Ski Safety Act.

ORIGINAL
House
ENGROSSED
Bill No
.
HB0032

ENROLLED ACT NO. 108,

HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES

SIXTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WYOMING
2017 General Session

AN ACT relating to skiing; imposing duties on skiers and ski area operators; providing for skier safety and liability as specified; establishing assumption of risk for skiers; removing skiing in ski areas from the listing of activities which constitute a sport or recreational opportunity under the Recreation Safety Act; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1
.

W.S.
1
‑
1
‑
1
23.1
through
1
‑
1
‑
123.
5

are
created to read:

1
‑
1
‑
1
23.1
.

Ski Safety Act; short title.

This act shall be known and may be cited as the "
Ski
Safety Act
.
"

1
‑
1
‑
123.
2
.

Definitions.

(a)

As used in this act:

(i)

"Freestyle terrain" includes terrain parks and terrain features such as jumps, rails, half pipes and other constructed and natural features
found in terrain parks
;

(
i
i
)

"Inherent risk
"
with regard to skiing
in a ski area
means
those dangers or conditions
which are part
of the sport of skiing, including:

(
A
)

Changing weather conditions;

(
B
)

Falling or
surface
s
now conditions
, whether natural or man
‑
made,
as they exist or change
;

(
C
)

S
urface or subsurface conditions
including
bare spots, forest growth, rocks, stumps, streambeds, cliffs, extreme terrain
,
trees or other natural objects
;

(D)

C
ollisions
or impacts
with natural objects
such as th
e
objects specified in subparagraph (C) of this paragraph
including encounters with wildlife
;

(
E
)

I
mpact with
ski
lift
towers
, signs, posts, fences or enclosures, hydrants, water pipes or other man
‑
made structures and their components
subject to W.S. 1
‑
1
‑
123.3(k)
;

(
F
)

V
ariations in steepness or terrain, whether natural or as a result of
ski trail

or feature
design
,
or
snowmaking or grooming operations
such as
roads, freestyle terrain, jumps and catwalks or other terrain modifications;
and

(
G
)

C
ollisions with other skiers
.

(i
ii
)

"Ski area" means
the
ski trails and other places within the boundary of
a
ski area under the control of a ski area operator and administered as
a
single enterprise within th
e
state
;

(
i
v
)

"Ski area operator" means a
person

having
the responsibility for the operations of a ski area and the owners, partners and members, managers, employees, agents, volunteers, board members, representatives, affiliates and assigns of
the

person
. "Ski area operator" includes an agency of the state or a political subdivision thereof
;

(v)

"Ski area vehicle" means
a
vehicle used in the operation and maintenance of
a
ski area
which
is
owned by or under the direction and control of the ski area operator
such as
a snowmobile
, all
‑
terrain vehicle, snow grooming vehicle, sled and other similar vehicle
;

(vi)

"Ski lift" means a chairlift, gondola, tramway, cable car or other aerial lift and any rope tow, conveyor, t
‑
bar, j
‑
bar, handle tow or other surface lift used by a ski area operator to transport skiers;

(vii)

"Ski trail" means a trail, slope, run, freestyle terrain, competition terrain, tree skiing area, tubing park area or other area at or near a ski area designated by the ski area operator to be used by skiers for the purpose of skiing;

(v
ii
i
)

"Skier" means a person
who is using a ski area for the purpose of skiing;

(ix
)

"Skiing" includes
sliding downhill or jumping on snow or ice on skis or a toboggan, sled, tub
e
, snowbike, snowboard or other device
;

(
x
)

"This act" means
W.S.
1
‑
1
‑
1
23.1
through
1
‑
1
‑
123.
5
.

1
‑
1
‑
123.
3
.

Duties of ski area operators
;
signs
for trails; notices to skiers
; duties of skiers
.

(
a
)

A ski area operator shall post
and maintain
a sign visible
to skiers
at or near the beginning of a trail
that
depict
s
and explain
s

the degree of difficulty of the trail
relative to each individual ski area.

(b)

A
ski area operator shall post and maintain a sign at or near the loading area of a
ski
lift that states the
relative degree of difficulty of the trails serviced by the lift.

(
c
)

A
ski area operator
shall print a warning notice on all ski lift tickets and season passes and
shall post and maintain
a
warning
sign
at
or near
the ski area's ticket sales building that is no smaller than six (6) square feet in size and states the following:

WARNING.
Under Wyoming law, a skier assumes the
inherent
risk
s of skiing and is legally responsible for damage
,
injury
or death
t
o person or property
that
result
s from the
inherent risks of skiing
.

(
d
)

A ski area operator shall post and maintain a warning sign at the ski area's ticket sales building that is no smaller than six (6) square feet in size and that notifies the skier of the
duties
imposed on the skier by this act
and
the
limitations on liability provided in this act.

(
e
)

A ski area operator
shall:

(i)

Mark
or identify on trail maps
the ski area boundaries;

(ii)

P
ost a sign notifying the public if a trail or portion thereof is closed

at the identified entrance of the trail or portion
thereof
. A trail without an identified entrance may be closed with ropes or fences.

(
f
)

A ski area operator shall have no duty arising out of the operator's status as a ski area operator to a
skier skiing beyond
a ski
area boundar
y
marked
or identified
as required by
subsection (
e
) of
this section
or skiing in a
n area posted as c
losed
or otherwise fenced or roped off
in accordance with
subsection (
e
) of this section
.

(
g
)

A ski area operator shall post signs in the ski area or on trail maps warning skiers of encounters with ski area vehicles.

(
h
)

A ski area operator shall equip
s
ki area vehicles

with a
light
and a
fluorescent flag mounted at least
five

(
5
)
feet above the bottom of the
vehicle's
tracks
visible at any time the vehicle is moving on or in the vicinity of a ski trail
.

(
j
)

A ski area operator shall
annually inspect,
operate and maintain ski lifts in accordance with the most current version of the American National Standards Institute B
‑
77.1 aerial tramway standards. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a ski lift shall no
t be deemed a common carrier.

(k)

A ski area operator shall mark hydrants, water pipes and all other man-made structures on slopes and trails which are not visible to skiers under conditions of ordinary visibility from a distance of one hundred (100) feet and shall cover the structures with a shock-absorbent material typically used by ski area operators for the purpose. Any type of marker shall be sufficient under this subsection including but not limited to wooden poles, flags or signs if the marker is visible from a distance of one hundred (100) feet and if the marker itself does not constitute a serious hazard to skiers. As used in this subsection "man-made structures" shall not include
variations in steepness or terrain, whether natural or as a result of slope design, snowmaking or grooming operations, including but not limited to roads, catwalks and other terrain modifications.

(
m
)

A skier shall have the responsibility to observe all posted information and other signs and warnings posted in accordance with this act and shall be presumed to have seen and understood all signs, warnings and other information posted in accordance with this act.

1
‑
1
‑
123.
4
.

A
ssumption of risks; limitations on actions
.

(
a
)

A
skier
e
xpressly accepts and assumes the inherent risks of skiing
and is legally responsible for
damage
,
injury
or death
to

himself
or other
person
s
or property that results from the inherent risks
in
skiing
.

(b)

A skier m
ay not make any claim against or recover from any ski area operator for injury resulting from any inherent risk of skiing.

(
c
)

A
skier
is not precluded under this act from suing another skier for any
damage,
injury
or death to person or property
that
result
s from
the
other skiers
'
acts or omissions.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, t
he risk of collision
with other skiers
is
not an inherent risk nor
a risk assumed by a skier in an action by
a
skier against another
skier
.

1
‑
1
‑
123.
5
.

Negligence; civil actions.

(a)

A violation
by any person or ski area operator
of any provision of this act shall, to the extent the
violation causes
damage,
injury
or death
to person or property, constitute evidence of negligence on the part of the
person or ski area operator violating this act
.

(b)

Actions based upon negligence of a person or ski area operator
wherein the damage, injury or death is not the result of an inherent risk of skiing shall be preserved pursuant to W.S. 1
‑
1
‑
109.

Section
2
.

W.S. 1
‑
1
‑
12
2(
a)(i
ii
)

and 1
‑
1
‑
123 by creating a new subsection (e) are
amended to read:

1
‑
1
‑
122
.

Definitions.

(a)

As used in this act:

(iii)

"Sport or recreational opportunity" means commonly understood sporting activities including baseball, softball, football, soccer, basketball, swimming, hockey, wrestling, cheerleading, rodeo, dude ranching, nordic or alpine skiing and other alpine sports, snowboarding, mountain climbing, outdoor education programs, river floating, hunting, fishing, backcountry trips, horseback riding and any other equine activity, snowmobiling and similar recreational opportunities and includes the use of private lands for vehicle parking and land access related to the sport or recreational opportunity
. "Sport or recreational opportunity
"
does not
include
skiing in a ski area as defined
by

the Ski Safety Act
;

1
‑
1
‑
123
.

Assumption of risk.

(e)

This act shall not apply to skiing in a ski area as
defined
by

the Ski Safety Act.

Section

3
.

This
act is effective July 1,
201
7
.

(END)

Speaker of the House

President of the Senate

Governor

TIME APPROVED: _________

DATE APPROVED: _________

I hereby certify that this act originated in the
House
.

Chief
Clerk

1