Resorts Crack Down on Speeding Skiers
Speeding skiers beware. Resorts getting strict on speed demons.
Jan. 9, 2008 — -- The country is in the midst of its prime skiing season and some resorts have taken a hard line against what they consider dangerous skiers and snowboarders.
Some skiers, perhaps influenced by amazing X-Game exploits seen in movies, have caused havoc by racing down the mountainside at reckless speeds.
"Some people just think about going faster and crazier just for the adrenaline rush," one skier said.
Speeding skiers have become so common that some of their videos have landed on YouTube.
This week the Swiss ski patrollers started treating skiers and snowboarders like cars on an interstate by using handheld radars to clock their speeds.
They are limiting the snow lovers to 19 mph in order to curb danger on the slopes.
In the United States, one California ski resort said speeding skiers have become a huge problem.
"Our biggest concern is injury. A, them getting hurt themselves either temporarily or permanently and B, is liability for the resort," said John McCully, of Mountain High Resort.
McCully said the resort has reprimands for those who don't heed warnings.
"We give them one warning. And then if we see it happen again, we pull their pass and in some cases we'll pull a season pass if it continues," he said.
The battle over the speed of the ski slopes has even reached the courtroom. A 60-year-old Colorado man is suing an 8-year-old boy who he claims was skiing recklessly and hit him at a high rate of speed.
David J. Pfahler, of Allentown, Pa., sued Scott Swimm and his father in a Denver federal, claiming the collision left him with a shoulder injury, according to The Associated Press.
Pfahler wants compensation for physical expenses, but the Swimm family denies his claims.
"We were both on the ground. I was getting up and apologizing and he grabbed me back down and called me a [expletive] and I'm gonna [expletive] sue your dang family," said Scott Swimm, who was 7 years old when the accident occurred.
The suit is just one example of how the controversy has heated up in a sport which can be dangerous.
