Case Review

Hahn and Nelson v. Alpine Meadows Ski

Corporation
Introduction

On March 31, 1982 at approximately 3:45 in the afternoon an

avalanche of considerable size and proportion struck the Alpine
Meadows Ski Resort base area; burying 10 people, killing 7, causing
considerable damage to two (2) buildings and one chairlift, as well as
damaging 9 vehicles. Prior to the avalanche from the 27th of March up
until time of the occurrence 86 of recorded snowfall had accumulated
along with winds between 40-80 miles per hour. Ski patrol, Snow Safety
and Mountain Management worked tirelessly throughout the storm
cycle to try and control the resorts avalanche terrain. From the 29th
through the morning of the 31st 87 artillery shots were fired from both
a 75mm recoilless rifle and a 75mm pack howitzer as well as additional
hand charges delivered by ski patrol.

At 7 AM on the 31st the decision was made to close the ski area as well
as the road into the resort. By 3:30 in the afternoon only 7 people
remained in the Summit Building, the hub of mountain operations,
and 4 were in the parking lot; one in a travel trailer, and three, David
Hahn, Dr. LeRoy Nelson and his daughter of 11, Laura Nelson who were
walking toward the day lodge from the condominiums they were
staying in. By 3:45 then Mountain Manager and Snow Safety Director

Bernie Kingery received a jumbled radio transmission from one of his

employees, Jake Smith, attempting to close the road gate to the resort,
he was not able to raise him on the radio again. Smith had been trying
to warn the people in the resort about an avalanche on the road when
he had been buried. Around that same time a naturally triggered
avalanche hit the Summit building, burying everyone inside as well as
the 3 people crossing the parking lot. Two people were able to self
extricate from the rubble of the building and start a search for the
others. A third was found soon after that, alive, with a laceration to the
skull. That afternoon both the bodies of Smith and the elder Nelson
were found before the search was called off. The next afternoon the
body of Laura Nelson was also recovered. The search continued for 5
days in which time the bodies of Bernie Kingery, Beth Morrow and
Frank Yeatman were all found. Amazingly Anna Conrad was found alive
by an avalanche dog on the 5th day of the search. She would later loose
all her toes and part of her leg below the knee due to frostbite.

Several lawsuits were filed, but only one went to trial. The jury ruled in
favor of Alpine Meadows Ski Corporation.

The Lawsuit
The plaintiff brought forth the argument that the Doctrine of Strict
Liability should apply to the conduct of defendant Alpine Meadows.
The questions for ultimate determination are whether the avalanche

control procedures or avalanche hazards at Alpine Meadows prior to

and during March 31, 1982 constituted ultra-hazardous activities which
were the proximate cause of the deaths to David Hahn, Laura Nelson,
and Dr. Leroy Nelson. Hahn. The Plaintiffs wished to prove that 1) the
Defendants use of explosives and artillery (75mm recoilless rifles and
75mm howitzers) for avalanche control were hazardous activities and
thus fell under strict liability, 2) that the Defendant marketed a
dangerous activity, skiing in avalanche-prone terrain, and 3) that there
were defects in the Defendants property that should be held under
strict ability on the theory set for in Becker v. IRM Corp. The Defense
argued that avalanche control is not ultra-hazardous and that there is
no strict liability in operating a ski resort.

In order to prove that Alpine Meadows avalanche control did fall under
the state of Californias strict liability clause the prosecution brought
forth evidence from many statute defining cases such as Luthringer v.
Moore. In Luthringer hydrocyanic acid fumigation was found to have
affected an adjoining property. The appellate court upheld the lower
courts decision that since the gas was not in everyday use by average
citizens and that it was indeed dangerous, it fell under strict liability.
"The important factor is that certain activities under certain
conditions(SIC) may be so hazardous to the public generally, and of
such relative infrequent occurrence, that it may well call for strict

liability as the best public policy." Luthringer v. Moore, supra, 31 Cal.

2d 489, 500.

The defense argued that in cases where a force of nature is involved,

and efforts are taken to reduce this force, strict liability does not apply
as stated in Sutliff v. Sweetwater Water Co. In Sutliff the Supreme
Court did not impose strict liability on Sweetwater Water Co. due to an
unnaturally large and unforeseeable flooding of a reservoir that
damaged Sutliffs property. The act of nature was beyond the control of
humans and not due to mis-maintenance or misuse and thus the
defendant could not be held to strict liability.

Two expert witnesses also testified in this case, one for either side.
Avalanche pioneer Dr. Ed LaChapelle testified that due to advancement
of avalanche control the risk of avalanches could be completely
reduced. Art Mears argued for the defense that there was no
reasonable way to completely eliminate avalanche risk. Since the
storm cycle continued after the mornings control work, and snow fell at
an additional 1.3 inches an hour for the following five and a half hours,
that the avalanche was a natural release avalanche and not a postcontrol or hang-fire avalanche.

Decision

The court found in favor of the defenses motion for non-suit and the
case was dismissed.

Conclusion
The Alpine Meadows Avalanche was the most severe in-bounds
avalanche the ski industry has ever seen in America. Seven people
were killed including the general manager. Though only Hahn and
Nelson went to trial, several other cases were settled outside of court.
As a result there was a general tightening of avalanche procedure in
the industry the following years. From the end of 1982 up until the mid
to late 90s, no one else was killed by an avalanche within a ski resort.

Bibliography
Hahn and Nelson v. Alpine Meadows Ski Corporation, Cal.
Luthringer v. Moore, 31 Cal.2d 489 190 P.2d 1
Sutliff v. Sweetwater Water Co., (1920) 182 Cal. 24
Richard Penniman, (personal communication, June 2, 2012)
Stuart Thompson, (personal communication, June 2nd and 3rd, 2012)