For now, those snowboarders seeking equality and acceptance at Alta Ski Resort have hit a major roadblock, as a Federal Judge has dismissed the Wasatch Equality lawsuit against the ski area, challenging the long-standing ban on standing sideways.

U.S. District Judge Dee Benson rejected arguments from four snowboarders and a group called Wasatch Equality that Alta’s arrangement with the U.S. Forest Service requires it to comply with the equal protection guarantees in the 14th Amendment.

Is the Wasatch Equality Lawsuit Valid on 14th Amendment Grounds?

From the beginning, I thought that challenging this on 14th amendment/equal protection grounds was not likely to succeed. Benson continues: “The equal protection clause is not a general fairness law that allows everyone who feels discriminated against to bring an action in federal court.”

But this is where it gets interesting: Among reasons for tossing the suit, Benson cited failure to present evidence that the US Forest Service was involved in the ban.

“The decision was Alta’s, and Alta’s alone, operating as a private business. The Forest Service did not encourage the rule, discourage the rule, agree with the rule, or disagree with the rule; nor was the Forest Service consulted on the appropriateness of the rule.”

The US Forest Service Supports Alta’s Ban on Snowboards

I seem to remember that a few months ago, the US Forest Service came out publicly in support of Alta’s ban on snowboarding.

The U.S. Forest Service says it supports one of the last U.S. ski resorts to prohibit snowboarding. … The Forest Service said it agrees with Alta that the way snowboarders slide down the slopes is a legitimate safety concern for skiers.

So while the USFS may not have had a hand in implementing or crafting the rule which precludes snowboarders from Alta’s slopes, they certainly support this rule and that alone is a significant hurdle. You can imagine the situation might be very different today, if the USFS had sided with Wasatch Equality and against Alta. Imagine if the USFS had made this statement, instead:

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We have surveyed the available evidence (PDF) and find nothing to support Alta’s claim that snowboarders’ presence on the slopes will constitute any unnecessary risk or other safety concerns. While the terms of the lease agreement with Alta permit them to restrict use for ‘any type of skiing device that creates an unnecessary risk to other skiers’, we find that snowboarding does not pose such a risk, and as such, the policy ban against snowboarders violates the terms of the lease agreement.

What’s Next for Wasatch Equality?

I’m not a lawyer, I just play one on TV, so take my legal “analysis” with a grain of salt. But this is what I see.

The terms of the lease allow Alta to restrict “any type of skiing device that creates an unnecessary risk to other skiers”, and it is on that basis — the lease with the USFS and the determination of whether this ban is in accordance with what Alta is permitted to do by the terms of the lease — that the ban needs to be challenged.

But as long as the US Forest Service continues to side with Alta and defy reason and available evidence, we’re not likely to see any change.

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