Valter v. Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, LLC
| Docket Number | C096036 |
| Decision Date | 05 October 2023 |
| Parties | JOHN VALTER, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. MAMMOTH MOUNTAIN SKI AREA, LLC, Defendant and Respondent. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
Order Filed Date 10/5/23
Appellant filed a petition for rehearing with this court. It is hereby ordered that the petition for rehearing is denied.
It is also ordered that the opinion filed herein on September 18 2023, be modified as follows:
1. On page 18, at the end of the last paragraph of part II of the Discussion, prior to the Disposition, the following is added as a footnote:
In a petition for rehearing, Valter claims, among other things that a triable issue of fact exists about whether "the collision occurred at the climber's right side of St Moritz at its intersection with Stump Alley." (Italics omitted.) He also characterizes this location as around a blind corner. But Valter elsewhere concedes that the unchallenged photographic evidence and more "show that Peters' snowmobile was . . . completely off the St. Moritz run and was entirely on Stump Alley." Valter cannot defeat summary judgment by now disputing these objective facts, for "[w]hen opposing parties tell two different stories, one of which is blatantly contradicted by the record, so that no reasonable jury could believe it, a court should not adopt that version of the facts for purposes of ruling on a motion for summary judgment." (Scott v. Harris (2007) 550 U.S. 372, 378-381 [].)
This modification does not change the judgment.
Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, LLC, is a ski resort that, like many ski resorts, uses snowmobiles in its operations. John Valter sued Mammoth after colliding with one of these snowmobiles while skiing. He alleged that a Mammoth employee improperly drove the snowmobile up the mountain and then stopped in his path. On Mammoth's motion for summary judgment, the trial court found his claims failed as a matter of law for two reasons. First, it found Valter's claims barred under the doctrine of primary assumption of risk, reasoning that a collision with a plainly visible snowmobile is a risk inherent in skiing and that Mammoth had not increased this risk. Second, it found Valter's claims barred because he expressly assumed the risk of colliding with a snowmobile when he signed Mammoth's liability waiver. In the waiver, Valter acknowledged the risks of colliding with snowmobiles and excused Mammoth for liability for its negligence.
On appeal, Valter contends neither ground for granting summary judgment is valid. Starting with the doctrine of primary assumption of risk, he asserts the doctrine is inapplicable because the risk of colliding with a snowmobile is not a risk inherent in skiing and, even it were, Mammoth improperly increased this risk. Turning to express assumption of risk, he asserts Mammoth's conduct was grossly negligent and so exceeded the scope of the liability waiver. We limit our discussion to Valter's second argument. Because we conclude the trial court properly granted summary judgment on the ground of express assumption of risk, we affirm on that basis.
Mammoth is a ski resort in Mammoth Lakes. As is common in the ski industry, it uses snowmobiles in its operations and has taken certain steps to reduce the chance of collisions with guests. It has, for instance, created a snowmobile training program and developed training materials that, among other things require its snowmobile drivers to limit their speed in congested areas, to ride on the side of the run providing the best visibility, to yield to guests, and to use flags and headlights when driving in public areas. It has additionally posted signs at the top of ski lifts warning that snowmobiles "may be encountered at any time," included the same warning in its trail map, and, in its liability waiver for season-pass holders, required season-pass holders to acknowledge that "Skiing and Snowboarding involve risks posed by . . . collisions with . . . snowmobiles and other over-snow vehicles."
Mammoth has also established preferred routes for its snowmobile drivers with the intent to limit collision risks. One of these routes formerly covered two ski runs called St. Moritz and Stump Alley. Stump Alley is a larger, popular run that ends at the base of the resort; St. Moritz is a smaller run that branches off Stump Alley. To provide a rough visualization of these runs, think of a rotated lowercase y-as in, a-with the longer line representing Stump Alley and the shorter line representing St. Moritz. For the designated route covering these runs, snowmobile drivers were instructed to stay to their left when going up St. Moritz; then, where St. Moritz meets Stump Alley, to make a slight right turn onto Stump Alley to avoid a steep area that is difficult for snowmobiles; and then, after passing this area, to travel across Stump Alley and then stay to their left when going up Stump Alley. A map of Mammoth's preferred snowmobile routes shows the St. Moritz-to-Stump Alley route. As depicted in the map, the route crosses Stump Alley at an upward diagonal from right to left and then goes up the left of Stump Alley. Mammoth began developing this route at some time before 1989 and used it until late 2016.
In early 2016, one of Mammoth's lift maintenance employees, Joshua Peters, drove his snowmobile up St. Moritz on his way to a lift maintenance station. Peters- who had completed Mammoth's snowmobile safety training-drove up St. Moritz at about 15 miles per hour, slowed to about five miles per hour before exiting St. Moritz, and then continued at this speed on Stump Alley as he looked to cut across the run. Valter, an expert skier, was skiing down the left side of Stump Alley at the same time and began decelerating from about 30 miles per hour to make a left turn onto St. Moritz. Peters said he saw Valter from a distance of about 80 to 120 feet, slowed further, and then stopped. But Valter never saw Peters. Valter made three or four controlled turns after Peters first saw him, and he then collided with Peters's snowmobile on Stump Alley. Valter suffered significant injuries as a result.
Two other witnesses saw the accident. One was another Mammoth employee who was driving a snowmobile behind Peters. He afterward told an officer that Peters had stopped and that Valter was looking over his left shoulder just before the collision- though Valter told the same officer that he never looked over his shoulder. Another witness saw the accident from above on a ski lift. In a written statement, he said the snowmobile was driving slowly up Stump Alley diagonally from "skier[']s left to right"-as in, from the left side to the right side of the run from the perspective of a skier going downhill. He added that the snowmobile had slowed almost to a stop at the time of impact. But, he wrote, it was "almost as though [the] skier never saw [the] snow mobile"; the skier traveled in a "controlled line but it was directly into [the] snow mobile."
Several photographs taken immediately after the collision show the snowmobile's appearance and position at the time of the accident. The snowmobile is dark blue and flies an orange flag at its back. It is not obstructed by any apparent obstacles. Another photograph taken after the accident, which the parties marked up during Peters's deposition, shows Peters's path from St. Moritz to Stump Alley. Both parties accept that the photograph accurately depicts his path. The photograph (together with other photographs of the scene) shows Peters entered Stump Alley from the far left of St. Moritz near a sign describing different runs and then headed up Stump Alley at a sharp diagonal. According to a diagram that Mammoth personnel made after the accident, the distance between this sign and Peters's snowmobile at the place of the collision was 44 feet.
Before the accident, and as a condition of holding a season pass, Valter signed a liability waiver. In the waiver, Valter agreed he "underst[oo]d Skiing and Snowboarding involve risks posed by . . . collisions with . . . snowmobiles and other over-snow vehicles," "agree[d] that these risks and dangers are necessary to the sports of Skiing and Snowboarding," "AGREE[D] TO EXPRESSLY ASSUME ANY AND ALL RISK OF INJURY OR DEATH which might be associated with [his] participation in the SPORTS," and "AGREE[D] NEVER TO SUE, AND TO RELEASE FROM LIABILITY, Mammoth . . . for any . . . injury . . . which arises in whole or in part out of [his] . . . participation in the SPORTS . . ., including without limitation those claims based on MAMMOTH'S alleged or actual NEGLIGENCE ...."
Following the accident, Valter sued Mammoth for premises liability and negligence, alleging that Mammoth failed to maintain the ski area in a safe condition and failed to provide adequate warning of the alleged unsafe condition. He reasoned that Peters improperly stopped his snowmobile in front of his path without providing adequate warning.
Mammoth later filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting that Valter's claims failed as a matter of law for two reasons. It contended his claims were barred under the doctrine of primary assumption of risk because a potential collision with a snowmobile is a risk inherent in skiing and it had not unreasonably increased this risk. It also asserted his claims were barred because, in signing the liability waiver, he had expressly agreed to assume the risk of its negligence. Although Mammoth acknowledged that the...
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