Waschle ex rel. Birkhold-Waschle v. Winter Sports, Inc.

144 F. Supp. 3d 1174, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 152535, 2015 WL 6969410
CourtDistrict Court, D. Montana
DecidedNovember 10, 2015
DocketNo. CV 13-309-M-DWM
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 144 F. Supp. 3d 1174 (Waschle ex rel. Birkhold-Waschle v. Winter Sports, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Montana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Waschle ex rel. Birkhold-Waschle v. Winter Sports, Inc., 144 F. Supp. 3d 1174, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 152535, 2015 WL 6969410 (D. Mont. 2015).

Opinion

OPINION and ORDER

DONALD W. MOLLOY, District Judge.

This case arises out of the death of sixteen-year-old German foreign exchange student Niclas Waschle (“Niclas”). On December 29, 2010, Niclas died following a ski accident that occurred at Whitefish Mountain Resort, a ski area owned and operated by Defendant Winter Sports, Inc. (“Winter Sports”). At the time of his death, Niclas had been placed with a host family, Defendants Fred and Lynne Van-[1177]*1177horn (“the Vanhorns”), in Columbia Falls, Montana through the exchange program of Defendant World Experience. Niclas’s family and estate (“Plaintiffs”) brought suit against World Experience, Winter Sports, and the Vanhorns. World Experience was dismissed upon stipulation of the parties. (Doc. 44.) Following oral argument, the Vanhorns’ motion for summary judgment was granted and judgment entered in their favor. (Docs. 65, 67.) Plaintiffs have since appealed that decision. (Doc. 74.)

Pending before the Court are Winter Sports’s motion for summary judgment, (Doc. 49), Plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment on their negligence claim, (Doc. 56), and the parties’ joint motion to stay trial pending the outcome of Plaintiffs’ appeal, (Doc. 85). Following argument on the two summary judgment motions on October 27, 2015, Winter Sports’s motion is granted-in-part and denied-in-part, Plaintiffs’ motion is denied, and the parties’ joint motion to stay is granted.

Background 1

In 2010, Niclas applied for placement as a foreign exchange student with World Experience. In his application, Niclas indicated that he was interested in siding, that he was a frequent skier, and that he was a good skier. Before coming to the United States, Niclas skied in Europe approximately five or six times a year since the age of ten. The Vanhorns applied as host parents with World Experience and advised that they lived near a ski resort and skied frequently. World Experience placed Niclas with the Vanhorns for the 2010 fall school semester.

In September 2010, Fred Vanhorn contacted Niclas’s mother about purchasing a ski pass for Whitefish Mountain. She provided both permission to purchase the ski pass and funds to do so. Once the ski season began, Niclas skied ten days at Whitefish Mountain between December 5, 2010, and December 29, 2010. At approximately 11:00 a.m. on December 29, 2010, Niclas was found unresponsive, headfirst in the snow at the base of a tree by other skiers on a run off the T-Bar 2 ski lift, within the boundary of Whitefish Mountain. Niclas,had fallen into what is known as a “tree well.” The area was not blocked off in any way, and there were no warnings posted regarding the dangers of tree wells. Four days later, on January 2, 2011, Niclas died in the hospital.

According to Winter Sports, the ski area has been in operation on Big Mountain since 1947 and consists of approximately 3,000 acres of ski terrain, including groomed areas and large areas of ung-roomed tree skiing and natural terrain (commonly called “off-piste”). (Winter Sports’s SUF, Doc. 51 at ¶¶ 1-2.) In the sixty years of operation prior to Niclas’s death, four skier deaths were believed to involve tree wells. (Id. at ¶ 5.) As of December 29, 2010, there had not been a tree well death at Whitefish Mountain since 1999, and no deaths involving tree wells had occurred near the T-Bar 2 lift.2 (Id.)

Summary Conclusion

Tree wells did not fall under the definition of “inherent dangers and risks of skiing” as outlined in Montana’s Skier Responsibility statutes in effect at the time of the accident. See Mont.Code Ann. [1178]*1178§ 23-2-702(2) (2009). The statute was amended in 2015 to specifically reference the inclusion of snow accumulation around or near trees. To hold that the 2009 statute covers tree wells would render the 2015 Montana Legislature’s actions to the amen corner of the ski operator’s industry. Whether Winter Sports should have exercised greater care in warning of tree wells or reducing the risk, and whether Niclas should have been aware of the condition that caused his death and exercised greater care to avoid it, are issues for the finder of fact to resolve. Plaintiffs’ claim for punitive damages raises a'faet question as they have put forth sufficient evidence from which a reasonable juror could find actual malice as defined by Montana law.

Legal Standard

A party is entitled to summary judgment if it can demonstrate that “there is no genuine dispute as to any.material fact and the movant is entitled to judgment as a matter of law.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 56(a). Summary judgment is warranted where the documentary evidence produced by the parties permits only one conclusion. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 251, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). Only disputes over facts that might affect the outcome of the lawsuit will preclude entry of summary judgment; factual disputes that are irrelevant or unnecessary to the outcome are not considered. Id. at 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505. “[I]n ruling on a motion for summary judgment, the evidence of the nonmovant is to be believed, and all justifiable inferences are to be drawn in his favor.” Tolan v. Cotton, — U.S. -, 134 S.Ct. 1861, 1863, 188 L.Ed.2d 895 (2014) (per curiam) (internal quotation marks and alterations omitted).

Analysis

A. Montana Skier Responsibility Statutes

Under Montana law, “[a] skier shall accept all legal responsibility for injury or damage of any kind to the extent that the injury or damage results from inherent dangers and risks of skiing.” .§ 23-2-736(4). “Inherent dangers and risks of skiing” are defined generally as “those dangers or conditions that are part of the sport of skiing,” and include in relevant part:

(b) snow conditions as they exist or as they may change, including ice, hardpack, powder, packed powder, wind pack, com snow, crust, slush, cut-up snow, and machine-made snow; [and]
(i) the failure of a skier to ski within that skier’s ability.

§ 23-2-702(2)(2009). Likewise, under another law, a ski area operator must act “consistently with the duty of reasonable care owed by a ski area operator to a skier.” § 23-2-733. Montana’s Skier Responsibility statutes cannot be read to immunize ski resorts from their own negligent or' intentional acts. Such an interpretation would violate Montana’s constitution. Mead v. M.S.B., Inc., 264 Mont. 465, 872 P.2d 782, 788.(1994). However, the stated purpose of the skier statutes is to “discourage[ ] claims based on damages resulting from the inherent risks of skiing.” § 23-2-731. Winter Sports argues that because tree wells were an “inherent danger and risk of skiing” and Niclas failed to ski within his abilities, Plaintiffs’ claims fail as a matter of law. Winter Sports is wrong on both counts unless a jury is convinced by the facts that its position is correct.

1. Snow Conditions

Winter Sports insists tree wells are an “inherent danger and risk of skiing” because they fell under the 2009 statutory definition of “snow conditions,” which included: “snow conditions as they exist or

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Bluebook (online)
144 F. Supp. 3d 1174, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 152535, 2015 WL 6969410, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/waschle-ex-rel-birkhold-waschle-v-winter-sports-inc-mtd-2015.