It may come as a surprise, but there is currently no concrete standard when it comes to Cal-OSHA regulation and the popular ski resorts located in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California.
Historically, ski resorts around the country have been left to their own merits of ensuring that the slopes that attract millions each year are safe for their guests with little or no government oversight. That standard practice is now coming under scrutiny in the state of California with officials stating that standards are sorely lacking, or are non-existent altogether.
Current Cal-OSHA Ski Regulations
Currently, the only laws and regulations that govern the ever-growing and increasingly popular ski industry are those that pertain to chairlift operations, conveyances and tow ropes. These are to ensure that the guests utilizing these facilities are kept safe while being transported up-slope.
One of the areas that is coming under fire the most at these popular resort destinations are the conditions of trails and the functionality of jumps built by snowcat operators. These two crucial areas of resort operations are not regulated by Cal-OSHA or any other state governing body. While there are standards for the industry, it may come as a surprise that most of the snowcat operators started out as lift operators and eventually moved up the ladder to groom trails and engineer jumps. However, there are no licensing requirements for those who are grooming trails or, more importantly, engineering jumps.
There are Cal-OSHA requirements when it comes to the machines that are used to groom trails and build jumps in the park, but that pertains specifically to the operation of heavy machinery, and not the engineering that goes behind building proper jumps. These operators do not have any oversight and can sometimes craft jumps that don’t align with physics and are doomed to injure those who utilize them.
Will The Laws Change Moving Forward?
A UC David professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering, Mont Hubbard, has extensively researched and written papers on this topic and believes that the industry is sorely lacking governmental oversight from Cal-OSHA regulators. He notes that “resorts just don’t know or appreciate the laws of physics”. He stated that terrain park managers are often just individuals who have moved up in ranks after beginning as lift operators. He is quoted as saying, “You wouldn’t want Honda or Ford to design its cars by people coming up as car washers, then mechanics…”
The question remains – are there enough Cal-OSHA regulations when it comes to the ski and snowboard industry, or are they sorely lacking? There are nationwide standards that resorts comply with, as well as some state bodies that govern the industry such as the California Ski Industry Association, but most of the regulations issued by this organization do not pertain to terrain parks or grooming operations. Additional guidelines and regulations are issued on a nationwide basis by the American Society of Safety Engineers, which all resorts abide by, but again they lack the guidelines needed to govern the terrain park operations.
What do you think? Does the ski and snowboard industry need more regulation by the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal-OSHA) or should they be left to govern themselves by unspoken industry standards? Comment below to discuss further!