Opinion ID: 1198971
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The Tramway Act And The Ski Safety Act

Text: The statutory canons of construction require us to give effect to the plain meaning of statutory enactments; we must employ rules of grammar and common usage and accord to technical terms and legislative definitions their particular meaning. See § 2-4-101, 1 C.R.S. (1997). The Colorado General Assembly initially addressed ski safety in Colorado through the 1965 Tramway Act. The act's purpose is to assist in safeguarding life, health, property, and the welfare of the state in the operation of passenger tramways. [3] See § 25-5-701, 8 C.R.S. (1997). The act establishes a Board to prevent unnecessary mechanical hazards and to assure that reasonable design and construction are used for, that accepted safety devices and sufficient personnel are provided for, and that periodic inspections and adjustments are made which are deemed essential to the safe operation of, passenger tramways. § 25-5-701, 8 C.R.S. (1997). The General Assembly has confirmed that, notwithstanding the powers and duties of the Tramway Board, [t]he primary responsibility for design, construction, maintenance, operation, and inspection rests with the area operators of passenger tramway devices. § 25-5-705, 8 C.R.S. (1997) (emphasis added). The legislature has empowered the Board [4] with rulemaking and enforcement authority to carry out its functions. The Board is authorized, but not required, to utilize the standards adopted by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), see § 25-5-704, 8 C.R.S. (1997), and has authority to conduct investigations and inspections, to discipline ski area operators, to issue licenses, to order emergency shut downs, and to engage in other functions related to the purpose of the Tramway Act, see §§ 25-5-704 to -716, 8 C.R.S. (1997). [5] The Board by regulation has adopted the ANSI 1992 standards, with some additions, revisions, and deletions. See Rule 0.1, 3 C.C.R. 718-1 at 1. Building on the construct of the Tramway Act, the General Assembly followed with the Ski Safety Act in 1979. This act supplements the Tramway Act's focus on ski lifts, but its principal function is to define the duties of ski areas and skiers with regard to activities and features on the ski slopes. See § 33-44-102, 9 C.R.S. (1997). In 1990 amendments to the Ski Safety Act, the legislature limited the liability of ski area operators for accidents on the slopes involving the inherent dangers and risks of skiing. See ch. 256, sec. 7, § 33-44-112, 1990 Colo. Sess. Laws, 1543; see also ch. 256, sec. 1, Legislative Declaration, 1990 Colo. Sess. Laws, 1540; Graven v. Vail Assocs., 909 P.2d 514, 517-18 (Colo.1995). Included within the inherent risks of skiing are dangers or conditions that are an integral part of the sport of skiing, such as weather, snow conditions, collisions with natural and man-made objects, and terrain variations. See § 33-44-103(3.5), 9 C.R.S. (1997). The skier must know the range of his or her ability, ski in control, maintain a proper lookout while skiing, avoid collisions with other skiers, and not use a ski slope or trail or passenger tramway while impaired by alcohol or other controlled substances. See § 33-44-109, 9 C.R.S. (1997). The statute provides that no skier may make any claim against or recover from any ski area operator for injury resulting from any of the inherent dangers and risks of skiing. § 33-44-112, 9 C.R.S. (1997). See also Graven, 909 P.2d at 518-21. For their part, ski area operators must maintain a sign system, including signs indicating the level of difficulty of the area's slopes and trails, notices that warn of danger areas, closed trails, and ski area boundaries, and the marking of man-made structures that are not readily visible to skiers. See § 33-44-107, 9 C.R.S. (1997). They must undertake safety precautions related to the operation of equipment such as snowmobiles and motorized snow-grooming vehicles on slopes and trails within ski area boundaries. See § 33-44-108, 9 C.R.S. (1997). The Ski Safety Act also addresses aspects of ski lift operation through several provisions which regulate passenger conduct. Passengers must have sufficient physical dexterity to use a lift safely and are required to observe certain conduct when embarking, riding, and disembarking a ski lift. See § 33-44-105, 9 C.R.S. (1997). They may not move outside designated areas, throw objects from the tramway, engage in conduct that could cause injury to others, or disobey instructions from the ski area operator. See id. On the other hand, ski area operators must maintain a sign system including specific instructions such as Keep Ski Tips Up, and Unload Here. See § 33-44-106, 9 C.R.S. (1997). Any violation of the statute's provisions applicable to skiers constitutes negligence on their part; in tandem, any violations by a ski area operator of the Ski Safety Act or the Tramway Act constitute negligence as to them. See § 33-44-104, 9 C.R.S. (1997). The effect of these statutory provisions is to make violations of the Ski Safety Act and/or Tramway Act negligence per se.