Alta Ski Resort is one of the last resorts in the country that still bans snowboarding. On January 15, a group of snowboarders filed a lawsuit against the resort, claiming the ban violates the promise of equal treatment evident within the 14th Amendment, which was supported by snow sports advocacy group Wasatch Equality. The lawsuit was filed by snowboarders Rick Alden, Drew Hicken, Richard Varga, and professional snowboarder Bjorn Leines.

Attorneys representing Alta have responded, asking a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit. In a brief released on Friday, one attorney wrote, “It demeans the Constitution to suggest that the amendment that protected the interests of former slaves during Reconstruction and James Meredith and the Little Rock Nine 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 [14th] Amendment protects those who stand sideways on snowboards.”

They also used Alta’s status as a private resort to argue the case.

“The permit and the plan [approved by the US Forest Service] are utterly silent on Alta’s business decision regarding the use of snowboards. The decision about permissible equipment at Alta was made by Alta, not the Forest Service,” the brief continued.

In response to the lawsuit that said Alta is catering to a skier-only market, attorneys retorted that snowboarders have a “blind spot” when riding that can put themselves and others in danger. Attorneys also wrote snowboarders should be kept off the “[…] long, high mountain traverses, which are difficult on a snowboard. It is not irrational for state actors to determine that some winter sports equipment is more suitable than others on certain terrain.

“Those who snowboard can hardly claim they represent the kind of politically unpopular community that the Constitution was designed to protect.”

Image from Baileypalblue on Wikimedia Commons