Speeding skier sent to jail over death on piste | World news

Speeding skier sent to jail over death on piste

The world of skiing was shocked yesterday after a skier was sent to prison for his role in a fatal accident on an American piste.

Nathan Hall, 21, was convicted of criminally negligent homicide in a court in Eagle, Colorado, and faces up to six years in prison.

The accident took place in 1997 when Hall, who was working as a lift operator at the leading American resort of Vail, lost control skiing down the mountain and struck Alan Cobb, inflicting severe head injuries.

Although there have been prosecutions of skiers and snowboarders and civil cases for damages, lawyers involved in the case say this is the first criminal trial of a skier for killing someone.

Witnesses said Hall, who had been a ski racer while at school in California, had been skiing far too fast. He was also convicted of possession of marijuana and possession of alcohol by a minor, although he tested negative for marijuana after the accident and was not drunk.

Prosecution lawyers said that the verdict would make 'the ski world a safer place'.

'I think it sends a message to safe skiers and potentially unsafe skiers that there is accountability. You can't just walk away because it happens on a ski slope.'

The verdict was welcomed by British skiers. Denis McShane, MP for Rotherham and an experienced high-speed and off-piste skier said: 'This is an overdue warning to all hooligan skiers that if they can't control their speed, they should stay in bed. The iron law of skiing is that the person higher up the slope is responsible for avoiding the people below. Good skiing is about controlling speed, while stupid lager-lout skiing is about terrifying and cannoning into slower skiers.'

But Nigel Hook, of the Central Council of Physical Recreation, which represents skiers and their governing bodies, said: 'This is a sad day for skiing and this case will send shock waves rippling through the sport. Skiers should make sure they have insurance that will cover them if they end up in court.'

The Colorado trial followed years of legal wrangling in which courts twice dismissed the case on the basis that no reasonable person could have expected that excessively fast skiing would cause someone else's death. But the Colorado Supreme Court reversed those decisions earlier this year.

Hall, being treated at a hospital for concussion and apparently unaware of what had happened, told a sheriff's deputy: 'I tried to slow down. I was trying to get control. I went off a knoll. I was off my feet. I'm an expert skier. I can stay in control all the time. I just hope I didn't injure another person.'

The defence said the incident was a 'tragic accident'.

The killing followed a series of highly publicised accidents. Many resorts in Colorado, including Aspen, Breckenridge and Vail, now have more safety patrols and warning sign. Speeding skiers can have their lift passes confiscated.

Attention has now been focused on the record of European resorts, with the number of injuries on increasingly crowded runs giving cause for concern. In February, a British schoolgirl suffered serious head injuries after a pile-up on a ski-lift in the Dachstein mountains in Austria. Six other children were injured. Some ski areas have by-laws to stop skiers speeding.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEoKyaqpSerq96wqikaK%2Bfp7mle5FpZ2lnnqTDcH2YaJueppmosKK5z5ucpaRen660u82brKujlQ%3D%3D