Posted On: November 20, 2004, 10:50 pm CST

Posted By: peter

Comparing the construction of a winter snow tubing hill to that of a roadway is ridiculous. Snow is a variable medium that exposes recreationists, skier or tuber alike, to the same inherent risks. Yes, skis are a controlled device that can turn and stop more easily than a tube, but to say that one can not drag their feet or use common sense to avoid injury at a tubing park is rather obtuse. I have over 15 years of experience with winter tubing parks (and no they aren't all in it for the money) and while facility upkeep is a crucial part of the operation, staff awareness and involvement is the best resolve to managing the risks. Sweeney was let down by that tubing park because she was not properly attended to for the activity she was doing. To condemn snow tubing parks altogether is as much a folly as saying it is o.k. for a backcountry skier to file suit because a ski area didn't groom the slope. Snow conditions change rapidly in a mountain setting and while a park is constructed it is ignorant to believe that each and every trip down the hill will be the same. Spend any amount of time on a tubing hill watching people and you begin to understand that many come to experience bumps, collisions, and the crashes...management of those people is the key. Tubing is a fun family activity that is as much the users responsiblity to make safe as the facilities who provide the space for it to happen. I agree with the Supreme Court of N.H. on this one based on the negligence of the area, but don't condemn the sport of snow tubing (N.Y. Sup says its a sport) because you're an uptight skier who couldn't figure out how to put your feet down to slow your tube. Adequate staffing to remind people to use good judgement is the only recourse against the close minded approach that a hill of snow should be as meticulously contructed and flawlessly safe as a roadway....uh huh and there are never auto accidents. good grief.