A Colorado jury on Friday awarded $21 million to a woman who was paralyzed when she fell from a ski lift at Crested Butte Mountain Resort three years ago.

The jury verdict comes just over a year after the Colorado Supreme Court considered the woman’s case and ruled that liability waivers do not protect ski resorts when resorts violate state laws or regulations. That ruling allowed the lawsuit to go forward and likely ended a push by ski resorts to use such waivers to shield themselves from almost all lawsuits.

The case and its $21 million verdict may open up new avenues for skiers to sue ski operators, particularly over incidents involving chairlifts, said Brian Aleinikoff, an attorney for Annie Miller , the woman who fell in 2022.

“For the longest time, ski areas have been so ins

See Full Page