Lake Tahoe ski resort faces lawsuits
RENO, Nev. — The widow and a friend of a skier killed in an avalanche at a Lake Tahoe ski resort last year have filed separate lawsuits accusing the resort of negligently rushing to open the slopes in unsafe conditions for a holiday weekend that’s typically one of the season’s busiest.
Cole Comstock, 34, of Blairsden, Calif., was killed and his close friend, Kaley Bloom, was seriously injured when they were swept up in the avalanche on an Alpine Meadows ski run on Jan. 17, 2020 — the Friday before Mar tin Luther King Jr. Day. No one else was seriously hur t.
Bloom and Cole’s widow, Caitlin Raymond, recently filed the lawsuits in Placer County Superior Court. They seek unspecified damages from Alpine Meadows on accusations of negligence, gross negligence and breach of contract. Raymond’s lawsuit also alleged the resort was to blame for her late husband’s death.
The resort had closed the day before Comstock and Bloom went skiing, after several days of heavy snow plus 11 to 22 inches of snow and high winds that dramatically increased avalanche risks, the lawsuits claimed. The National Weather Service in Reno reported wind gusts up to 116 mph at the top of Alpine Meadows the night before the avalanche.
Alpine Meadows “premature opening” that Friday “was in response to public and economic pressure to open that particular lift and callous disregard for the dangerous combination of conditions,” according to Bloom’s lawsuit filed on Feb. 2. He says he suffered severe and ongoing injuries.
The avalanche happened at 10:16 a.m. after avalanche mitigation work was performed in the area prior to its opening to skiers and snowboarders for the day, the resor t said previously in a statement. That work often involves the use of air cannons or other explosive detonations to intentionally trigger smaller, less hazardous avalanches.
“While we cannot comment on ongoing litigation, Januar y 17, 2020 was a devastating day for our team at Squaw Valley Alpine Meadows, and we continue to share our deepest sympathies with the family and friends of those affected,” Alex Spychalsky, a spokeswoman for both of the neighboring resorts, said in an emailed statement.
Raymond’s lawsuit filed on Jan. 29 says Alpine Meadows “should not have opened the ski run under the circumstances.”
Most skiers who buy ski resort passes must sign release forms warning that par ticipating in winter activities “can be dangerous and involve the risk of injur y or death.”
But Raymond’s lawsuit said the resort increased the risks beyond those normally assumed by skiers because Cole and Bloom believed they were skiing on a run that was safe because avalanche mitigation efforts had been performed earlier that day.