This ski safety ‘legend’ is a Richland High grad. He helped a jury clear Gwyneth Paltrow

The ski safety expert whose compelling testimony helped convince a jury that Gwyneth Paltrow was not at fault in a high-profile ski accident in Utah hails from Richland.

Paul Baugher, Richland High class of ‘72, spent three years preparing for Paltrow’s defense in a $300,000 case involving a 2016 collision with another skier on a green run at the Deer Park Resort at Park City.

Baugher organized the animator and the biomechanical engineer whose work helped convince the jury Paltrow wasn’t at fault in the collision with Terry Sanderson, a retired optometrist who sued over a traumatic brain injury.

The Utah jury decided Paltrow was 100% not at fault, a verdict trumpeted in headlines as “Gwynnocent.”

Not much skiing in Richland

Baugher was not an obvious candidate to become a ski industry safety expert. He grew up in Richland, the son of a doctor and well removed from the slopes. Winter fun involved hanging on the bumper of a car to slide on icy streets.

He took up the sport after leaving Richland to study economics at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, where he developed a love of the mountains.

He worked briefly in his field, then joined the National Park Service as a climbing ranger at Mount Olympus and Mount Rainier in the summer and worked on the ski patrol in the winter.

Crystal Mountain Resort would be his professional home for 32 years, 30 as director of the ski patrol. He provided risk management to a collection of resorts, founded the Northwest Avalanche Institute, founded a climbing service at Mount Rainier and became a courtroom expert when ski incidents went to trial

He’s retired from Crystal Mountain and from guiding clients up Mount Rainier, but continues to provide avalanche reports to the railroad industry and to testify in court cases.

Avalance safety ‘legend’

The National Ski Areas Association hailed him as a “legend” for his work on avalanche safety, for raising awareness of the dangers of suffocating in tree wells and for his dedication to safety on the slopes.

Baugher said he’s worked about 50 court cases, typically defending ski areas from lawsuits. The Paltrow case was his 20th skier-on-skier dispute.

Sanderson sued Paltrow and the resort, claiming the actress struck him from behind and that the resort altered its report to protect a valuable client.

It is undisputed the two crashed, that neither lost skis and that Sanderson suffered several broken ribs. The accident happened on a sunny day on a green “connector” run between two lift areas. The gentle slope is suited to beginning skiers.

Physics don’t lie

Baugher and his team showed the jury that it was unlikely the actress struck Sanderson. She couldn’t have skied over him without losing her skis, as one witness testified.

The accident happened the other way around, according to its recreation of the incident, with Sanderson striking Paltrow.

Paltrow was obeying the ski hill rules, codified in local and state law in Utah, Baugher told jurors. Legally, she complied with the standard of care that was her duty as a skier and Sanderson did not, he said.

For Baugher, the case was a standard collision dispute, complicated by a high-profile celebrity and staggering amounts of attention.

“I have the London Times calling,” he said, laughing. “It’s a whole other level of distraction, none of which helps me. It just makes my job harder.”

His job, he said, is to help juries make good decisions based on a solid understanding of why ski areas operate the way they do.

“I want the jury to get it right,” he said. “I want to have a seat at the table when they’re being told how things work at a ski area.”

In his 50 or so cases, he said juries usually get the verdict right.

As for the Paltrow case, he said the resort wasn’t part of the case so the outcome would not have affected how it operates. He was pleased the jury saw the facts.