Judge: Alta can keep snowboarders out
By Tom Harvey, Salt Lake Tribune
A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed snowboarders’ claims that Alta Ski Resort banned them because of stereotypes that they are “undesirable people with obnoxious habits and characteristics.”
Instead, U.S. District Judge Dee Benson said there are rational reasons for Alta to ban snowboarding, one of only three resorts to do so in the United States.
Benson wrote in a 30-page opinion that federal court was not the right arena for the snowboarders to argue they should be allowed on the Utah resort’s famed runs such as Baldy Chutes.
“There are many forums plaintiffs can resort to in an attempt to accomplish their goal of snowboarding down the Baldy Chutes at Alta,” Benson wrote in his decision. “Seeking an injunction from this court is not one of them.”
The boarders had sued Alta and the U.S. Forest Service in January, arguing they were being irrationally discriminated against and deserved protection under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which historically has been used on cases involving discrimination based on race, gender and sexual orientation.