Reckless Skiing Trial Transcript
Reckless Skiing | Ski Trial | Colorado Snowboard Attorney | Video Transcript
View this video here.
BOB MACNAMARA: This is the image that sells Colorado skiing, not this. A boy in a coma after a collision with a reckless skier.
GRAPHIC: [Photo little girl]
BOB MACNAMARA: An 11 year old girl killed by a skier out of control.
GRAPHIC: [Alan Cobb]
BOB MACNAMARA: And 33 year old Alan Cobb, his death three years ago is the reason Nathan Hall is now on trial for reckless manslaughter after slamming into Cobb and killing him.
JIM CHALAT: The importance of the Hall case is that it's the first case in which there is criminal sanctions being imposed upon a reckless skier.
FEMALE VOICE: Yeah, there's definitely some reckless skiers out there.
BOB MACNAMARA: For many skiers and snowboarders, a day on the mountain is a series of close calls. The question a jury must answer is, what is reckless and what is misfortune.
MALE VOICE 3: Was this person so reckless it can't be explained away as incompetence or negligence or just bad luck.
NATHAN HALL: Hoping for the best.
BOB MACNAMARA: If convicted, Nathan Hall could get six years in prison and a $.5 million fine. But in many ways, this is a case as much about justice as it is about image and economics.
JIM CHALAT: We're sick of people getting killed on the slopes by these nuts who ski too fast.
BOB MACNAMARA: Colorado skiing is a $4 billion a year industry that 100,000 jobs rely on. And with ski runs more congested, collision is not uncommon. Response to recklessness has seen slow zones being marked off.
FEMALE VOICE 2: Watch your speed through here.
BOB MACNAMARA: At resorts where safety patrols police the slopes, repeated recklessness can get lift tickets revoked. That severely injured boy in a coma survived.
STEVEN WILBUR: I was in a coma for five days after the accident.
BOB MACNAMARA: Steven Wilbur recovered from head and leg injuries. A helmet saved his life. Skiing has always carried an assumed risk of injury. But a Colorado court must decide whether risking your life is part of the bargain too.
Bob MacNamara, CBS News, Eagle County Colorado.
