No Decision On Legal Challenge to Alta’s Boarding Ban
No Decision On Legal Challenge to Alta’s Boarding Ban
Published : 12-Aug-2014 12:20
A Utah judge has not yet made a decision on a legal challenge against one of the three ski areas in North America to still ban snowboarding.
The US district judge who heard the complaint from a group of boarders challenging the legality of the ban at Alta ski area did not say whether he thought a full case should be heard, or whether the claim should be thrown out by the courts. It seems unclear when or if a decision will be announced by the judge.
The group of boarders argue that the ban illegally discriminates against them, infringes their constitutional rights, and is based on prejudices and stereotypes. They also question Alta's right to ban people practicing their sport on what is public land leased to the resort.
Alta argue that in their opinion banning boarders makes the slopes safer for skiers, claiming boarders have a 'blind spot' and that the terms of its land use permit allow it to restrict some sliding devices' at its whim. The US Forest Service which controls the federal land supports Alta's position.
Two other US resorts, including another in Utah, Deer Valley, as well as Mad River Glen in Vermont, still ban boarders, although both are on private land. Resorts which did ban boarders later than most, until the late 1990s or more recently, include aspen, Taos and Park City Mountain resort, the latter staged snowboarding events at the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Olympics a few years after lifting its ban.
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