The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit recently heard oral arguments in a long-running battle over whether or not snowboarders should be prohibited from boarding at Utah's Alta Ski Area.

According to news reports, the lawsuit was filed in 2014 by four snowboarders against Alta and the U.S. Forest Service on grounds that Alta's prohibition excludes "a particular class of individuals" from use of public land, essentially amounting to discrimination against snowboarders.  Alta counters that it is not biased against snowboarders, but rather it has made a business decision to provide a snowboarder-free experience. Alta's lawyers further contend that snowboarding is less safe than skiing because of an alleged "blind spot."

Alta is one of three ski areas in North America that still bans snowboarding.

—Source: ski.curbed.com