Stiles v. Freemotion, Inc.

Plaintiff fractured his right leg in a snowboarding accident at Mount Hood Meadows. He sued Nidecker Enterprise, the manufacturer of the snowboard, and Freemotion, Inc., the dealer who supplied it to him, for negligence and product liability. A jury returned a verdict for defendants. Plaintiff appeals, assigning error to the trial court’s decision to give jury instructions based on Oregon’s Skiing Activities Law, ORS 30.970 to 30.990. Plaintiff argues that those statutes apply only to claims against ski area operators, not against manufacturers or suppliers of ski or snowboard equipment.…