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Instructor 'made big mistake' in ski lesson
A French skiing instructor made a "dreadful mistake" in taking a businessman on a hazardous off-piste Alpine route where he lost control and slammed into a tree, London's High Court heard.
A French skiing instructor made a "dreadful mistake" in taking a businessman on a hazardous off-piste Alpine route where he lost control and slammed into a tree, London's High Court heard.The allegation came from Graham Anderson's QC, Christopher Wilson-Smith, in the closing stages of the father-of-two's compensation claim over injuries that have confined him to a wheelchair and will forever blight his life.
Mr Anderson, of Crapstone, Devon, was on a family holiday at the exclusive Puy St Vincent resort in February 2004 when ski guide Jerome Portejoie took his group into the mountains.
The 46-year-old claims he was too inexperienced to cope with the demanding conditions and terrain, and had frequently fallen when he went off piste earlier in the week.
Mr Anderson, who runs printing business BGP in Plymouth, is suing ski tour operators with who the holiday was booked – Michel and Wendy Lyotier, who trade as Snowbizz, in High Street, Maxey, near Peterborough – but they deny all liability.
He was left tetraplegic by the accident and has appeared in court throughout a week-long trial of his massive compensation claim at London's High Court.
Mr Wilson-Smith rebuffed suggestions that Mr Anderson may have been partly to blame for his own misfortune in failing to tell his instructor that he lacked the necessary experience "to ski this particular slope".
Mr Portejoie's insurers – who also deny liability – have agreed to indemnify Mr and Mrs Lyotier against any compensation they may have to pay Mr Anderson, so the businessman's case stands or falls on whether or not the instructor was negligent.
Mr Portejoie's barrister, Richard Davies QC, argues there is "slender support" for Mr Anderson's accusations against the experienced instructor.
But Mr Wilson-Smith said that Mr Portejoie had to consider the "needs of the weakest" skiers when supervising his group, adding: "The effect of the evidence in this case is that Mr Anderson was attempting to do what Mr Portejoie had directed him to undertake.
"It was the instructor who chose to go off-piste, he chose the route," the QC added.
Mr Justice Foskett will now give his ruling at an unspecified future date.
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