Alta ski resort in Utah, one of three ski areas in the US (and possibly worldwide) which still ban snowboarders from their slopes, has asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed by snowboarders seeking access to the mountain.
The snowboarders have argued that denying their right to snowboard on the mountain violated their rights under the United States’ 14th Amendment which is intended to guarantee equal rights.
Alta’s lawyers argue the resort’s response is that in their opinion, “It demeans the Constitution to suggest that the amendment …must be expanded to protect the interests of those who engage in a particularized winter sport. There is no authority holding that the zone of interest created by the Fourteenth Amendment protects those who stand sideways on snowboards. …Those who snowboard can hardly claim they represent the kind of politically unpopular community that the Constitution was designed to protect.”
Alta’s attorneys also argue that snowboarders have a “blind spot” due to traveling sideways down the mountain, which poses safety concern, according to a report in the Salt Lake Tribune, and that they might not be able to safely cope with some of the resort’s steeper terrain.
Earlier this year a group of snowboarders, including one using a split board which can separate down the middle to form ski like sliding equipment were escorted from Alta’s slopes when they attempted to snowboard there. However various types of ski were reported to be allowed, including a mono-ski where both feet are connected to a single board, although facing forwards, not sideways.
