Oregon Senate Bill 849, which would have updated and amended Oregon ski area law to account for terrain park risks and allow liability waivers, failed to advance beyond the Judiciary Committee this legislative session.

Oregon ski resort operators worried about legal expenses and insurance costs pushed hard for the bill in Salem, but failed to win bipartisan support. All five co-sponsors were Republicans.

Had it become law, SB 849 would have expanded the list of risks inherent to skiing and snowboarding to include terrain parks and tree wells. It also would have allowed resorts to continue to use liability waivers to limit lawsuits. Skiers and snowboarders would be able to sue resorts for gross negligence by the resort and its employees, but they would be barred from suing over the expanded list of inherent risks to the sport.

The proposal directly contradicted a recent ruling of the Oregon Supreme Court by stating that liability releases used to protect resorts from lawsuits are “not unconscionable or contrary to public policy.” On December 18, 2014, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that liability releases are exactly that —  “unconscionable” — and therefore invalid.

In the end, legislators decided not to contradict the court by going with the proposal preferred by ski resort executives. But the issue of rising liability costs is unlikely to go away in Oregon, because ski area operators are united in their concerns about the loss of the liability releases they have used for decades.

Last modified: May 15, 2015