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Hit and run takes on a whole new meaning when ski resorts crank up lifts each winter and visitors join locals to test their abilities on snowy mountainsides.
But shredders beware: Reckless skiing or snowboarding is against the law in Park City, as well as Summit and Salt Lake counties. Together, they encompass Deer Valley, Park City Mountain Resort, Canyons Resort, Solitude, Brighton, Snowbird and Alta.
And one Utah lawmaker is studying whether those laws should be strengthened.
Like driving during rush hour on Interstate 15, collisions are just part of the landscape on Utah's mountains, where skiers and snowboarders ply the powder and schuss groomed runs faster than they should. And like the freeway, the bigger, younger sliders win out in crashes with the smaller, older ones.
According to Park City, Salt Lake and Summit county ordinances, skiers and boarders involved in accidents must remain at the scene and make sure others impacted receive proper care.
Depending on the accident, a reckless slider could be charged with up to a class B misdemeanor, which carries a maximum six-month jail sentence and $1,000 fine.
One such accident already is under investigation this year after a Dec. 2 collision at Park City Mountain Resort when a fast-paced boarder knocked down a 65-year-old skier. The collision resulted in numerous injuries to the senior citizen, including a broken wrist, according to the Park City Police Department.
The boarder in the accident did not leave the scene. But that isn't always the case in such crashes.
State Rep. Kraig Powell, R-Heber City, said after listening to concerns from constituents, he was considering introducing a bill in the upcoming 2015 Legislature that would criminalize leaving the slope-side scene of an accident.
During research, however, he learned that Summit and Salt Lake county laws already forbid hit-and-run accidents at ski resorts, as does Park City. He will hold off initiating such legislation for now, but said Friday he will continue to study the topic in an effort to determine if a stronger law is needed.
Powell said he also was dissuaded by Ski Utah, the industry's public-relations arm, which feared publicity about reckless-skiing laws in Utah might drive down tourism.
"The industry was a little concerned that the Utah Legislature thought skiing was dangerous," he said. "I want to be sensitive to that."
A spokesman for Park City Mountain Resort said that ski area supports laws that make skiing and boarding safer.
"The safety of our guests and employees is our number one priority at Park City Mountain Resort," said communications director Andy Miller. "It is the responsibility of all resort guests to follow the Skiers' Responsibility Code, which includes skiing and riding under control, being aware of their surroundings and showing courtesy to others with whom they share the slopes."
It is clear, of course, that collisions between skiers and boarders is not something unique to Utah.
Colorado has had for decades a comprehensive, no-nonsense law, the Ski Safety Act of 1979, that spells out responsibilities and liabilities on mountain slopes.
In November 2000, a 21-year-old man was convicted of negligent homicide in Eagle County, Colo., district court after he skied into and killed a 33-year-old man at Vail, Colo.