New Hampshire Ski Law in a Nutshell
The New Hampshire ski safety statute is the cornerstone of New Hampshire ski injury law, describing the duties, rights, and liability of skiers, snowboarders, aerial tramway passengers, and ski area operators. Here are the key aspects of New Hampshire ski law in a nutshell.
Ski collision lawsuits allowed against negligent skiers and snowboarders? | Yes. |
Lawsuits allowed against negligent ski resort operators? | Probably. Because skiing is such a profitable industry in the state, New Hampshire ski law is specifically designed to protect ski area operators from liability. Taking legal action against a New Hampshire ski resort operator for injury or property damage is a difficult proposition. But it’s not impossible—especially if the ski area operator was negligent in the way it operated the ski resort. Each case will rise and fall on its own unique set of facts and the proper application of New Hampshire ski accident law to such facts. That’s where we come in and why you should consult with us about your case as soon as possible after you have suffered a ski injury. |
Damages available? | Yes—for loss of earnings, lost employee benefits, damage to the ability to earn money in the future, loss of time, household expenses, medical and hospital expenses, home and vehicle modification and other out-of-pocket expenses, permanent injury and disability, physical pain and suffering, physical impairment, mental and emotional pain and suffering, inconvenience, emotional stress, impairment of the quality of life, loss of consortium, loss of affection, loss of lifestyle, loss of society, loss of companionship, loss of the aid and comfort of each other, and/or loss of the enjoyment of life. |
Punitive damages available? | No—Punitive damages are not available in any legal action in New Hampshire. But New Hampshire courts may award “enhanced compensatory damages” (i.e., expanded or supplemented damages) when the actions of the person or ski area causing the injury or property damage were “wanton, malicious, or oppressive.” |
Statute of limitations? | A lawsuit must be filed within two years of the date of the incident causing the injury or property damage, or the claim will be forever barred. But in legal actions against ski area operators, New Hampshire ski law further requires an operator to be notified about the injury or property damage by certified return receipt mail within 90 days of the incident causing the injury or property damage. |
Duties and Liability of Skiers, Boarders, and Tram Passengers Under New Hampshire Ski Law
New Hampshire ski accident law recognizes that regardless of the safety measures taken by a ski area operator, skiing, snowboarding, snow tubing, snowshoeing, and the use of aerial tramways may be hazardous to skiers, boarders, and passengers.
Thus, under New Hampshire ski injury law, each person who participates in the sports of skiing, snowboarding, snow tubing, and snowshoeing accepts, as a matter of law, the dangers inherent in these sports, and may not bring legal action against a ski area operator for any injuries or property damage resulting from the following assumed inherent risks, dangers, or hazards:
- variations in terrain, surface or subsurface snow or ice conditions;
- bare spots;
- rocks, trees, stumps, and other forms of forest growth or debris;
- terrain, lift towers, and their components, whether above or below the snow surface;
- pole lines and plainly marked or visible snow making equipment; and
- collisions with other skiers or boarders.
Under New Hampshire ski law, each skier, snowboarder, and tramway passenger have the sole responsibility for knowing the range of his or her own ability to negotiate any slope, trail, terrain, or passenger tramway. Any passenger who boards a tramway is presumed to have sufficient knowledge, abilities, and physical dexterity to negotiate the chairlift, and no legal action may be brought against a ski area operator or its employee for failing to instruct passengers about how to use the tramway. Each skier, boarder, and tramway passenger also must (i) conduct himself or herself within the limits of his or her own ability, (ii) maintain control of his or her speed and course at all times, both on the ground and in the air, (iii) heed all posted warnings, and (iv) not act in a manner that may cause or contribute to the injury of himself, herself, or others.
Pursuant to New Hampshire ski accident law, skiers, snowboarders, and tramway passengers must not: (i) board or disembark from an aerial tramway except at designated areas, (ii) throw or drop any object while riding on an aerial tramway, (iii) interfere with the operation of an aerial tramway, (iv) engage in conduct that will cause injury to another person, (v) willfully place any object in an uphill ski track that may cause another to fall, (vi) ski or otherwise use a slope or trail that is designated “closed” without the ski area operator’s written permission, (vii) remove, alter, deface, or destroy ski area signage or notices, (viii) cross the uphill track of a J-bar, T-bar, rope tow, or wire rope except at designated locations, and (ix) ski or otherwise access terrain outside designated ski trails and slopes or beyond ski area boundaries without the ski area operator’s written permission.
As a general rule, skiers, boarders, and tramway passengers must accept all legal responsibility for their injury or property damage to the extent the injury or property damage results from the inherent danger and risk of skiing. But under New Hampshire ski accident law, injured skiers, boarders, and tramway passengers may certainly hold a negligent skier, boarder, tramway passenger, or a ski area operator, legally accountable for injuries and damages caused by their negligence. Violations of New Hampshire ski law that cause property damage or injure another skier, boarder, or tramway passenger—such as a collision with another skier or boarder—could result in a civil lawsuit by the injured person against the negligent person or ski area operator.
Duties and Liability of Ski Area Operators Under New Hampshire Ski Accident Law
Because skiing is such a profitable industry in the state, New Hampshire ski law is specifically designed to protect ski area operators from liability, imposing minimal duties on operators principally focused on signage. For example, in the base areas, ski resort operators must: (i) maintain trail boards at prominent locations listing the ski area’s network of ski trails, slopes, tubing terrain, and designated freestyle terrain, including which trails, slopes, and tubing terrain are open or closed, (ii) utilize trail boards to warn skiers, boarders, and aerial tramway passengers that snow grooming or snow making operations are in progress on the ski slopes and trails serviced by each tramway, and (iii) provide maps to all skiers, boarders, and aerial tramway passengers showing the system of ski trails, slopes, tubing terrain, and freestyle terrain.
Outside of the base areas, New Hampshire ski injury law requires ski resort operators to: (i) mark the beginning and degree of difficulty of each alpine and Nordic ski trail or slope, (ii) mark the beginning of, and designated access points to, each closed alpine and Nordic ski trail or slope, (iii) mark the beginning of, and designated access points to, terrain and warn skiers and boarders that using the terrain is at their own risk, and (iv) place a sign at each chairlift describing the ski trail or slope that skiers and snowboarders will encounter at the end of the lift.
For Nordic ski jumps, ski resort operators must post a sign in a prominent location at or near the Nordic ski jump facility warning ski jumpers that using the ski jump is entirely at their own risk. That said, ski area operators are responsible for the design, construction, and structural maintenance of all Nordic ski jumps for the safety of ski jumpers.
Under New Hampshire ski accident law, ski area operators are not responsible for ensuring the safety, or for damages, including injury or death, of skiers, boarders, or other persons who utilize a ski area to access terrain outside open and designated ski trails and slopes. Ski area operators also owe no duty to anyone who trespasses on the ski area property.
To be sure, taking legal action against a New Hampshire ski resort operator for an injured skier’s or boarder’s damages is a difficult proposition. But it’s not impossible—especially if the ski area operator was negligent in the way it operated the ski resort. Each case will rise and fall on its own unique set of facts. That’s why you should consult with us about your case as soon as possible after you have been injured—especially since a ski area operator must be notified about a ski injury or property damage, via certified return receipt mail, within 90 days of the incident causing the injury or property damage or the claim will be forever lost.
Compensation for Injured Skiers, Boarders, and Tram Passengers Under New Hampshire Ski Law
New Hampshire ski accident law allows an injured person (and sometimes, the family of a person injured or killed while skiing) to sue for compensation for his or her injuries due to the actions of another skier, snowboarder, or ski area operator. The types of damages recoverable include loss of earnings, lost employee benefits, damage to the ability to earn money in the future, loss of time, household expenses, medical and hospital expenses, home and vehicle modification (such as adding a wheelchair ramp, etc.) and other out-of-pocket expenses, permanent injury and disability, physical pain and suffering, physical impairment, mental and emotional pain and suffering, inconvenience, emotional stress, impairment of the quality of life, loss of consortium, loss of affection, loss of lifestyle, loss of society, loss of companionship, loss of the aid and comfort of each other, and/or loss of the enjoyment of life.
Punitive damages are not available in any legal action in New Hampshire. But New Hampshire courts may award “enhanced compensatory damages” (i.e., expanded or supplemented damages) when the actions of the person or ski area causing the injury or property damage were “wanton, malicious, or oppressive.”
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We are experienced ski injury attorneys. We represent skiers, snowboarders, and tramway passengers (and their families) who were seriously injured while skiing, boarding, or riding chairlifts at Attitash Mountain Resort, Bretton Woods, Cannon Mountain, Cranmore Mountain, Gunstock Mountain Resort, Loon Mountain, Mount Sunapee, Ragged Mountain Resort, Waterville Valley, Wildcat Mountain Ski Resort, and other New Hampshire ski areas.
If you or your loved one was seriously injured or killed while skiing, snowboarding, or riding a ski lift in New Hampshire, contact us immediately. Gathering the evidence and interviewing witnesses before they leave the area, or their memories fade, is critical to maximizing your recovery. Time is short. The statute of limitations is running. Call us today.
