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Colorado skier safety bill fails to make it out of committee vote

Bill faced stiff opposition from the ski industry

A bill that would require Colorado ski areas to share safety strategies as well as statistics revealing injuries and fatalities didn’t make it out of a committee vote Thursday in Denver after hours of emotional testimony.

More than 20 supporters representing a mix of families who have lost loved ones to skiing accidents, consumer safety advocates, physicians and academic experts testified in support of Senate Bill 184, known as “Ski Area Safety Plans and Accident Reporting,” in Thursday’s hearing in front of the Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Kerry Donovan, a Vail Democrat.

The bill faced stiff resistance from ski industry leaders who testified Thursday.



Patricia Campbell, who has run Vail Resorts’ Mountain Division since 2015 and is taking a new role as a senior advisor to the company, offered testimony against the bill, as did Rana Dershowitz, a high-ranking Aspen Skiing Co. executive, and Melanie Mills, the president and CEO of Colorado Ski Country USA. Chris Romer, the president and CEO of the Vail Valley Partnership, also spoke out against the bill.

A vote to move the bill out of committee failed, 4-1, with the lone “aye” vote coming from one Sen. Jessie Danielson of Wheat Ridge, who was one of the bill’s co-sponsors.



This story will be updated.


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