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SALT LAKE CITY — The husband of a South Carolina woman who died after colliding with a flying tree branch on a zip line is suing Sundance Mountain Resort.
Lisa Lambe, 55, and her husband, John, were on the Sundance Zip Tour last May when she did not reach the bottom of the last of five spans known as Outlaw Span. Zip line workers found her still suspended in her harness partway down the line, unconscious and not breathing.
Investigators determined that a treetop broke off in high winds and fell into Lambe's path, causing blunt force trauma that killed her.
The lawsuit alleges Sundance workers allowed people to zip line in "grossly dangerous" winds and despite complaints from other participants about the conditions. Wind speeds hit 30 mph to 50 mph that day, the lawsuit says.
Sundance failed to take reasonable precautions to protect customers from harm and keep the surrounding area free and safe of debris, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City. Workers should have known wind speeds were above normal operating speeds, the lawsuit says.
Czar Johnson, Sundance director of mountain operations, said in May that the tree that broke off had been evaluated as being far enough away from the line and was healthy.
Related
Police: Woman died on zipline after falling tree branch hit her
A South Carolina woman killed on a zip line at Sundance Mountain Resort this week was hit by a broken tree branch as it fell, police said Friday.The zip tour does not have a specific wind speed cutoff for operating the attraction, but operators monitor whether there are sustained winds traveling in a direction that could make a rider's speed unsafe. Operators on the mountain were made aware of wind in the forecast, but none called down with any concerns, Johnson said.
The lawsuit seeks an unpsecificed amount in damages for pain and suffering, medical and funeral expenses, and lost income.
