DENVER \u2013 It\u2019s a mountain-bound battle between those who want to whoosh and those who want to shred.<\/p>\n
A group of snowboarders argued Tuesday for the right to rip down the slopes of a Utah ski resort. Federal judges from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver are facing an icy culture clash between the boarders and Alta Ski Area, which wants to keep its runs reserved for skiers.<\/p>\n
The four snowboarders, who say the ban is based on incorrect stereotypes that cast them as reckless and inconsiderate, appealed after a federal judge in Utah threw out their lawsuit.<\/p>\n
That judge said snowboarders don\u2019t have a constitutional right to practice their sport and that allowing the lawsuit would be a slippery slope for others to claim discrimination against private companies.<\/p>\n
Only two other U.S. resorts ban snowboarding: Deer Valley in Utah and Mad River Glen in Vermont.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit, filed in early 2014, brought renewed attention to a feud between skiers and snowboarders that seemed to have thawed as snowboarding dipped in popularity over the last five years.<\/p>\n
The judges gave no timetable for when they might rule.<\/p>\n
A look at the issues in the case:<\/p>\n
SNOWBOARDERS: UNFAIR BAN<\/p>\n
The four snowboarders and their attorneys said that Alta does not have the right to keep snowboarders off public land designated by Congress for skiing and other sports. They point to 119 other ski resorts that operate on public land and allow snowboarding.<\/p>\n
One of the three judges hearing the case interrupted the snowboarders\u2019 lawyer to ask about Alta customer surveys showing that the skiers don\u2019t want snowboarders around. The lawyer bristled.<\/p>\n
Attorney Jon Schofield called the surveys a \u201cpretext for taking a group of people and deciding they were undesirable and banning them for no reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
THE BLIND SPOT<\/p>\n
Central to the case is the snowboarders\u2019 sideways stance, which leaves them with a blind spot. Alta claims that the blind spot gives skiers a legal reason to keep them out.<\/p>\n
Judge Harris L. Hartz asked the snowboarders why the argument isn\u2019t valid.<\/p>\n
Schofield didn\u2019t say snowboarders could prove the blind spot doesn\u2019t exist but argued that snowboarding is safer than skiing, making the argument irrelevant.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey may say it\u2019s a safety reason. But we can disprove that,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are no safety issues here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The original lawsuit argued that Alta dislikes snowboarders for supposedly reckless moves, inconsiderate attitude, baggy clothes and their overuse of such words as \u201cgnarly\u201d and \u201cradical\u201d when describing difficult terrain.<\/p>\n
SKI RESORT: EQUIPMENT, NOT PEOPLE<\/p>\n
Lawyers for Alta Ski Area argued that they\u2019re allowed to discriminate against equipment \u2013 just not the people using it.<\/p>\n
Alta lawyer Rick Thaler suggested a hypothetical customer who shows up with a snowboard, a pair of skis and a snow trike, which is a sort of tricycle designed to ride down snow.<\/p>\n
The resort said that despite the customer\u2019s appearance, he or she would be welcome to use the mountain using the skis \u2013 just not the snowboard or snow trike.<\/p>\n
If snowboarders have a right to bring their equipment to the resort, Thaler argued, resorts wouldn\u2019t be allowed to ban toboggans or even snowmobiles from the slopes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis case is about equipment, not people,\u201d Thaler argued. \u201cIt\u2019s about a board, not the person using it.\u201d<\/p>\n
GOVERNMENT BACKS RESORT<\/p>\n
The U.S. Forest Service, which approved a permit for Alta, has backed the ski area in the court battle.<\/p>\n
Forest Service lawyer Jared Bennett pointed out that his agency has approved hundreds of permits for snow areas allowing snowboarders, making a discrimination claim flimsy.<\/p>\n
He also doused the snowboarders\u2019 premise.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis equipment restriction does not violate the Constitution,\u201d Bennett said.<\/p>\n
McCombs reported from Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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