Lawsuit: Do Snowboarders Deserve Equal Rights?

November 18th, 2015. By LucyC

Right to access public land, discrimination, public safety or an overstated sense of entitlement? According to a group—a small group—of snowboarders—ok 4 snowboarders, the issue(s) lies behind door numbers 1 and 2. And they’ve filed a lawsuit to prove it. So what the heck am I talking about? To allow boarders on ski hills or not. Oh yeah baby—that old chestnut.

The powers that be in charge of Alta Ski Area in Utah have banned boarders from the ski hills. Why? They claim safety of the skiing public. So the 4 boarders are suing. They want access to them thar hills. They brought their lawsuit in 2014, and are alleging discrimination on the part of the resort.

In the interest of providing an unbiased opinion (possibly an oxymoron but let’s roll with it) I should disclose that I am a skier not a boarder. Having been clipped myself by a snowboarder—I can attest it hurts. Luckily, I was not injured but many others have been, some seriously. So, there is a heated debate about allowing boarders and skiers on the same slopes.

Back to the lawsuit…the lawyers representing the resort successfully defended their ban stating that resort officials made a business decision to entice skiers to the private resort east of Salt Lake City by promising a snowboarder-free experience, (kinda like a sand-flea free beach experience?) and it’s well within its rights to keep snowboards off the slopes.

The US Forest Service, which approves a permit for Alta, is also on the side of the resort, and backed up their boarder-free policy in court.

Attorneys for the four boarders have offered the counter argument that Alta doesn’t have the right to keep snowboarders off public land designated by Congress for skiing and other sports, pointing to 119 other ski resorts that operate on public land that allow snowboarding.

Of course, part of the problem is that Alta is world-class skiing and boarding territory. So everyone wants in. But at some point safety must come into the decision-making process. After all, we don’t allow cars on bike paths. Hell, pedestrians aren’t even allowed on bike paths, but that’s a whole cycling vigilante thing we best not get into here. I digress.

Back to the boarders. Their issue, their lawyers state, is with Alta’s claim that skiers find the slopes safer because they don’t have to worry about being hit by snowboarders who cannot always see skiers because their sideways stance leaves them with a blind spot. (Yes—true enough). And, the lawyers continue, Alta’s ban is irrational and based on stereotypes of snowboarders. Ok, don’t get me started.

Apparently, Deer Valley in Utah and Mad River Glen in Vermont also ban snowboarding.

In any event, the case got tossed last year by a federal judge in Utah (wonder if he is a skier…) so the four snowboarders who have now named themselves “Wasatch Equality,” have appealed to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, as you do.

This week, Fox News reported that the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in the case. Wasatch Equality’s lawyer, Jonathan Schofield, argued the snowboarding ban violates the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution by denying them access to the mountain. Seriously?

Yup. However, Schofield insisted he was not trying to get snowboarders declared a “protected class,” but press for equal access on government land. Surely they can still access the mountain? They just can’t go snowboarding on it. That’s different, I think.

“You don’t get to play favorites and decide who can come and who can’t,” he told FOX 13. Hmmm.

One of the three judges on the panel, Judge Gregory Phillips, asked “What if I want to take my toboggan down the slope? Would that be an equal protection violation?” Hello! Love it.

Alta insisted that it doesn’t discriminate against people, but has an equipment policy. “This case is about equipment. It’s not about people. It’s about a board,” said Alta Ski Area attorney Rick Thaler. “They’re the same person, the same beliefs, same race, gender, speech, clothing, cultural group.” Not quite sure what he’s on about there.

And so this goes on. The judges have taken the case under advisement with a decision is expected in a matter of months. Maybe at the end of ski season?

So—go get your skis on!

This was posted on Wednesday, November 18th, 2015 at 11:41 am and is filed under Discrimination, Emerging Issues . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.