Copy and Pasted News...but,

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

completely skiiing related...

Just saw this on yahoo! news...


Extreme Skiing May Cause Law Overhaul

Fri Apr 16, 3:26 AM ET Add Top Stories - AP to My Yahoo!


By COLLEEN SLEVIN, Associated Press Writer

DENVER - With expert trails no longer posing enough of a thrill for some skiers, Colorado lawmakers are considering whether to shield ski resorts from lawsuits by the growing number of people who get a rush out of riding cliffs and half-pipes.



Under a bill awaiting final approval, cliffs and extremely steep slopes would be included in the list of the inherent risks of the sport, letting resorts off the hook for injuries people suffer while skiing them. The list already includes everything from trees and rocks to hydrants and lift towers.


It would also protect resorts from being sued for injuries suffered on equipment in freestyle terrain parks such as rails, half-pipes, quarter-pipes and fun boxes — which didn't exist when the ski safety act was first passed in 1979.


Resorts in the nation's No. 1 ski state say the changes are needed to reflect the reality on the slopes.


"Skiers have just started skiing every inch of a ski area — including areas that are dangerous," said Sen. Jack Taylor, a Republican and one of the bill's sponsors.


The bill was introduced by Republican Rep. Al White at the request of Colorado Ski Country USA, the trade group representing the state's 24 ski areas. The bill, which has bipartisan support in the House and Senate, faces another vote in the House because of changes made in the Senate. If the House backs it again it would be sent to the governor for approval.


The original law was intended to protect the state's ski industry from lawsuits by setting out rules for what a resort must do — such as marking manmade objects not easily visible and providing safe ski lifts — and what responsibilities skiers have for their own safety.


The ski industry is second only to agriculture in Colorado, bringing in an estimated $2 billion to $2.5 billion a year. That includes income from lift tickets, hotel stays, ski shop rentals and other spinoff businesses.


However, some lawmakers worried the changes shield resorts too much and put at risk inexperienced skiers who might stumble onto extreme terrain.


Under current law, resort operators are required to put up danger signs to warn skiers of obstacles, but once they do, those objects are no longer considered inherent risks and could be grounds for a lawsuit.


That provision would be removed if the bill passes.


The current system has left resorts fearful of posting signs, which is bad for skiers, said Democratic Sen. Dan Grossman, a skier and lawyer.


He worked to change the bill to include a new kind of sign — two black diamonds with an E in one and an X in the other — to warn of extreme terrain.


The new bill defines extreme terrain as areas with cliffs with at least a 20-foot rise over a 15-foot run foot and slopes with a minimum average pitch of 50 degrees. The existing law didn't define extreme terrain. Freestyle terrain would be designated by oval signs in orange.


Rep. Paul Weissmann, a Democrat, thinks the wording could mean resorts wouldn't have to be responsible for warning skiers about cliffs that may exist in or around regular skiing trails.


Melanie Mills, a Colorado Ski Country USA lobbyist, said skiers wouldn't normally happen upon a cliff unless they wandered from a run, something which they do at their own risk.


Grossman admits the change doesn't give ski areas an incentive to mark dangerous spots on regular runs but he thinks it's far better than just giving them immunity from problems caused by cliffs.





James Chalat, a lawyer who has represented many injured skiers, thinks resorts should be forced to do more to warn people of obstacles. He fears the changes will take pressure off resorts to make sure terrain park equipment is safe.

"Liability breeds responsibility," he said. "I don't think they (skiers) realize that sometimes these jumps aren't built correctly. They make some assumptions that some basic safety parameters are being followed."

Trevor Lenard, a self-described ski bum who works at Paragon Ski & Sport in Telluride, said that notion violates the spirit of skiing, a fiercely individual sport.

"There's no assumed safety. It's a mountain. It's not like going to a mini-golf course. You're going to a mountain to slide around with sticks on," he said.

[Hunterski]

Resorts in the nation's No. 1 ski state

Colorado?
Anyone else take issue with this?

[phUnk]

"People suing ski areas should be shot."

[Pinner]

Originally posted by Hunterski
Colorado?
Anyone else take issue with this?

Which state experiences the most skier visit days, do you suppose?

[Odin]

Originally posted by Pinner
Which state experiences the most skier visit days, do you suppose?

Alabama?

[CaddyDaddy77]

Riding cliffs, so hot right now.

[truth]

Originally posted by phUnk
"People suing ski areas should be shot."

phUnk ====> So Scott Schmidt right now.

[mr_gyptian]

In the interest of fairness and honesty Ski Country USA should change it to the SKIER LACK OF RESPONSIBILITY CODE. Plenty of industries lobby for legislation to protect their interests. it's what makes them "special". Should crossing your tips or catching your edge be the mfg.'s fault?

[This End Up]

"Liability breeds responsibility,"

Wrong; liability breeds lawyers

[summit]

Replay of this post:

Double Black Diamond Extreme!!!!!http://tetongravity.com/forums/showt...light=colorado

[Tippster]

Yet strangely, printing the so-called "Skier's Responsibility Code" on the back of the Ticket has yet to cause a decrease in Ticket prices, which the areas say need to be so high to cover their liability insurance.

BFD - write anything you want into the "Code," it won't change a thing. I have a fucking brilliant idea: make it a truly binding legal document that needs to be signed by all ticketholders (by an adult for the kids.) Then uphold it the next time some grieving moron decides to sue VA because their grandmother fell and hit her plastic hip on a mogul and broke it AGAIN...

I may be a registered Democrat, but IMHO we need Tort Reform NOW!!! $70/day is ludicrous.

[summit]

We all agreed in the other thread that the new DD-EX signage will result in more deaths because it will attract gapers who want to brag whereas "danger cliffs" scares them away.

I want more warning and danger signs and less liability for ski areas (ie, don't arrest people for cutting SAB ropes etc) take the burden off of patrol and ther sherrif so they can concentrate on their real jobs.

Originally posted by Pinner
Which state experiences the most skier visit days, do you suppose?

Summit County gets more skier days in a year than the entire state of Utah... we are gaper central, folks!

[Hunterski]

Summit County gets more skier days in a year than the entire state of Utah... we are gaper central, folks!

Whoops my bad! although Utah did have a better year this year than 2001/2002 season when the olympics were here.

[truth]

Slalom Skier Schoenfelder Fails Drug Test
By HARRY MILTNER
Associated Press Writer

April 16, 2004, 11:09 AM CDT

VIENNA, Austria -- World Cup slalom champion Rainer Schoenfelder failed a drug test during the Austrian national championships and could face a suspension.

Schoenfelder tested positive for the banned stimulant etilephrine March 27 and will face a disciplinary hearing this month, the Austrian federation said Friday.

Schoenfelder denied intentional doping, saying the stimulant was contained in medicine he was taking for the flu.

"I did not know there are various medications of the Influbene type and the very one sold in Austria contains etilephrine," he said. "I honestly hope everyone can see that it is nothing but a mix-up. ... Doping was, is and always will be a taboo for me.

Schoenfelder, who won the World Cup slalom title ahead of Finland's Kalle Palander, tested negative several times this season.

Skiing's international body said Schoenfelder's World Cup results would not be affected and his case would be handled by the Austrian federation.

"The test was after the World Cup season," said Marlene Erb, spokeswoman for the international organization. "This was a national test and the national championships and has no effect on the World Cup."

A positive test during competition automatically results in disqualification from the event. Any further sanction, including suspension, depends on the severity of the offense.

The World Anti-Doping Agency mandates two-year bans for serious offenses, such as steroid use. If an athlete can prove unintentional doping through cold medicines, sanctions can range from a warning to a one-year suspension.
Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press

[DougW]

related but toys:


WASHINGTON, DC—In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Wizco Toys of Montclair, NJ, recalled 245,000 Aqua Assault RoboFighters Monday after three dumb kids managed to kill themselves playing with the popular toy, ruining the fun for everybody else.


"The tragedy is inconceivable," Wizco president Alvin Cassidy said. "For years, countless children played with the Aqua Assault RoboFighter without incident. But then these three retards come along and somehow find a way to get themselves killed. So now we have to do a full recall and halt production on what was a really awesome toy. What a waste."

"My mom won't let me play with my RoboFighter because of those dumb kids who died," said 10-year-old Jeremy Daigle of Somerville, MA. "I used to set up army guys around the RoboFighter and have it run over them and conquer Earth for the Zardaxians. But now I'll never see it again, all because three stupid idiots had to go and wreck everything."

Each of the deaths was determined to be the result of gross misuse of the toy, an incredibly cool device that could shoot both plastic missiles and long jets of water, as well as maneuver over the ground on retractable wheels.

The first death occurred June 22, when 7-year-old Isaac Weiller of Grand Junction, CO, died after deliberately firing one of the spring-loaded plastic missiles into his left nostril. The missile shot into his sinuses, shattering the roof of his nasal cavity and causing a massive brain hemorrhage.

Shortly before dying, Weiller told emergency medical personnel at St. Luke's Medical Center that he had shot the missile into his nose in the belief that it would travel through his body and out his belly button.

"I've heard some pretty stupid shit in my time, but that has to take the cake," said Dr. Anderson Hunt, the attending physician. "Why would any kid think he could fire plastic missiles up his nose and expect them to come out his belly button? There's no point in feeling bad about this child's demise, because the deck was obviously stacked against him from the start. What we should feel bad about is the fact that because of him, millions of other children will no longer get to fire the RoboFighter's super-cool Devastator Missiles or soak their friends with its FunFoam WaterBlasters."


Less than one month after Weiller's death, 5-year-old Danielle Krug fatally suffocated on fragments of the toy after repeatedly smashing it with a claw hammer in the garage of her parents' La Porte, IN, home.

"I'm not kidding," said Dianne Ensor, an emergency-room nurse at Our Lady Of Peace Hospital in La Porte, where Krug was pronounced dead. "She thought the broken shards were candy. That's what you'd assume after breaking a plastic, inedible toy, right? Absolutely un-fucking-believable."

The third and arguably stupidest death occurred August 12, when 11-year-old dumbass Michael Torres held the RoboFighter above his head and jumped off the balcony of his family's third-story Torrance, CA, apartment, thinking he would be able to fly like Superman.

"A couple of my fellow emergency workers thought we should cut the kid some slack, because at least he wasn't trying to eat the toy or shove it up his nose," said paramedic Debra Lindfors, who tried in vain to revive Torres. "I considered this for a while, but then I decided no. No way. If you're 11 years old, you should know that it's impossible to fly. And poor Wizco's probably going to go bankrupt because of this shit."

As a result of the extreme idiocy of the three children, the CPSC was forced to order Wizco to stop making the toy and remove it from store shelves, as well as recommend that parents remove it from their homes.

"I know the overwhelming majority of American kids who owned an Aqua Assault RoboFighter derived many hours of safe, responsible fun from it," CPSC commissioner Mary Sheila Gall said. "But, statistically speaking, three deaths stemming from contact with a particular toy constitutes an 'unreasonable risk.' Look, I'm really sorry about this. Honestly. But our agency's job is to protect the public from hazardous products, even if those who die are morons who deserved what they got.".... and of course this came from theonion...

[Arty50]

What's really sad is that we will NEVER have a law like this or even the original one in California. Fucking ambulance chasers.

[hardrider]

Originally posted by Arty50
What's really sad is that we will NEVER have a law like this or even the original one in California. Fucking ambulance chasers.

who cares. we get 500" a year, silly colorado.

[FollowMe]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Tyrone Shoelaces
[B]





James Chalat, a lawyer who has represented many injured skiers, thinks resorts should be forced to do more to warn people of obstacles. He fears the changes will take pressure off resorts to make sure terrain park equipment is safe.

Fuck you James, best keep off

Edit: I'll pole whip your ass biiiitcch

[CaddyDaddy77]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by FollowMe
[B]

Originally posted by Tyrone Shoelaces






James Chalat, a lawyer who has represented many injured skiers, thinks resorts should be forced to do more to warn people of obstacles. He fears the changes will take pressure off resorts to make sure terrain park equipment is safe.

Fuck you James, best keep off

Edit: I'll pole whip your ass biiiitcch

I heart follow me.

[ak_powder_monkey]

Originally posted by SummitCo 1776

I want more warning and danger signs and less liability for ski areas (ie, don't arrest people for cutting SAB ropes etc) take the burden off of patrol and ther sherrif so they can concentrate on their real jobs.

Hear Hear!!!

Ski resorts should warn us if we are gonna get cliffed out before we do and leave it at that