## Facts

- Teresa Brigance attended Keystone Mountain Resort in Colorado and enrolled in a ski lesson operated by Vail Summit Resorts, Inc. (VSRI).
- As a condition of participation, Brigance signed a ski-school waiver labeled as a release of liability and waiver of legal rights.
- The ski-school waiver stated that the participant assumed inherent risks of the activity and also assumed additional risks, including the negligence of ski-area employees and risks associated with lift loading, unloading, and riding.
- Brigance’s lift ticket contained additional warning/assumption-of-risk language stating the user assumed risks of injury, represented the ability to load/ride/unload safely, and agreed to hold the ski area harmless for injury.
- During the lesson, while unloading from a chairlift, Brigance’s boot became wedged between the ground and the moving chair, preventing her from unloading; she suffered a fractured femur.
- Brigance alleged negligence by the instructor (inadequate instruction), lift operator (failure to stop the lift timely), and VSRI (negligent hiring, training, and supervision).
- In federal district court, some negligence claims were dismissed on the ground that Colorado’s Premises Liability Act (PLA) provides the exclusive remedy against landowners for on-property injuries; the remaining claims were resolved for VSRI on summary judgment based on the waivers.
- Brigance appealed, challenging enforceability and scope of the waivers and arguing that Colorado’s Ski Safety Act (SSA) and Passenger Tramway Safety Act (PTSA) limited or barred such releases.

## Issues

1. Whether the ski-school waiver and lift-ticket waiver were enforceable exculpatory agreements under Colorado law releasing VSRI from liability for its own negligence.
2. Whether the SSA or PTSA rendered such negligence waivers void or restricted their scope as to statutorily defined duties.
3. Whether an otherwise valid exculpatory agreement can bar a claim pleaded under Colorado’s PLA.

## Decision

- The Tenth Circuit affirmed judgment for VSRI.
- The court held the ski-school waiver and lift-ticket waiver were valid and enforceable under Colorado law.
- The court concluded the waivers clearly and unambiguously covered the negligence theories alleged, including lift loading/unloading and employee conduct.
- The court held neither the SSA nor the PTSA invalidated or limited the waivers on the record presented.
- The court held the waivers barred Brigance’s remaining negligence-based claims, including her PLA claim.

## Legal Principles

- Under Colorado law, exculpatory clauses in recreational settings are generally enforceable unless they violate public policy, evaluated under the four-factor test considering: (1) public duty, (2) nature of the service, (3) fairness of contract formation, and (4) clarity of intent.
- Skiing and ski lessons are voluntary recreational activities rather than essential public services, weighing in favor of enforcing liability releases.
- A release may bar negligence claims when its language clearly communicates that it waives claims for the service provider’s negligence, including negligence by employees and risks tied to the relevant activity (such as lift loading and unloading).
- Absent express statutory language prohibiting exculpatory agreements, the SSA and PTSA do not, by themselves, void private waivers that otherwise satisfy Colorado’s common-law enforceability standards.
- Colorado’s PLA provides the exclusive cause of action against landowners for on-property injuries, but it does not prevent enforcement of a valid contractual release that waives negligence-based liability within the agreement’s scope.

## Conclusion

The court enforced broad ski-school and lift-ticket waivers and held they barred the skier’s negligence and premises-liability claims arising from a chairlift unloading injury, because the releases were valid under Colorado law and were not displaced by Colorado’s ski- and tramway-safety statutes.


Brigance v. Vail Summit Resorts, Inc., 883 F.3d 1243 (10th Cir. 2018)