Colorado § 33-44-103 - Definitions.

§ 33-44-103. Definitions.

As used in this article 44, unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "Base area lift" means any passenger tramway which skiers ordinarily use without first using some other passenger tramway.

(2) "Competitor" means a skier actually engaged in competition, a special event, or training or practicing for competition or a special event on any portion of the area made available by the ski area operator.

(3) "Conditions of ordinary visibility" means daylight and, where applicable, nighttime in nonprecipitating weather.

(3.1) "Extreme terrain" means any place within the ski area boundary that contains cliffs with a minimum twenty-foot rise over a fifteen-foot run, and slopes with a minimum fifty-degree average pitch over a one-hundred-foot run.

(3.3) "Freestyle terrain" includes, but is not limited to, terrain parks and terrain park features such as jumps, rails, fun boxes, and all other constructed and natural features, half-pipes, quarter-pipes, and freestyle-bump terrain.

(3.5) "Inherent dangers and risks of skiing" means those dangers or conditions that are part of the sport of skiing, including changing weather conditions; snow conditions as they exist or may change, such as ice, hard pack, powder, packed powder, wind pack, corn, crust, slush, cut-up snow, and machine-made snow; surface or subsurface conditions such as bare spots, forest growth, rocks, stumps, streambeds, cliffs, extreme terrain, and trees, or other natural objects, and collisions with such natural objects; impact with lift towers, signs, posts, fences or enclosures, hydrants, water pipes, or other man-made structures and their components; variations in steepness or terrain, whether natural or as a result of slope design, snowmaking or grooming operations, including but not limited to roads, freestyle terrain, jumps, and catwalks or other terrain modifications; collisions with other skiers; and the failure of skiers to ski within their own abilities. The term "inherent dangers and risks of skiing" does not include the negligence of a ski area operator as set forth in section 33-44-104 (2). Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the liability of the ski area operator for injury caused by the use or operation of ski lifts.

(4) "Passenger" means any person who is lawfully using any passenger tramway.

(5) "Passenger tramway" means a device as defined in section 12-150-103 (5).

(6) "Ski area" means all ski slopes or trails and all other places within the ski area boundary, marked in accordance with section 33-44-107 (6), under the control of a ski area operator and administered as a single enterprise within this state.

(7) "Ski area operator" means an "area operator" as defined in section 12-150-103 (1) and any person, partnership, corporation, or other commercial entity having operational responsibility for any ski areas, including an agency of this state or a political subdivision thereof.

(8) "Skier" means any person using a ski area for the purpose of skiing, which includes, without limitation, sliding downhill or jumping on snow or ice on skis, a toboggan, a sled, a tube, a snowbike, a snowboard, or any other device; or for the purpose of using any of the facilities of the ski area, including but not limited to ski slopes and trails.

(9) "Ski slopes or trails" means all ski slopes or trails and adjoining skiable terrain, including all their edges and features, and those areas designated by the ski area operator to be used by skiers for any of the purposes enumerated in subsection (8) of this section. Such designation shall be set forth on trail maps, if provided, and designated by signs indicating to the skiing public the intent that such areas be used by skiers for the purpose of skiing. Nothing in this subsection (9) or in subsection (8) of this section, however, shall imply that ski slopes or trails may not be restricted for use by persons using skis only or for use by persons using any other device described in subsection (8) of this section.

Source: L. 79: Entire article added, p. 1238, § 1, effective July 1. L. 90: (3.5) added and (8) amended, p. 1540, § 2, effective July 1. L. 95: (7) amended, p. 1107, § 51, effective May 31. L. 2004: (2), (3.5), (6), (8), and (9) amended and (3.1) and (3.3) added, p. 1382, § 1, effective May 28. L. 2019: IP, (5), and (7) amended, (HB 19-1172), ch. 136, p. 1720, § 223, effective October 1.

Editor's note: Subsection (3.5) was originally numbered as (10) in Senate Bill 90-80 but has been renumbered on revision for ease of location.

Cross references: For the legislative declaration contained in the 1990 act enacting subsection (3.5) and amending subsection (8), see section 1 of chapter 256, Session Laws of Colorado 1990.

ANNOTATION

The term "competitor" does not include a person glide testing skis at the request of his employer, a ski manufacturer. He was not practicing for any competition but was only testing skis for use by racers who would be competing. Rowan v. Vail Holdings, Inc., 31 F. Supp. 2d 889 (D. Colo. 1998).

The term "inherent dangers and risks of skiing" includes avalanche. Ski area operator was not liable for skier's death because an avalanche is considered an inherent danger and risk of skiing. Fleury v. IntraWest Winter Park, 2014 COA 13, 411 P.3d 81, aff'd, 2016 CO 41, 372 P.3d 349.

A ski operator's negligence, which is established by a statutory violation of the Ski Safety Act that causes injury to a skier, is not an inherent danger or risk of skiing. Doering ex rel. Barrett v. Copper Mtn., Inc., 259 F.3d 1202 (10th Cir. 2001).

Variations in steepness or terrain under subsection (3.5) strongly suggests that definition of "inherent dangers and risks of skiing" cover those occurring within skiable areas and do not necessarily include those that might be encountered adjacent to the runs. Graven v. Vail Assocs., Inc., 909 P.2d 514 (Colo. 1995).

Rubber mats placed at the bottom of a snow tubing course are inherent dangers under subsection (3.5). Bazarewski v. Vail Corp., 23 F. Supp. 3d 1327 (D. Colo. 2014).

The term "ski area" does not include an area devoted to the parking of motor vehicles and the operation of shuttle buses. Therefore, none of the provisions of this act are applicable. McLean v. Winter Park Recreational Ass'n, 762 P.2d 751 (Colo. App. 1988).

The term "ski area" includes a bobsled run operated by defendant and the term "skier" includes those riding the bobsled. Cuny v. Vail Assocs., Inc., 902 P.2d 881 (Colo. App. 1995).

The district court properly denied motion requesting it to find as a matter of law that a collision with snow-grooming equipment is not an inherent danger or risk of skiing. Doering ex rel. Barrett v. Copper Mountain, Inc., 259 F.3d 1202 (10th Cir. 2001).