NZSki counsel James Rapley KC made the dismissal-of-charge application after more than four days of evidence by expert witnesses for WorkSafe in the Queenstown District Court.
WorkSafe alleges NZSki, which also owns The Remarkables and Mt Hutt ski areas, exposed Ms Graf (60) and other mountain users to a risk of serious injury or death as a result of systemic failures in its health and safety system.
A pathologist’s report found the cause of death was blunt force and cardiac trauma.
WorkSafe inspector Jason McDonald told the court a request to the company for health and safety documentation led to the discovery on a computer drive of a "padding hazard register" the company had initially been unaware of.
Created by a ski patroller in 2014, the document identified 28 posts along the fence he considered were "very likely to be skied into at high speed", and recommended they be protected with padding.
Mr McDonald said the company had not been able to explain why the ski area manager at the time, Ross Copland, recommended to the company’s board in 2015 that 10 posts be padded.
In a recorded interview conducted by Mr McDonald in 2020, NZSki chief executive Paul Anderson said he was "disappointed", and did not know why the full recommendation was not passed on to the board.
However, until the 2019 season, routine risk assessments for the bottom of Sugar’s Run continued to find that padding 10 posts was appropriate, Mr Anderson said.
Ms Graf hit a post in a section of the fence where the bottom of the slope was nearly flat.
The run was graded as suitable for intermediate-to-advanced skiers who could be expected to control their speed and direction.
Ms Graf had an "immense amount of experience" at Coronet Peak, including two stints as a ski instructor.
Witness reports indicated she was "not out of control", and skied in a straight line into the post without raising her hands or taking other evasive action.
"It’s inconceivable for us that a skier of her ability actually found a way to ski directly into that post."
Mr McDonald said NZSki reviewed its hazard management plans for all three of its ski areas after the accident.
A 100m-long safety catch-net fence was subsequently installed in front of the reservoir fence, and at two other locations on the ski area.
WorkSafe alleges the company should have carried out an adequate risk assessment of the wooden fence, and that a safety catch-net fence should have been in place at the time of the accident.
The trial continues on Wednesday.
