Snowboarders are suing one of the last ski resorts in the country to prohibit snowboarding arguing that the ban is discriminatory and based on outdated stereotypes, according to The Associated Press.
They say the Alta ski area in Salt Lake City can't legally bar boarders from the federally owned land that makes up most of the resort in the mountains east of Salt Lake City, but the business says a snowboarder-free hill is safer and the ban doesn't violate anyone's constitutional rights, the AP reported.
The two other United States resorts which ban snowboarding are Deer Valley, also in Utah, and Mad River Glen in Vermont, according to the AP.
"This case is not about snowboards. Nor is it about skis. Indeed, it has little to do with equipment at all," attorneys for four snowboarders wrote, according to the AP. "At its heart, this case is about Alta and the government arbitrarily classifying groups of people based on animus and other stereotypes and excluding those considered undesirable from benefits freely enjoyed by all others without giving any rational justification."
Alta wants U.S. District Judge Dee Benson to dismiss the lawsuit, the AP reported.
"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," resort attorneys wrote, according to the AP.
Alta says it is a private business and its permit with the U.S. Forest Service allows it to restrict ski devices it deems risky, the AP reported. Snowboarders can be dangerous because their sideways stance leaves them with a blind spot, resort attorneys contend, and the Forest Service agrees.
The snowboarders claim the ski area dislikes their baggy clothes, overuse of such words as "gnarly" and "radical" when describing difficult terrain, and what it deems reckless activity, according to the AP.
The four plaintiffs bought tickets to Alta knowing they would be turned away and could then sue, which they did in January, the AP reported.
