Resources
Accessibility Guidebook for Ski Areas Operating on Public Lands
Ski areas operating under special-use authorization from the Forest Service are required to comply with both the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 & 2008 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. All ski resorts open to the public are required to comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 & 2008, and with their own state's anti-discrimination laws. This USFS Accessibility Guidebook provides authoritative information and guidance to any ski area or resort manager wanting to fully understand and comply with their statutory duties to disabled individuals.
| Accessibility Guidebook for Ski Areas |
State Human Rights - Investigative Findings
Neutral human rights investigators appointed under state anti-discrimination laws, even in very conservative jurisdictions like Idaho and Montana, have found that policies denying access to ski resort lifts and runs for disabled individuals using ski bikes are discriminatory.
| Idaho Human Rights Commission - Denying Ski Bike Access is Illegal Disability Discrimnation |
| Montana Human Rights Bureau- Denying Ski Bike Access is Illegal Disability Discrimnation |
Publicizing Adaptive Access Policies
To fully comply with anti-discrimination laws, ski resorts should adopt, and prominently publish, adaptive access policies on web sites, and where equipment policy and skier responsibility notices are posted on resort property. Bob has prepared a Model Adaptive Access Policy to assure disabled skiers understand their rights under federal and state anti-discrimination laws, and to assist ski resorts in preparing legally compliant adaptive access policies.
| Model Adaptive Access Policy [2021] |
Alpine Responsibility Code
Legislation in all states declares skiing to be inherently dangerous. Hazards such as people or objects falling from ski lifts, collisions between participants, and terrain obstacles, are often cited in such legislation, requiring skiers to accept the risks posed by these inherent dangers in exchange for access to ski lifts and runs.
Equal access for persons with disabilities requires that any additional hazards posed by disabled skiers or their equipment are among the inherent dangers all skiers must accept the risk of, in exchange for access to ski lifts and runs. Of course, all skiers, disabled or not, have the duty to ski in control, within the skier responsibility code; their ability to do so is determined by first providing access, only denying access after clearly demonstrating skier is unable or unwilling to ski responsibly.
Equal access for persons with disabilities requires that any additional hazards posed by disabled skiers or their equipment are among the inherent dangers all skiers must accept the risk of, in exchange for access to ski lifts and runs. Of course, all skiers, disabled or not, have the duty to ski in control, within the skier responsibility code; their ability to do so is determined by first providing access, only denying access after clearly demonstrating skier is unable or unwilling to ski responsibly.
| alpineresponsibilitycode.png |
