Skiing Accident in France

£15,000 recovered following ski accident in France

Mrs Birch from Sheffield went on a week long package holiday in March 2002, which included the hire of all equipment and adult ski school lessons, staying in the French ski resort of Serre Chevalier.

Mrs Birch, who had been skiing on a number of previous occasions, was placed in an intermediate group, which she felt was an appropriate class for her ability.

However, on the fifth day of ski lessons, her instructor took the group up a steep drag-lift to a location which offered only two black runs, both of maximum difficulty, one being a mogulled run, as the means of descent.  She was instructed to descend the black mogulled run.  Mrs Birch had never negotiated a black mogulled run before and she received no instruction either prior to or at the time from her instructor on how to tackle this type of run.

Mrs Birch’s only choice was to attempt the descent. Lack of proper instruction and experience, however, meant that she fell on a couple of occasions. It was on her second fall that she seriously injured her left knee. Despite receiving treatment in the resort, and intensive physiotherapy once back home, she had to undergo an operation to reconstruct her anterior cruciate ligament, followed by further intense physiotherapy.

A claim was brought against First Choice as the tour operator who supplied the holiday and ski package which included the tuition. First Choice denied liability but just prior to trial we were able to negotiate a settlement of £15,000 on behalf of Mrs Birch.

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