Off-piste skiing accident

Anderson v Lyotier & Portejoie [2008] EWHC 790; SJ 9 December 2008

On the final day of a skiing holiday, in an area steeper than any other off-piste terrain, the instructor took the group to an area steeper than any other off-piste terrain they had skied that week. The claimant suffered a catastrophic injury. The judge said ‘everyone recognises that skiing is an inherently risky pastime and accidents causing injuries, sometimes very serious, will occur more often than not without negligence being established on the part of anyone involved. … It was only as the evidence emerged during the case that I became satisfied that this accident was foreseeable and avoidable with reasonable care having been exercised by the ski instructor and to a lesser extent by the claimant himself. The claimant could have said something to the ski instructor at the time about his dislike of off-piste skiing and even an inexperienced skier cannot fully abdicate responsibility to the instructor. The process involving adults is a collaborative one. The claimant could, and possibly should, have refused to attempt this particular slope and the judge found the claimant was one third contributory negligent.