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Alyeska Ski Resort charges for rescue, bans guest for a year
You know times are tough when the rescue shows up on your bill. When Matt Davis, skiing at Alyeska Ski Resort, needed to be rescued, it took 13 members of the ski patrol to bring him – and his fractured left leg – to safety. Despite the fact that it required a baker's dozen of "highly trained" professionals, the feat occurred on a well-marked, roped-off stretch of Mount Alyeska (that was off-limits).Davis now knows the true cost of his life ... at least on February 28, 2009. He has been required to pay $845 for the rescue. To add insult to industry, Davis has been banned from Alyeska for a year.
Filed under: Skiing, Business, North America, United States, News, Consumer Activism
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jmchez Mar 16th 2009 4:24PM
About time!
The rest of us should not have to pay ever increasing prices for lift tickets because people disobey rules and then need rescuing. Or worse yet, disobey rules then sue because "the signs were too small and the ski resort really needed to put up a fence" to protect the guy from his own stupidity.
Gordon Mar 16th 2009 8:25PM
Completely appropriate because he was skiing out-of-bounds!
Areas are marked out-of-bounds because it's dangerous to ski there, as Matt Davis is now intimately aware. There have been a number of skiers and snowboarders who have been injured or killed while skiing out-of-bounds in Canada this winter. Their rescues have put the lives of the rescuers in danger from things like avalanches and consumed huge amounts of resources.
His rescue should be used on posters at the ski area as a reason why not to ski out-of-bounds: "Matt Davis won't be skiing here next year because he broke his leg while skiing out-of-bounds this year. Don't be like Matt -- don't ski out-of-bounds."
Willy Mar 17th 2009 11:44AM
Love Gordon's ideas!!
Some cities in Colorado have started charging for rescues, as unqualified people have begun hiking trails they're not capable of handling and then using cellphones to call for assistance. I think this is fair.