Ski accidents – what you need to know if you have been injured in a winter sport accident

If sufficient care was not taken and you have been injured as a result, you may have the right to claim compensation.

Circumstances which may indicate an inappropriate standard of care include:

• another skier or snowboarder has crashed into you from uphill;
• an instructor or mountain guide has not properly assessed the risk of avalanche and taken you to an area on the mountain which is unsafe;
• your ski instructor took you on a slope which is too challenging for your level of expertise;
• a defective ski lift or cable car has caused you an injury.

The accident might be the fault of another skier or snowboarder, a tour operator, a ski instructor or guide, or ski facilities operator. They should all have insurance to cover an accident claim.

The most common type of injuries suffered in a ski accident are orthopaedic injuries, such as leg, shoulder or pelvic fractures, due to the intensity of the impact in a collision or fall when the person/s involved were travelling at speed.

Orthopaedic injuries are not only very painful and will prevent you from enjoying the rest of your holiday, but they can also have long-term impact on your ability to work and leave you with permanent disability.

Head injuries are also a frequent occurrence, especially when the victim was not wearing a crash helmet. Nowadays the majority of skiers and snowboarders wear helmets (although some still don’t…), and their use is compulsory in some countries and/or resorts. Head injuries can vary in severity from concussion to the most severe brain injury causing permanent disability.

Sadly, every year we hear of adrenaline-seekers who are caught in avalanches and suffer fatal injuries. Family members are entitled to compensation for the loss of their loved-one, though the conditions vary greatly depending on the country where the accident happened.

Spinal injuries may also occur in off-piste skiing and extreme sports, causing long-term disability, care needs and impact on working ability.

Whether your ski accident occurred in France, Austria, Canada or elsewhere, at RWK Goodman we can assess the prospects of your claim and whether it can be brought in England & Wales or in the country where the accident happened, and we can assist you either way.

The time limit to bring a claim varies depending on the applicable law, which – in most but not all cases – is the law of the country where the accident happened. Time limits vary greatly: for instance, in Spanish law it is one year from the date of the accident, in French law you have 10 years from the consolidation of the injuries; in between there are legal systems with limitation periods of two, three or five years. It not always a straightforward question, so it is essential to seek early legal advice to avoid the claim being time-barred.

The amount a winter sport accident claim settles for will be dependent on the severity of the injuries suffered and your specific circumstances. However as you will see below we have settled cases for anything from £40,000 for an orthopaedic injury up to over £2m for spinal injuries.

Our solicitors specialising in accidents abroad have dealt with many claims related to winter sports accidents, including:

• securing a £220,000 compensation for a French woman who suffered a broken pelvis and a fractured shoulder after a collision caused by an English skier;
• acting for a British ski instructor who got an injury to the elbow when a child he was teaching collided into him;
• obtaining £40,000 in compensation for an English skier who suffered a complicated leg fracture whilst on ski holiday in France when he slipped on an icy footpath in the resort;
• negotiating liability and over a £2m settlement in a claim for spinal injuries brought against a mountain guide after the victim was caught in an avalanche;
• successfully pursuing a claim against a British insurer for a ski collision in Andorra;
• advising on liability in an airbag jump accident.