Jury clears snowboard maker in liability suit

[Pat Donnelly]

The Associated Press
PORTLAND - In what is believed to be the first liability verdict in the nation involving a snowboard manufacturer, a jury ruled a Swiss company was not to blame for the 2002 death of a young woman on Mount Bachelor.

Frank and Ellen Svitek of Ambler, Pa., sued Nidecker of Rolle, Switzerland, after their daughter, Kate Svitek, 22, was trapped in a well of deep snow surrounding a tree and died on Feb. 8, 2002, at the central Oregon ski resort.

The trial centered on the snowboard's bindings. Unlike ski bindings, which automatically release in a fall to prevent injury, snowboard bindings do not release.

The Sviteks' attorney, Joseph Chaiken of Philadelphia, argued that nonreleasable bindings increase the risk of death if a snowboarder falls into a well of deep snow. Unable to kick off the board, a rider can become trapped in the snow and suffocate.

But the attorney for Nidecker, Brad Stanford of Portland, argued nonreleasable bindings are safer overall

[nils]

you can imagine the next trial against IMS for making a ptex that glided so much the rider lost control and killed/injured himself!

Crazy stuff wow!

[tex1230]

Take responsibility for your own actions! Lawsuits against Ski areas, equiptment manufacturers, and ski shops decrease access to backcountry, increase the cost of tickets, equiptment, instruction, etc., and generally make sports less enjoyable.

Don't get me wrong - I am really sorry for the family of the young woman involved in this incident. But we all accept the risks involved in the sports we choose.

[rikytheripster]

I too am sorry for the family but 1230 your right its about time people take responsibility fro their actions. The sueing situation is getting worst here in the UK but i thank God its not as bad as the states.

[philfell]

The family should be slaped! Trying to make money off a tragic situation. Releasable snowboard bindings make NO sense. Trying to argue the oppisite to make money is really horrible.

Skiers still die in tree wells and they have bindings that release. That family and that lawyer should be baned from all resorts.

[Neil Gendzwill]

I don't entirely blame the family - when a death is involved, people in grief look for someone to blame, and I expect the lawsuit was a focus for that grief. But I'm still glad the court got it right.

[outsider]

Originally posted by nils
you can imagine the next trial against IMS for making a ptex that glided so much the rider lost control and killed/injured himself!

Crazy stuff wow!

i can just see the first snowboard wax lawsuit...

Zardoz sued by individual injured after falling at unexpected high speeds.

[slopetool]

On a more positive note, if any of you like treeriding, go with a friend, into the woods on Northwest Territory. That is the area where the woman was lost. Its really good. Oh, and don't tell anyone else please.

[trikerdad]

I'm sorry that anyone dies doing what they love but it happens in all sports. Since when do any bindings "automatically" release? Maybe bindings need some kind of sensors that can tell when you're inverted and pop off! Or how about a "dead man" switch that you have to keep depressed or your bindings release? Or, heaven forbid, you don't go into the trees by yourself!

[TEAMFUN]

Sorry to hear about the death of this person but where were her riding partners? Didn't they help her out? What, no riding partners? Human error...not due to bindings!

[D-Sub]

Originally posted by slopetool
On a more positive note, if any of you like treeriding, go with a friend, into the woods on Northwest Territory. That is the area where the woman was lost. Its really good. Oh, and don't tell anyone else please.

dont tell anyone?

they already know, based on the streams of people on the getback trail

that place is truly a "bring a friend" area, without question.

of course I cruised it alone, like an idiot, but realized real quickly that I shoulda been with someone.

good thing that road is plowed now!

some way too tight spots in there, too

[Mike T]

Originally posted by D-Sub
dont tell anyone?

they already know, based on the streams of people on the getback trail

that place is truly a "bring a friend" area, without question.

of course I cruised it alone, like an idiot, but realized real quickly that I shoulda been with someone.

good thing that road is plowed now!

some way too tight spots in there, too


Not to mention the creeks back there - they come up on your really quick. It's amazing how I can't Ollie very high except when I'm about to fall 8 feet into a creek :D

[Randy S.]

Originally posted by Mike T
Not to mention the creeks back there - they come up on your really quick. It's amazing how I can't Ollie very high except when I'm about to fall 8 feet into a creek :D

Creeks and also those weird volcanic holes. You'll be riding along and see steam coming from the snow. Watch out! There's a big hole right there. First time I saw it I was stunned.

Those trees on NW Territory are great. I chased Lynn Ott and Lisa Kosglow through there for a morning last season. I was exhausted but had a great time. Lynn knows those woods really well and they are both way better riders than me. It is humbling to have two gorgeous women constantly waiting for you to catch up. Usually its me who gets to rest and wait for others to catch up. Luckily I didn't fall in any holes/streams, but I did manage to break off a few low branches cutting it too close to trees.

[neil sunday]

Being from Pennsylvania, I will tell you this. Philadelphia is an extremely litigous "mindset." The medical malpractice cases there are treacherous to the doctors in PA... It is truly ashame, but leave Nidecker and the companies alone. THat's maybe why we pay $50+ for a lift ticket IN PENNSYLVANIA!!!! damn.

[icecoldsnow]

crazy sad world
the pain is intense

[dr. sandman]

No doubt:

Originally posted by trikerdad
I'm sorry that anyone dies doing what they love but it happens in all sports. Since when do any bindings "automatically" release? Maybe bindings need some kind of sensors that can tell when you're inverted and pop off! Or how about a "dead man" switch that you have to keep depressed or your bindings release? Or, heaven forbid, you don't go into the trees by yourself!

Also my condolences to the family/loved ones of anyone who perishes in such a tragic way.

At this point I must say that this is one of the reasons why I absolutely LOVE my step-ins!!! I remember reading in a thread some time ago about some riders who had even rigged extension cables from their Intek t-handles that went inside the pant-leg to the waist. I don't think you can ask for a better safety net.
I had a bad twisting fall this Feb. that resulted in a severely sprained ankle and with me be being stuck in a twisted position on the snow that continued to exert the torque that was damaging my ankle. The slope we were on was fairly quiet, my riding partner (my daughter) was down-slope of me, and had it not been for me being able to stretch down to my t-handle to release the pressure, I'm sure I would have been in that torturous position for much longer and would have suffered even more damage to the ankle, possibly even a fracture.

Bottom line, it's another reason to hardboot!! ;) And don't forget to keep your head focused on inherent danger and keep your wingman near.

[philw]

The whole idea of trying to profit from the death of someone in your family is pretty disgusting.

If the report is right then the defence was that non-release is safer than release, which may well be correct but it's not the line I'd take.

It seems to me that if you strap yourself on a board and then hurtle down a slope that there are certain obvious risks which the suppliers of the equipment can't protect you from.

I can see why you have a lot of rich lawyers over there.

[ak_rider]

what's next, sueing a boot co because someone got athletes foot? it's sad she died, but maybe the family should ask why she was alone in the trees, or if she wasn't alone, why didn't anyone else help her. or why didn't she take her board off? it's scarey being trapped but that's when your experience should kick in, if you don't have that experience you shouldn't be riding that terrain.

[skatha]

I'm sad she died..
I'm glad Nidecker was released from liability-I have a crush on their Proto board.
I'm a bit biased, I'm a doc...
This liability thing is out of control...what was Nidecker to do-not try to sell their boards?
I've been sued 3 times-once because somebody else didn't treat the patient adequately-all I did was admit the patient to the hospital, once because my faculty doc didn't treat the patient to her satisfaction-all I did was refill her pain pills, I didn't even see her, and once because the family originally sued the nursing home and added the docs in the hospital a year later to refocus the case on the nursing home. I have to report these the rest of my career, even though all the cases were dropped...
This case reminds me of the hiker who cut off his arm-I was furious the press lionized him-the first thing you learn when you learn to backpack is-NEVER GO ALONE!
As for releasable bindings-I really badly sprained an ankle getting off a lift and having the board and my leg go 2 different directions, but I've cautioned skiiers to resecure their bindings in the lift line because their boot was about to slide out...