Daniel Gregorie v. Alpine Meadows Ski Corporation

MEMORANDUM

We affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendant. Jessica Gregorie’s (Plaintiffs’ daughter) fatal snowboarding accident occurred on February 5, 2006, when she lost her footing, slipped on firm snow, and slid uncontrollably down an icy slope past a posted ski area boundary marker and over an outcropping of rocks. These are risks inherent in snowboarding, and Gregorie assumed them when she decided to access Beaver Bowl via the High Beaver Traverse at Alpine Meadows on the day of her accident. See, e.g., Luna v. Vela, 169 Cal. App.4th 102, 107-08 , 86 Cal.Rptr.3d 588 (2008); Lackner v. North, 135 Cal.App.4th 1188, 1201-02 , 37 Cal.Rptr.3d 863 (2006). Defendant owed no duty to protect Grego rie from these risks; it only owed her a duty not to increase the risks she encountered beyond those which are inherent in snowboarding. See Luna, 169 Cal.App.4th at 107-08 , 86 Cal.Rptr.3d 588 ; see also Knight v. Jewett, 3 Cal.4th 296, 316 , 11 Cal.Rptr.2d 2 , 834 P.2d 696 (1992).

The district court did not err in concluding that there was no genuine issue of material fact as to whether the risks Gregorie encountered were those inherent in the sport.…