California Ski Resort Faces 2nd Lawsuit Over Ski Accidents

Lawyers for two skiers injured in separate collisions with snowboarders at a Lake Tahoe resort say in a lawsuit that both accidents were caused by young, seasonal employees from abroad with little training and no insurance.

The latest lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Reno says the Denver-based Vail Resorts is liable for a Feb. 22 accident at its Heavenly Mountain Resort at South Lake Tahoe, Calif.

The suit says 54-year-old Elisabeth “Elly” Benschop of Gardnerville was knocked unconscious and suffered a brain injury when a 20-year-old woman from Argentina who worked at Heavenly crashed into her Feb. 22.

Officials for Vail say the young woman, Andrea Ramos, was on her day off skiing on personal time. They also deny she actually worked for Heavenly.