Boyne Falls, MI – A Michigan appeals court has declined to instate the failed lawsuit of a man paralyzed in a snowboarding accident at Boyne Mountain in Boyne Falls.

Snowboarder Patrick Anderson contends that Boyne Mountain is liable for his injuries sustained in Boyne Mountain’s terrain park. He maintains that the jump upon which he was injured was not obvious or adequately marked, and that Boyne should have constructed it in a way that improved its safety. The Michigan Appeals Court, however, disagreed, citing the state’s Ski Area Safety Act.

Michigan is one of many states with a Ski Area Safety Act that limits a ski area’s liability for damages incurred on the slopes. These laws place “certain burdens on ski area operators, most notably a duty to install signage and trail markers. In exchange, they provide resorts with a degree of protection from lawsuits by mandating that all skiers and snowboarders accept the risks of participating in their sport,” notes David B. Cronheim, Chief Legal Correspondent for First Tracks!! Online Media and the author of the ski law blog Ski, Esq.

The court found that Anderson would have seen the jump and avoided injury had he observed all posted signs and warnings.

Earlier this year the Michigan Appeals Court overturned a lower court’s decision to deny Boyne’s request to dismiss a separate lawsuit of a skier injured in Boyne’s halfpipe, also citing the state’s Ski Area Safety Act.