery at an even split. That threshold is well known to insurers, and the account of a collision that keeps a claimant clear of it is assembled from witnesses and records in the first weeks.

Trial-Ready

Built for trial.

A file that is visibly ready for a courtroom is valued differently from one that is not.

The Statute

Ski claims run on their own rules.

Inherent risk, statutory duties, the operator cap, and release language do not behave like ordinary negligence.

Fast Evidence Action

Proof expires.

Lift maintenance logs, grooming records, incident reports, patrol notes, and the state of signage all change or disappear. Preservation demands need to go out early.

No Win, No Fee

No fee unless we win.

Nothing is owed for the consultation, and our fee comes from a recovery. The fee agreement sets out how case costs are handled before you sign.

Local Reach

Venue is settled at the start.

Living in the 1st Judicial District and having a claim in the 5th is the normal outcome here, and knowing that on day 1 is what puts a filing in the right courthouse.

Free consultation.

Tell us what happened and get a straight answer on whether there is a claim, including when the answer is that there is not.
Preservation.

Written demands go to the resort for lift logs, grooming records, incident reports, and video before retention periods run.
Investigation.

Witnesses are located, patrol and clinic records obtained, and where the mechanism of injury is contested, an accident reconstruction expert is brought in.
Medical picture.

Records are collected from every facility in the chain, and in serious cases treating physicians and life care planners establish what recovery requires.
Demand and negotiation.

The claim goes out backed by evidence.
Litigation where needed.

Where the offer does not match the harm, suit is filed in the correct venue and the case is worked up for trial.

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Which judicial district is Mountain View in?

The 1st, which covers Jefferson County and Gilpin County. District matters are handled at the Jefferson Combined Court, 100 Jefferson County Parkway, in Golden.

Gilpin County is in the mountains. Would my ski case be heard there?

Almost certainly not. Venue generally follows the resort and the site of the injury, and the ski areas nearest the Front Range are in Clear Creek County, which is in the 5th Judicial District along with Eagle, Lake, and Summit counties. Jefferson County contains no ski area either.

So I live in one district and sue in another?

That is the normal outcome for a Front Range skier. It is worth settling at the beginning, because venue governs where suit is filed and which county records are relevant.

Is there a trauma center in Mountain View?

No. Jefferson County's designated centers are St. Anthony Hospital at 11600 W. 2nd Place in Lakewood, designated Level I, and Intermountain Health Lutheran Hospital at 12911 W. 40th Avenue, designated Level II.

The state's list shows Lutheran in Golden. Where is it actually?

The hospital publishes its address as Wheat Ridge. The ZIP code covering that campus is a Golden one, so the state's list records the mailing city as Golden. It is an address artifact and it does not change the care or the claim, only where a records request should be sent.

What about the freestanding emergency rooms in Arvada, Golden, and Lakewood?

They are emergency departments and none of them holds a trauma designation. They treat emergencies, and a patient whose injuries call for a designated trauma center is transferred to one.

Why does that matter to my case?

Because a transfer produces a chart at the first facility, a transport record, and a second chart at the receiving hospital, each released on its own schedule. Confirming the actual facility at every stage keeps a stage of treatment from dropping out of the claim.

Does the release on my pass end my claim?

Not on its own. Colorado reads a release as a contract, so it reaches only the conduct it clearly describes. It cannot cover willful and wanton conduct, recklessness, or gross negligence, and under C.R.S. 13-22-107(4) a parent cannot waive a child's claim for conduct in those categories.

Another skier hit me. Is that just part of the sport?

Not in a claim between skiers. C.R.S. 33-44-109(1) provides that a skier-skier collision is neither an inherent risk nor a risk assumed in an action by one skier against another, and the statute places the primary duty on the person skiing downhill, the skier who is above.

I was hurt on a chairlift. Is that treated differently?

It can be. C.R.S. 33-44-103 states that nothing in the inherent-risk definition limits an operator's liability for injury caused by the use or operation of ski lifts, and C.R.S. 33-44-113 excludes injuries occurring to a passenger while riding on a passenger tramway from the damages cap.

How long do I have?

2 years. Against a ski area operator or its employees the deadline comes from C.R.S. 33-44-111, and against another skier from C.R.S. 13-80-102(1)(a). The period generally starts when both the injury and its cause were known or reasonably should have been known.

Is there a cap on what I can recover?

Against a ski area operator, yes. C.R.S. 33-44-113 sets $1,000,000 present value overall, with $250,000 on derivative claims and on non-economic loss. Passenger tramway injuries are excluded, the cap does not apply to a claim against another skier, and a court may exceed it on good cause shown for excess future earnings or future medical costs.

Do I have to wear a helmet in Colorado?

The Ski Safety Act imposes no helmet requirement at any age. Wearing one is sensible, and it is not what decides whether a claim exists.

What if I was partly at fault?

Recovery is still available while your negligence stays below the other party's, with the award reduced by your share. At half or more, C.R.S. 13-21-111 ends recovery, which is why the early account of fault is worth challenging.

What will this cost me?

Nothing to start. The consultation is free, and the fee is taken only from a recovery. How case costs are handled is set out in the fee agreement before you sign.

Mountain View

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It's More Than Money.

You were hurt on the mountain. We handle everything else.

Call (303) 209-9395 or request a free case review. No fee unless we win.

Call (303) 209-9395 Get my free ski accident case review

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Mountain View Ski Accident Lawyers, and the Mountain County That Is Not the Answer

What the Colorado Ski Safety Act does to a ski injury claim

The one question that decides most of the case

Inherent dangers (no recovery)

Operator negligence (recovery possible)

Claims against another skier under C.R.S. 33-44-109

Speed, course, and lookout

Signs and closed trails

Starting and joining

Devices for loose equipment

Impairment, and leaving a collision

What the current penalties actually say

Comparative fault

How much of a claim the release actually takes

A mountain county in your own district, and it is still not where the claim goes

The 1st Judicial District has 2 counties, and 1 of them is high country

Where the designated care is

What that means when the file gets built

Where the claim itself goes

What an injured Mountain View skier may be able to recover

Economic damages

Non-economic damages

The operator cap, and the lift exception inside it

Two years, from whichever statute fits the defendant

Why injured Mountain View skiers choose CGH Injury Lawyers

Built for trial.

Ski claims run on their own rules.

Proof expires.

No fee unless we win.

Venue is settled at the start.

How we handle a Mountain View ski accident case

Free consultation.

Preservation.

Investigation.

Medical picture.

Demand and negotiation.

Litigation where needed.

Mountain View ski accident, frequently asked questions

Related pages

You were hurt on the mountain. We handle everything else.