State could raise fines for skiing violations
Skiing in a closed area could cost an Eaglecrest devotee $150 if a new bill passes the Legislature this session.
House Bill 188 would allow the Alaska Supreme Court to set penalties for ski area violations already codified in the 1994 Ski Safety Act. State law now allows ski patrollers to issue citations of up to $50 for violations, and they also have ski-area-specific punitive means at their disposal, such as revocation of lift tickets.
Bill sponsor Rep. Mike Hawker, R-Anchorage, said legislators who passed the Ski Safety Act intended for the court to establish a range of penalties, but the court ruled that the act didn't actually provide that authority. Hawker's bill does.
Eaglecrest Manager Paul Swanson said the bill gives teeth to the safety code.
"It would help us, rather than pulling lift tickets or restricting access to the area, if there was a bail schedule set for these different violations. It would just add more credence to what we're trying to do," Swanson said.
The Ski Safety Act outlaws the following: skiing in a closed area, skiing while intoxicated, using a ski without a retention strap or device, impeding the uphill track of a surface lift such as a tow-rope lift, and leaving the scene of a collision where someone is injured except to get immediate medical assistance.
Swanson said Eaglecrest doesn't have a big problem with violations. The most common is skiers venturing into closed areas. He said ski patrollers have caught fewer than 10 skiers doing that this season.
The penalty depends on the violation.
"It could be anywhere from a warning to (revoking lift tickets for) a day to 15 days to a year," Swanson said. "It's kind of contradictory to what we want to do - we want to make it safe, but we also want to sell tickets."
New penalties would be up to the Supreme Court, but the most recent proposal included fines of up to $150, Hawker said.
"The industry believes it creates a certain disincentive or motivating factor to keep people from flouting common-sense courtesy," he said.
The bill passed through the House Resources Committee this week and moves on to State Affairs. Rep. Nicholas Stepovich, R-Fairbanks, didn't vote against moving the bill out of committee, but he didn't recommend it either. He said he wanted to be sure that skiing remains a fun and free sport.
"Most skiers will agree that their expressionism and the freedom they get in skiing is why they do it. I want to ensure that those things are always there," Stepovich said.
• Masha Herbst can be reached at masha.herbst@juneauempire.com.