SkiSafety.com - ski accident safety from Colorado ski lawyers

Chalat Hatten & Koupal of Denver, Colorado, provides this website as a public service to promote knowledge of skiers' rights and responsibilities. The firm has extensive experience representing plaintiffs in skier collision cases, skiing accidents and ski lift accident cases.

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Welcome to skisafety.com

- where the latest developments in ski safety are highlighted. Ski accidents occur even at the best of ski resorts, all over the country. If you enjoy skiing or snowboarding, the information provided here can help you understand your responsibilities and avoid ski accidents. If you have been injured while skiing or snowboarding anywhere in the United States, then the information provided here can help explain your rights.

January 31, 2008. Great riding both in-area and back country.

Jim Chalat’s safety tips – Ride B.I.G.

• BUDDY
In-area:
Always ski or ride with a buddy. If you are skiing alone and are in-area, do not go off-piste or into an area where you couldn't be found if you were hurt. Carry a cell phone and a safety whistle. Children in particular should be instructed where to meet if they are separated from their companion or adult. Click here for tips on what to do if you are in a skier collision.
Back-country:
Always ski or ride with a buddy, and follow the “one at a time” rule. “Buddy” also means an electronic connection. Wear an AVI beacon, bring probes, shovel, and be ready to self-rescue. If you or your buddy are submersed in an avalanche you have about 5 to 10 minutes to locate and rescue. By the time the local authorities arrive it will be a “recovery,” not a “rescue” operation.

• INFORMATION
In-area:
Learn to ski or snowboard from a fully certified professional instructor. Return regularly for lessons to further your technique. When on the mountain, know where you are and the limits of your conditioning and your ability. Carry a map. Plan your descent down runs within your ability. Keep an eye on the weather, and know the forecast.
Back-country:
Skiers and snowriders, you must follow the conditions, advisements and warnings at Colorado Avalanche Information Center. Take an avalanche course. Back-country snowmobilers: This year we see a new trend in back-country snowmobilers becoming lost, or getting in trouble. The same rules apply, know where you are going, what the conditions and weather will be, carry a map and make contingency plans.

• GEAR
In-area:
Wear a helmet, make sure your skis and bindings are in tune, and that your bindings are properly set and functioning. Helmets reduce injury and prevent death. Helmets are recommended by the AMA and the United States Consumer Products Safety Commission. Also, carry a cell phone, a safety whistle, and a map.
Back-country:
We are not the experts, but certainly carry a beacon, probes, shovel, life-link avi kit, cell phone. Consider: water, space blanket, first aid kit, and small stove or primus, avalung. And carry adequate communications gear. For snowmobilers, the best choice is to carry a PLB (personal locator beacon.)

To hear the KOA NewsRadio interview of Jim Chalat by Steffan Tubbs, click here.

Remember, Ride BIG to stay safe!

Our SKI ARTICLES page provides the latest ski safety news, and visit our SKI CASES page for descriptions of significant or unique ski accidents. As with any type of personal injury accident, ski accidents are each unique. But there are common types of accidents:

COLLISION CASES: Cases in which skiers or snowboarders collide and one sues the other.

SKI LIFT CASES: Cases in which a skier is injured when a lift attendant makes a mistake and causes a person to be injured while loading or unloading a ski lift, or a lift accident due to unsafe maintenance, manufacture, design, or operation.

FALL CASES: Cases which involve skiers or snowboarders who have an accident while on the mountain and the cause of the injury lies with an improperly designed, maintained, marked or groomed slope.

INSTRUCTOR CASES: Cases in which a ski or snowboard instructor negligently causes an injury. Examples are leading a student into terrain above the student's ability, or the instructor colliding into the student, or the instructor negligently causing a collision between his student and another member of the class or the general public.

VEHICLE CASES: A ski area's snowmobile, snow cat or other vehicle runs down a skier, snowboarder or pedestrian either on the slope, or in an adjacent public area.

EQUIPMENT CASES: Cases in which injury is caused by the failure of a skier or snowboarder's equipment, generally the failure of bindings to release.

Don't miss these very important links:

skilaw.com: Our sister site provides information on legal cases involving skiers and snowboarders injured as a result of ski area negligence, snowmobile collisions, lift accidents and skier/skier collisions. An overview of current ski law throughout the country, with special focus on Colorado ski law, is also given.

chalatlaw.com: Whether you are seeking legal advice regarding involvement in a car accident, ski or outdoor recreation-related accident, a medical malpractice claim, or are working on behalf of a friend or loved one who has suffered a traumatic brain injury due to an accident, Chalat Hatten Law Offices are the Colorado lawyers you need to argue your case.

chalathatten.com: From our office in Denver, we serve clients throughout Colorado. Members of the local communities as well as American and international visitors to Colorado trust our judgment when it comes to legal issues involving injuries within the State of Colorado. We can help residents as well as visitors to Colorado when it comes to working within the Colorado state and federal court systems.