Opinion ID: 2447042
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Appellees Lori and Jeff Chepkevich

Text: Appellees renew the arguments they forwarded below, both concerning the Release and the Act. Appellees argue that the Release Lori signed did not extend to the specific negligence of the lift operator that is at issue here, relying on the Crews panel's narrow definition of the risks that may be deemed inherent to the sport of skiing. In appellees' view, the Superior Court's remand for trial was correct irrespective of whether the Release can be characterized as a contract of adhesion. [11] As to the claimed conflict with Nissley, appellees contend that the releases in the two cases are not analogous. The release in Nissley covered any injury the plaintiff suffered on the defendant's premises, without specifying what the risks might be. 913 A.2d at 890-91. Appellees argue that, by contrast, the Release Lori signed specified the risks she agreed to assume, which had the effect of limiting her agreement not to sue to injuries arising out of those specific risks. The sole limiting language in the Nissley release, according to appellees, referred to risks of danger known by the plaintiff, and that limiting language appeared below the provision that the signer was giv[ing] up all [his] rights to sue. Id. at 890. As a result, the Nissley panel determined that the limiting language did not modify the covenant not to sue. Id. at 891. Appellees contend that the Release Lori signed begins with a list of inherent risks in skiing, followed by her release of liability and covenant not to sue. For this reason, appellees argue that the Release, on its face, applies only to those specific listed risks and should not be broadly construed like the release in Nissley. [12] On the question of whether their suit is barred by the Act, appellees argue that the Act does not apply because not all risks encountered by a skier can fairly be said to be inherent to the sport. Appellees posit that when a risk arises that is not inherent to the sport (or when a ski resort's negligence gives rise to an unexpected risk), the skier has not assumed that particular risk, and therefore retains the right to sue for resulting damages notwithstanding the Act's bar. Applying the standard articulated by the Superior Court in Crews, appellees argue that inherent risks are only those few risks that cannot be removed without altering the fundamental nature of skiing. Crews, 874 A.2d at 105. Appellees assert that the risk of lift operator negligence can be removed from skiing without altering the fundamental nature of the sport and, therefore, that risk is not inherent to skiing. Accordingly, appellees argue that Lori did not assume the specific risk that led indirectly to her injury and thus she is not precluded from recovery under the Act. In response to Hidden Valley's argument that Hughes demands a broad reading of what risks are inherent to skiing under the Act, appellees counter that Hughes never expressly stated that every risk arising on a ski slope is necessarily assumed by the skier. Instead, appellees again invoke Crews, and argue that the Superior Court there properly recognized that the category of risks inherent to skiing is significantly narrower than Hidden Valley contends. Appellees also submit that Crews is more germane to the facts here than Hughes. Specifically, according to appellees, Crews held that, while the risk of colliding with another person on the slopes is an inherent risk under Hughes, the risk of being struck from behind by an intoxicated minor is not. Appellees reason that, just as the Superior Court defined inherent risks in Crews narrowly, so too the risks assumed by Lori should be defined not as the general risks of using the ski lift, but as the specific risk of lift operator negligence. Under Crews, appellees assert, such a risk is not inherent to the sport because lift operator negligence could easily be removed without altering the fundamental nature of skiing. Appellees therefore conclude that Lori did not assume the risk of her injury under the Act.