4 days ago
Lawsuit filed against Park City Ski and Snowboard after 14-year-old injured cliff-jumping
Editor's Note: A lawsuit only portrays one side of the story.
PARK CITY, Utah (ABC4) — The family of a 14-year-old who was injured cliff-jumping in 2021 have filed a lawsuit against Park City Ski and Snowboard.
According to the lawsuit filed on May 2, 2025, a then-14-year-old girl and other members of a youth athletics team were encouraged to jump off a cliffside by Park City Ski and Snowboard (PCSS) officials. The girl, who has only been identified as H.K., is a professional Alpine skier who had reportedly trained with PCSS for several years.
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H.K. and approximately 21 other youth athletes had travelled with PCSS to a ski training activity at Mt. Hood, Oregon. On June 30, 2021, the team went cliff jumping at Punchbowl Falls, from heights approximately twenty to seventy feet above the water.
The girl had jumped from the cliff several times, before landing on rocks and 'shattering many of the bones of both of her feet and ankles'.
H.K. jumping from the cliffside, minutes before the jump that injured her. Taken from official lawsuit filing document.
The injuries sustained will apparently require years of physical therapy and medical intervention and have limited her 'ability to pursue her skiing and other athletic goals and opportunities'.
The lawsuit alleges that Park City Ski and Snowboard officials' actions led to H.K.'s injuries, as they were actively encouraging the youth team to cliff-jump without proper training, and breached their risk-reduction duties.
According to the lawsuit, H.K. and other individuals were likely to fully trust PCSS coaches and staff, due to their athletic status and connection to 'world class athletes'. Additionally, PCSS allegedly only informed parents that they would be conducting 'dryland' activities, not cliff-jumping.
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PCSS does not have a cliff-jumping team, and the plaintiffs believe that the coaches should have reasonably known how dangerous cliff-jumping is. They also believe that the coaches were clearly not proficient in cliff jumping and should not have encouraged H.K. and other youth to cliff-jump without proper training.
The attorneys for H.K. and her family released a statement, saying:
'This case is about a young girl who was catastrophically injured after her coaches, without her parents' knowledge or consent, pressured her to jump off a cliff. H.K. was only fourteen. She trusted her coaches. That trust was betrayed.
Her injuries are permanent. Her pain is daily. Her dreams have been stolen.
No child should be put in that position. No family should have to endure this. We filed this lawsuit to hold those responsible accountable and to prevent this from happening to anyone else.'
The plaintiffs are seeking financial and punitive damages from the defendants for the physical and emotional difficulties they experienced after H.K's injury.
ABC4 also reached out to Park City Ski and Snowboard, who said they cannot comment on pending litigation.
This is a developing story. ABC4 will update this post as new information becomes available.
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