{"id":126551,"date":"2026-04-27T15:54:57","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T21:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/liability-waivers-return-to-the-colorado-supreme-court-over-the-language-in-ski-pass-agreements\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T15:54:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T21:54:57","slug":"liability-waivers-return-to-the-colorado-supreme-court-over-the-language-in-ski-pass-agreements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/liability-waivers-return-to-the-colorado-supreme-court-over-the-language-in-ski-pass-agreements\/","title":{"rendered":"Liability waivers return to the Colorado Supreme Court over the language in ski pass agreements"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"High
High winds hit the Tenmile Range above Breckenridge ski area, Jan. 16, 2024, in Summit County, Colorado. (Hugh Carey\/The Colorado Sun)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Ski resort liability waivers returned to the Colorado Supreme Court this month, nearly two years after the high court ruled that the ubiquitous scroll-and-click agreements cannot always shield ski areas from all negligence claims.<\/p>\n

That case, involving Annie Miller, an Oklahoma teenager who fell from a chairlift at Crested Butte Mountain Resort and was paralyzed, \u201cexpanded an injured guest\u2019s ability to bring claims against a ski area,\u201d said Trent Ongert, an attorney for a snowboarder struck by an employee-driven snowmobile at Breckenridge Ski Resort in December 2020. Ongert made the argument this month before the Colorado Supreme Court.<\/p>\n

A Summit County District Court dismissed injured snowboarder John Litterer\u2019s claims before the Miller decision, agreeing with resort owner Vail Resorts that the Texas man\u2019s purchase of an Epic Pass roughly two years after the crash waived his right to sue.<\/p>\n

After the Colorado Court of Appeals agreed with the lower court and dismissed Litterer\u2019s lawsuit in January 2025, the Colorado Supreme Court accepted the case last fall, with new context following the Miller ruling.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is up to this court. The legislature is not going to act here,\u201d Ongert told the court during an April 16 hearing at Holyoke High School. \u201cThe legislature has ignored every recent attempt to enact laws that enhance skier safety and ski area accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Litterer argues that Vail Resorts and the snowmobile driver were negligent, displaying \u201cextreme and outrageous conduct\u201d and \u201creckless endangerment,\u201d when he collided with the snowmobile at Breckenridge, the justices quickly focused their questions on the Epic Pass contract.<\/p>\n

When Litterer signed the online purchase agreement for an Epic Pass in November 2022, he had already filed a lawsuit against Vail Resorts for injuries sustained in the collision two years earlier. In that contract, he agreed to \u201crelease and give up any and all claims and rights that (he) may have \u2026 including \u2026 anything which has happened up to now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018There are certain claims that we can\u2019t waive.\u2019<\/div>\n

Chief Justice Monica M. M\u00e1rquez said the language in the release was \u201cbroad.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it also \u201cis pretty plain language,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow would that not put Mr. Litterer on notice? He certainly was aware of his own lawsuit,\u201d M\u00e1rquez said. \u201cThat he is giving that up when he signs this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ongert agreed the language was broad but argued it was not plain. He said his client \u201cclearly had no intention to waive the lawsuit.\u201d Litterer contends he was unaware of the complexities of the six-page agreement when he clicked \u201cagree\u201d to secure his Epic Pass.<\/p>\n

Justice Richard L. Gabriel asked whether the issue was that the language was not specific enough or that Litterer failed to read the entire agreement. Gabriel also questioned whether the case turned on the Miller ruling, which limited waivers that attempt to sidestep state-mandated safety requirements, or whether it was simply a contractual dispute over whether Litterer understood what he signed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess I\u2019m wondering which horse you are riding here,\u201d Gabriel said.<\/p>\n

Ongert responded that any waiver \u201cwith this broad of language\u201d should not be allowed to waive negligence claims tied to state laws requiring resort operators to maintain safety standards.<\/p>\n

Justice Brian D. Boatright asked whether it was the Supreme Court\u2019s role to craft policy when \u201cwe are not a policymaking branch of government.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do we dip our toes into that?\u201d Boatright asked.<\/p>\n

Ongert said the Litterer case presents \u201ca chance to expand or clarify the Miller ruling.\u201d Litterer, he said, is asking the court a question similar to the one raised by Miller.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo extend that same reasoning that there are certain claims that we can\u2019t waive,\u201d Ongert said. He argued that Vail Resorts violated the Ski Safety Act and the Colorado Snowmobile Safety Act, resulting in the collision.<\/p>\n

\u2018I think most folks would say that feels like Vail pulling a fast one.\u2019<\/div>\n

Vail Resorts attorney Michael Hofmann countered that Colorado is a \u201cfreedom of contract\u201d state that relies on adults to read agreements before signing them. The Epic Pass agreement, he said, \u201cis not too broad,\u201d and does not release operators from claims involving gross negligence or violations of state safety laws.<\/p>\n

Hofmann said it is \u201cnot the function of the court\u201d to create policy, but to apply general contract law.<\/p>\n

Justice William W. Hood III said it \u201cseems fundamentally unfair\u201d that a skier buying a season pass should anticipate a dense purchase agreement shifting from skiing\u2019s inherent risks into clauses that waive claims for damages.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think most folks would say that feels like Vail pulling a fast one,\u201d Hood said, while acknowledging that Litterer, who already had an active lawsuit, could have been more vigilant when signing the contract.<\/p>\n

Hofmann pointed to Epic Pass contract language that uses all caps and yellow highlights at the top of the agreement, warning that pass and lift ticket buyers \u201cwill forfeit certain claims you may have against Vail Resorts \u2026 including a release of any claims for negligence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hofmann said he could not identify any public policy that would require a business to sell access to people who are suing it. As a result, he argued, it should not be surprising that Vail Resorts requires skiers purchasing an Epic Pass to relinquish ongoing lawsuits.<\/p>\n

Boatright asked Hofmann whether any part of the Epic Pass contract \u201chas gone too far.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just feels limitless,\u201d Boatright said. \u201cIs there any point where it becomes too much?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018That will destabilize contract law.\u2019<\/div>\n

Hofmann said Litterer is an electrical engineer in his 30s with an MBA who should have understood the contract he signed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going to let an adult out of his promise because maybe he did not read it? That will destabilize contract law. Where do you stop?\u201d Hofmann said. He noted that Litterer could have chosen not to buy an Epic Pass and could have avoided returning to the resort where he was injured in a collision he alleges involved gross negligence. \u201cHe made a different choice and he should be held to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justice Carlos A. Samour Jr. asked Ongert whether other resorts use similar language in their ski pass contracts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all the same. If you want to ski in Colorado, you better be comfortable giving up every right you have, not only to sue for things that have happened to you in the past but may happen to you in the future,\u201d Ongert said.<\/p>\n

Samour responded that the idea skiers can simply choose not to sign an Epic Pass contract and ski elsewhere \u201cdoes not really hold water.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ongert said that without court intervention to rein in increasingly broad language in ski pass contracts and liability waivers, \u201cnothing is going to change.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe legislature is not going to act in any way that diminishes the power of the ski areas, and that has been demonstrated again and again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, nonpartisan news organization dedicated to covering Colorado issues. To learn more, go to coloradosun.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

a case involving a snowboarder who collided with an employee-driven snowmobile at Breckenridge <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":126552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[28,29,6419],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-126551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter","tag-tj-trueanthem"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126551"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=126551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}