As resilient New Yorkers, many of us combat the frigid cold and gray skies of winter with fun, wholesome activities in the snow. A popular option is the classic ski trip—an exciting getaway to places like Gore Mountain or Holiday Valley, where we expect clearly marked trails, managed hazards, and properly maintained lifts. But injury data tells a different story. Each winter, the same serious injuries, especially tree collisions and knee trauma, occur again and again under the same conditions. These aren’t flukes. They are predictable outcomes tied to how resorts design and operate their terrain. When those patterns repeat, they can expose negligence. Proving negligence, however, is not easy. An experienced ski injury lawyer at Matera & Manley, LLP, knows how to challenge resorts that try to shift blame onto injured guests.
To help keep your family safe, it is important to understand common skiing dangers and when an assumed risk becomes a preventable hazard.
Tree Collisions: The Deadliest Ski Injury
Tree collisions account for nearly 50 percent of fatal skiing and snowboarding accidents nationwide. These incidents rarely happen on expert terrain. More often, they occur along the edges of marked trails, near lightly wooded glades, or in transition zones where visibility drops and trails narrow.
Trees are fixed hazards. Their placement near skier traffic is the result of resort design and maintenance decisions, not chance.
Why Tree Collisions Are Predictable
Tree collision fatalities follow consistent conditions. Late in the day, the snow hardens and visibility declines. Skiers move toward trail edges to avoid congestion or icy patches. In many resorts, unpadded trees sit only a few feet from active runs, leaving little room for recovery.
Tree wells compound the risk. These deep pockets of loose snow around tree bases are widely recognized as dangerous, yet they are often left unmarked. When known hazards remain unaddressed, collisions are foreseeable, not random.
Knee Injuries: The Most Common Ski Trauma
While tree collisions dominate fatality data, knee injuries are the most common ski-related injury overall. Studies consistently show that 30 to 40 percent of reported ski injuries involve the knee, most often tearing of the ACL or MCL (vital knee ligaments).
These injuries are serious. Major surgery, long rehabilitation, and extended time away from work are common outcomes. For many families, a ski vacation ends with months of physical and financial strain.
Why Knee Injuries Are Predictable
Knee injuries most often occur on intermediate blue runs. These trails attract a mix of skill levels and heavy traffic. Faster skiers pass beginners. Sudden evasive turns become unavoidable. Grooming inconsistencies cause skis to catch without warning.
The knee is especially vulnerable to twisting forces under load. When trail design funnels incompatible skiers into the same space, ligament injuries become a predictable result.
How New York Law Separates Inherent Risk From Negligence
New York’s General Obligations Law §18-106, the Skier’s Responsibility Code, recognizes that skiing involves inherent risks such as ice, weather changes, and ordinary falls. Ski resorts are generally protected by this statute, as well as liability waivers and experienced insurance defense teams. As a result, injured skiers are often told they “assumed the risk” before the facts are fully examined. However, these protections have limits.
Resorts have a duty to operate their terrain safely by marking fixed hazards, maintaining groomed trails, managing crowd levels, and warning skiers of non-obvious dangers. When failures in these areas result in repeated tree collisions or knee injuries, courts are more likely to attribute those injuries to negligence rather than the inherent risks of skiing.
Holding Resorts Accountable After A Ski Injury
Due to resorts’ legal protections, ski injury claims are not handled like typical personal injury cases. A knowledgeable ski injury lawyer focuses on whether the injury was preventable by reviewing:
- Trail design
- Grooming practices
- Crowd management
- Warning signs
- Prior incidents
- Witness accounts
- Trail camera footage (if available)
These details help determine whether the harm resulted from negligence rather than an unavoidable part of skiing. The experienced attorneys at Matera & Manley, LLP, use this approach to overcome assumption-of-risk defenses by investigating beyond surface explanations and work to hold resorts accountable when preventable hazards cause serious harm.
Speak With A Ski Injury Lawyer Today
If you or a loved one was injured on a ski trip, we invite you to schedule a free consultation with a trusted ski injury lawyer at Matera & Manley, LLP. Together, we can provide clarity, guidance, and peace of mind when you need it most.
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