It’s the time of year when many of us head up to the Sierras for a little skiing and snowboarding, so it seems appropriate to highlight a recent California appellate opinion, Lackner v. North, 2006 DJDAR 950, a torts case involving allegations of reckless snowboarding.  The plaintiff, Teri Lackner, was resting at the bottom of a steep ski run at Mammoth when the defendant, Cassidy North, crashed into her on his snowboard.  Lackner suffered severe injuries, including a shattered ankle and 16 different fractures in her lower leg alone.  She sued North and the ski resort, but the trial court granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment, finding that primary assumption of the risk barred liability to Lackner.  She appealed, contending that there were triable issues of fact on the question of whether North’s conduct was reckless.  The Third District agreed with her on the issue of North’s recklessness, declaring that "North’s conduct is analogous to a freeway driver who exits the freeway without slowing down or looking for other cars that are also exiting."  If you’re hitting the slopes this weekend, you may want to read this case!