But it was also a record setting year for the number of ski fatalities on the slopes. For a complete overview of the deaths, see Deadly Season on Colorado Slopes.

As awareness of the dangers posed by reckless skiing is increased, we hope the number of tragic accidents will decrease. To avoid bad outcomes, follow Jim Chalat’s safety tips – Ride B.I.G.

• BUDDY
In-area:
Always ski or ride with a buddy. If you are skiing alone and are in-area, do not go off-piste or into an area where you couldn't be found if you were hurt. Carry a cell phone and a safety whistle. Children in particular should be instructed where to meet if they are separated from their companion or adult. Click here for tips on what to do if you are in a skier collision.
Back-country:
Always ski or ride with a buddy, and follow the “one at a time” rule. “Buddy” also means an electronic connection. Wear an AVI beacon, bring probes, shovel, and be ready to self-rescue. If you or your buddy are submersed in an avalanche you have about 5 to 10 minutes to locate and rescue. By the time the local authorities arrive it will be a “recovery,” not a “rescue” operation.

• INFORMATION
In-area:
Learn to ski or snowboard from a fully certified professional instructor. Return regularly for lessons to further your technique. When on the mountain, know where you are and the limits of your conditioning and your ability. Carry a map. Plan your descent down runs within your ability. Keep an eye on the weather, and know the forecast.
Back-country:
Skiers and snowriders, you must follow the conditions, advisements and warnings at Colorado Avalanche Information Center. Take an avalanche course. Back-country snowmobilers: This year we see a new trend in back-country snowmobilers becoming lost, or getting in trouble. The same rules apply, know where you are going, what the conditions and weather will be, carry a map and make contingency plans.

• GEAR
In-area:
Wear a helmet, make sure your skis and bindings are in tune, and that your bindings are properly set and functioning. Helmets reduce injury and prevent death. Helmets are recommended by the AMA and the United States Consumer Products Safety Commission. Also, carry a cell phone, a safety whistle, and a map.
Back-country:
We are not the experts, but certainly carry a beacon, probes, shovel, life-link avi kit, cell phone. Consider: water, space blanket, first aid kit, and small stove or primus, Avalung. And carry adequate communications gear. For snowmobilers, the best choice is to carry a PLB (personal locator beacon.)

The move by Vail, which owns Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone and Breckenridge ski resorts, takes with it some of the state's largest and busiest resorts and the biggest portion of CSCUSA’s membership dues. CSCUSA's membership drops from 26 to 22 ski resorts.

Last year in Colorado, there were 12.5 million skier visits with Vail Resorts accounted for 35 percent to 40 percent of those visits.

The withdrawal of its largest member, which takes effect Sunday, appears to have taken CSCUSA by surprise – no mention of the pending split is given on the non-profit’s website. Industry experts predict the move will little if any impact on Vail Resorts, but will require significant reorganizing by CSCUSA.

But according to the Colorado Confidential website, The head of the Vail Chamber of Commerce and Business Association sees the pass as an epic headache. Village business chief Kaye Ferry is afraid Vail Resorts' Epic Pass for next season will bring more tourists to the ski town.

"Throughout the history of (Vail), we have appealed to exclusivity," Ferry is quoted on the website as saying. "The only people we let up there during Christmas are the ones with the big homes and their ski instructors.

"We had eliminated the Front Range riffraff, and all of a sudden, we're selling a pass that's to the masses."

Epic may also be used to describe the terms of the waiver required for purchase of the new pass. Many folks are under the impression these waivers do not hold up in court. This is a serious misconception, Colorado enforces these waivers even as against minors, see Ski Safety News Winter 2000. The release in this document is particularly all-encompassing:

"HOLDER" MEANS THE SEASON PASS APPLICANT LISTED ON THIS FORM USING THE SEASON PASS. THE "UNDERSIGNED" MEANS THE HOLDER, AND WHEN THE HOLDER IS UNDER AGE 18, IT INCLUDES SUCH HOLDER'S PARENT OR LEGAL GUARDIAN SIGNING ON BEHALF OF HIMSELF OR HERSELF AND ON BEHALF OF THE MINOR HOLDER. THE UNDERSIGNED UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT SKIING, SNOWBOARDING AND USING SKI AREA FACILITIES, INCLUDING THE LIFTS, FOR ANY PURPOSE (HEREINAFTER THE "ACTIVITY") CAN BE HAZARDOUS AND PRESENTS A RISK OF PHYSICAL INJURY OR DEATH.

The Undersigned expressly ASSUME ALL RISKS associated with Holder's participation in the Activity, known or unknown, inherent or otherwise; the Undersigned agree and understand these risks include, but are not limited to, risks associated with: marked and unmarked obstacles, slick or uneven walking surfaces, surfaces covered with ice and snow, varying weather and surface conditions, diminished visibility, rugged mountainous terrain, variations in terrain, bumps, stumps, forest growth, downed timber, rocks of various sizes, strenuous activity, high altitude, collisions, failure of protective barriers and fencing and sharing the ski area facilities and Activity venues with people directly involved and/or not directly involved in the Activity. Holder assumes the responsibility of maintaining control at all times while engaging in the Activity. The Undersigned understand and acknowledge: 1) Holder has been informed and understands all rules and regulations of participation in the Activity; 2) Holder is responsible for reading, understanding and complying with all signage, including instructions on use of the lifts; 3) Holder must have the physical dexterity and knowledge sufficient to safely load, ride and unload the lifts; 4) Holder assumes the risks of riding the lifts and engaging in activities accessible from the lifts; 5) Holder may encounter snowmobiles, snowmaking, snow-grooming equipment at any time; and 6) that falls and collisions occur and that injuries are a common and ordinary occurrence of the Activity. The Undersigned also understand and agree that A MINOR HOLDER MAY USE THE SKI LIFTS WITHOUT AN ADULT PRESENT. RECOGNIZING THESE RISKS, HOLDER VOLUNTARILY CHOOSES TO TAKE PART IN THE ACTIVITY. A minor Holder's parent or legal guardian acknowledges: 1) they have spoken to the minor Holder about the Activity; 2) the minor Holder understands and appreciates the risks of participating in the Activity; 3) the minor Holder has voluntarily decided to participate in the Activity.

The Undersigned ASSUME ALL RISKS associated with the Holder's participation in the Activity. IN CONSIDERATION OF ALLOWING HOLDER TO USE THE SKI AREA FACILITIES, THE UNDERSIGNED AGREE TO HOLD HARMLESS, RELEASE, DEFEND, AND INDEMNIFY Vail Resorts, Inc., The Vail Corporation, it's affiliated companies and subsidiaries, including but not limited to those that operate the Vail, Beaver Creek, Keystone, and Breckenridge resorts, Heavenly Valley, Limited Partnership d/b/a Heavenly Mountain Resort, its General Partner VR Heavenly I, Inc., Dundee Realty USA, LLC d/b/a Arapahoe Basin Ski Area, the United States, and all their respective insurance companies, successors in interest, agents, employees, representatives, assignees, officers, directors, and shareholders (each herein a "Released Party") FROM ANY AND ALL LIABILITY and/or claims for injury or death to persons or damage to properties arising from the Holder's engagement in the Activity. The Undersigned take full responsibility for any injury or loss to Holder, including death, which Holder may suffer, arising in whole or in part out of the Activity, INCLUDING THOSE INJURIES AND DAMAGES CAUSED BY ANY RELEASED PARTY'S ALLEGED OR ACTUAL NEGLIGENCE OR BREACH OF ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY. By execution of this release, THE UNDERSIGNED AGREE NOT TO SUE ANY RELEASED PARTY and agree they are releasing any right to make a claim or file a lawsuit against any Released Party. The Undersigned further agree to defend and indemnify each Released Party for any and all claims of the Undersigned and/or a third party arising in whole or in part from Holder’s engagement in the Activity. The Undersigned agree to pay all costs and attorney’s fees incurred by any Released Party in defending a claim or suit brought by or on behalf of the Undersigned.

I HAVE HAD SUFFICIENT TIME TO CAREFULLY READ THE FOREGOING LIABILITY RELEASE. I UNDERSTAND ITS CONTENTS AND SIGN IT WITH FULL KNOWLEDGE OF ITS SIGNIFICANCE. I AM AWARE I AM RELEASING CERTAIN LEGAL RIGHTS THAT I, AND/OR MY CHILD, MAY OTHERWISE HAVE.

Note the operable language – “The Undersigned take full responsibility for any injury or loss to Holder, including death, which Holder may suffer, arising in whole or in part out of the Activity, INCLUDING THOSE INJURIES AND DAMAGES CAUSED BY ANY RELEASED PARTY'S ALLEGED OR ACTUAL NEGLIGENCE OR BREACH OF ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY. By execution of this release, THE UNDERSIGNED AGREE NOT TO SUE ANY RELEASED PARTY and agree they are releasing any right to make a claim or file a lawsuit against any Released Party.” No lawsuits no matter what they do to you….including an epic catastrophe.

"We haven't found any common underlying threads between the 16 individuals and our thoughts are that unfortunately this is one year the numbers have been significantly higher," Dr. Tom Hackett, an orthopedic surgeon at the Steadman Hawkins Center, has told local press.

Despite the high number of deaths, industry officials say skiing is still statistically safer than other activities, such as swimming and bike riding.

There have been at least 16 ski-related fatalities at resorts so far this season, this excludes the avalanche/out of bounds skier deaths:

Mar. 30 - 43-year old Michael Howe from Andover, KS died after hitting a tree on Frenchman trail at Keystone Resort.

Mar. 23 - 28-year-old Jennifer Ash from Indianapolis was pronounced brain-dead after suffering a vertebral artery dissection which led to a stroke after a snowboarding fall on March 16 at Keystone resort.

Mar. 1 - 39-year-old Gabrielle Hutter from Centennial died after hitting a tree at Winter Park Resort.

Feb. 27 - 46-year-old John Bosman of Orlando, FL died from head injuries at Eldora Mountain Resort.

Feb. 19 — 13-year-old Kenneth Joyce of Glastonbury, CN died after hitting a tree on Diamondback trail at Keystone Ski Resort.

Feb. 15 — 68-year-old Bob Guthrie from Silverthorne died after hitting his head in a fall at Arapahoe Basin on Feb. 11.

Feb. 13 — 33-year-old Brian Irvin, a Southwest Airlines pilot from Mesa, AZ hit some trees and died at Telluride Ski Resort.

Feb. 12 — 67-year-old John Dobbie from Downers Grove, IL died from a head injury suffered on Feb. 1 at Crested Butte.

Feb. 6 — 61-year-old retired ABC newsman, John McWethy of Boulder, was killed in a skiing accident at Keystone.

Jan. 31 — 40-year-old Michael Gruber from Dillon died from a head injury suffered the day before at Arapahoe Basin.

Jan. 25 — 22-year-old Jared Daniel, a snowboarder from Auburn, MA suffocated after falling head first into a tree well at Steamboat Ski Area.

Jan. 20 — 33-year-old James McLean a doctor from Kansas died in a snowboard accident at the Breckenridge Ski Resort.

Jan. 15 — 45-year-old Mark Joseph Stout from Nockamixon Township, PA died after falling into a tree well at Steamboat.

Jan. 6 — 19-year-old Logan Jameson of Durango hit his head and suffocated after skiing off a headwall at Durango Mountain Resort.

Jan. 3 — 11-year-old Benjamin Trichler from Great Britain died after skiing into a tree at Breckenridge.

Dec 28 — 15-year-old Mitchell Maltsberger from Oolagah, OK died after hitting a tree on an intermediate trail at Wolf Creek.

The season got off to a slow start because of a dry spell in November, but since then, the mountains have been hit by storms that have dumped several feet of snow. The falling value of the dollar and favorable exchange rate has also attracted international visitors, particularly from Europe where natural snow is difficult to find on the ski slopes.

The City Councilors also are expected to make a law barring skiers and snowboarders from going into sections of mountain resorts that are closed. The City Councilors have invested time over several months in considering the new laws.

The law as written defines reckless skiing or snowboarding as endangering "the life, limb, or property of any person," and it says people must not "display a wanton disregard for other persons or property." The law provides that skiers and snowboarders have the "primary duty" to avoid collisions with people or objects downhill from them, much like the language in the Colorado Ski Safety Act.

The law also requires skiers or snowboarders involved in collisions to stop and help injured people, and it makes people give their name, address and phone number to a ski patroller or other resort worker before leaving the scene.

Summit County and Wasatch County also plan to consider reckless-skiing laws this week. The laws in the counties would probably be similar to the one in Park City.

The law would apply to Park City Mountain Resort and Deer Valley Resort. The Canyons is not within the city limits, and Summit County laws would regulate the Snyderville Basin resort. Summit County also plans to tighten an existing rule regulating reckless skiing.

Last year, the Forest Service National Avalanche Center says, 30 people were killed in avalanches in the United States and another 28 died in Canada. Half were backcountry skiers or snowboarders, most of the rest were on snowmobiles.

So far this year, according to www.avalanche.org, there have been 32 USA fatalities due to avalanches, and an additional 14 Canadian fatalities. Five avalanche deaths have occurred in Colorado so far this season .

Of the 46 deaths recorded by avalanche researchers in North America this season, almost a fifth were in resort side-country, the public lands easily accessed just beyond a ski resort boundary. Historically, out-of-bounds or sidecountry deaths in the U.S. only accounted for 6 percent to 9 percent of the country's avalanche fatalities.

The increase in sidecountry fatalities merely reflects the increased number of outdoor enthusiasts venturing beyond the well-controlled conditions within the ski area boundaries. Advances in ski equipment enable less-experienced riders to venture into deeper, steeper snow. Desire for the extreme conditions is fueled by films and YouTube videos featuring incredible stunts on the side of near-vertical slopes.

And this year, the huge snowfall followed by high-wind storms has resulted in an unusual snowpack. Several avalanche-generating layers appear lurking as deep as 10 feet below the soft powder on the surface.

The only other time the out-of-bounds death rate climbed as high as this year was in 1987, when three died in two February slides outside Telluride ski area and three died in a single February avalanche beyond the rope of Breckenridge ski area.

The U.S. Forest Service in Colorado responded by reviewing its ski resort backcountry access policy, which until then consisted of small openings in resort boundary ropes. Local law enforcement and resort operators in Summit County urged the Forest Service to close public land along resort boundaries, but the general public advocated continued access. The Forest Service chose continued access but also created specific and well-signed backcountry access points designed to prevent the unaware skier from wandering out of bounds.

According to the Utah Avalanche Center almost all avalanche accidents occur to recreationists who are very skilled at their sport. Despite this expertise, their avalanche skills usually lag far behind their sport skills. In 90 percent of all avalanche accidents, the victim or someone in the victim’s party triggers the slide. Avalanches are the only natural hazard commonly triggered by the victim.

For daily updates on Colorado conditions during avalanche season, sign up with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center.

Hampton said that the DOW was notified early last week by the Copper Mountain ski patrol that there was a coyote roaming the ski slopes and acting in an aggressive manner. He said the DOW, along with the patrol, were in the process of formulating a plan about what to do when the coyote's behavior escalated on Saturday.

"On Saturday, she approached people baring her teeth. In two different incidents, she nipped at a boot and grabbed at a child's jacket," said Hampton. "It wasn't like she was biting at the jacket, just tugging it."

It was at that point, said Hampton, that two DOW officers were dispatched to the resort. The ski lift and runs in the area were shut down, the officers located the animal and shot it.

David Roth, spokesman for Copper Mountain, said that no injuries were reported by the skiers. He said guests at the resort first raised concerns about the animal. He also said the resort is not aware of any other coyotes in the vicinity.

According to Hampton there were no outward signs of disease on the coyote but tests are being conducted to confirm the visual findings. Coyotes are extremely adaptable and are found throughout Colorado, in urban centers such as Denver as well as rural and mountain communities. It I suspected that people in the Copper are were feeding the coyote. Though frequently found in small packs, it is not unusual for coyotes to live solitary lives.

The Copper Mountain situation came to a head because of concerns in the resort community. "There were more than a couple of incidents with the (Copper Mountain) coyote," Hampton said. "These incidents were reported to the ski patrol. The ski patrol raised concerns because skiers raised concerns."

Other studies support these findings, and even Colorado Ski Country USA, the trade organization representing 26 Colorado ski resorts, recommends wearing a helmet. The National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) together with the help of many others in the ski industry has developed a web site to help educate parents about the benefits and limitations of helmets, Lids on Kids. http://www.lidsonkids.org/home.asp

But this advice is not restricted to youngsters. The first step for anyone hitting the slopes is to wear a helmet for protection. Earlier this week, a young father was killed when he lost control on a Telluride slope and slammed into a tree. The county coroner Bob Dempsey said, "If he had been wearing a helmet, he would be alive today."

A greater irony is that even with the decrease in skier visits, skier deaths continue to rise.
In January a skier who died after hitting a tree at Keystone ski area, a 22-year-old man died after snowboarding on an intermediate trail at the Steamboat ski area, and a 45-year-old man died at Steamboat after falling into a tree well, a hole or depression of unstable snow that forms beneath low-hanging branches around tree trunks.

Retired ABC News correspondent John McWethy died February 6th after crashing into a tree while skiing at Keystone. At the time, McWethy was at least the seventh skier or snowboarder to die in Colorado this season. Two other snowboarders have been missing from the Wolf Creek Ski area since Jan. 5 and are feared dead.

And this week two more fatalities have been reported. A 33-year-old Southwest Airlines pilot hit the trees and died at Telluride Ski Resort yesterday and a 68-year-old skier was found face down in the snow this afternoon at Winter Park Resort. He died a short time later, according to the resort and Winter Park police.

Ski law is local law. It varies from state to state. Each state’s statutory, common law, and regulatory schemes apply different treatment to the duties, immunities, and liabilities of ski area operators, lift operators, skiers, snowboarders, and related parties.

Most states with a ski industry have a specific ski statute, modeled on an operator immunity framework advanced by industry lobbyists. However each statute evolved differently and typically each state has a body of interpretative case law, relating to skiing. Generally, these statutes establish safety requirements for operating equipment and vehicles, marking, signs and other minimal duties on the operators, otherwise, all risks are purportedly transferred onto the skier. Several states with significant ski economies, including California, have no statewide statutory scheme, although in California local ordinances offer legislative authority.

Some states, such as Michigan, employ an assumption of risk or inherent risk doctrine to protect the ski areas against claims arising from almost any injury claim, on the premise that any injury while downhill skiing or snowboarding is inherent in the sport.

Colorado mandates minimal safety standards for the operation of the ski areas, principally with regard to signs, warnings, markings on trails, which if specifically violated, will form the basis for a claim against a ski area operator, for a downhill skiing/snowboarding accident.

Most states hold skiers & snowboarders financially responsible to other skiers for their negligent skiing which results in a skier/skier collision. But several states have held that skiing is a “limited contact” sport and require proof of recklessness in order to recover from a collision between participants. In most states with a substantial skiing industry, ski area operators must meet higher standards of care in the operation, use and maintenance of lifts, trams and tows.