Ruby is riding up the ski lift towards the top of the mountain when the lift suddenly comes to a stop. Just as Ruby leans over the side to have a look to see if she can spot the cause of the delay, the cable above her head snaps, dropping her to the slope below. Miraculously, there is no one in the chairs immediately in front of her and behind her and the empty chairs somehow jam the pullies the cables run through, stopping any chairs other than Ruby's from falling to the ground. In fact, the rest of the patrons feel something that's not much different than a gust of wind. Even more miraculously, Ruby lands in a pile of fresh powder so soft that she feels like she has touched down on a mattress!

As Ruby is dusting the snow off herself she hears the sound of what she assumes is a screaming child coming towards her. She looks up to see a man skiing at an ungodly speed towards her after rounding a curve and coming from behind some trees. He has one foot in the air, one pole scraping the ground behind him, and another facing out beside him. He also has part of a scarf around his neck and the other half is completely covering his goggles, blinding him. He flies past Ruby, barely missing her, and then crashes with full force into a support pole for the ski lift. He is killed instantly.

The man's family brings a suit against the ski resort, claiming negligence. They argue that the fact that the lift broke moments before their loved one crashed into that pole is evidence of a clear pattern of negligent behavior and that he would never have crashed into that pole absent that negligence. They want to argue res ipsa loquitur to the jury and let them draw their own conclusions.

The ski resort offers the testimony of Ruby to counter that claim, saying the man's own negligence in allowing his scarf to obscure his vision led to his death and they request summary judgment, arguing:

		Strict liability for the maker of the scarf.
		Assumption of the risk.
		Negligence per se on the part of the deceased skier.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Factual Incident Ruby is riding up the ski lift towards the top of the mountain when the lift suddenly comes to a stop Just as Ruby leans over the side to have a look to see if she can spot the cause ... View the full answer