Boarders appeal skiers-only ruling at Utah resort
By Pamela Manson, Salt Lake Tribune
Snowboarders in Utah are asking a federal appeals court to reverse the dismissal of their lawsuit that claims Alta Ski Resort is discriminating against them by banning snowboarding.
In an appeal to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Wasatch Equality and four snowboarders say their suit extensively detailed the history and irrationality of Alta’s ban, which they allege is based on stereotypes that boarders are “undesirables.” They claim the dismissal of their suit at an early stage of litigation — less than a year after it was filed — was inappropriate.
The boarders filed suit in January 2014 against Alta and the U.S. Forest Service, arguing they were being irrationally discriminated against and deserved protection under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which historically has been used in cases involving discrimination based on race, gender or sexual orientation. The ban, the snowboarders said, had no place on public land.
If the argument is that restricting boarders ‘has no place on public land’, then the Forest Service’s restrictions on bikes and dirt bikes, while permitting hikers and horses, is also discriminatory, isn’t it?
As a skier that has been to Alta, open the damn mountain to boarders.