Any liabilities and presumptions pursuant to this article apply only with regard to actions or potential actions between an operator and a participant or passenger. This article has no applicability to actions between a participant or passenger and any other person.
§ 8.01-227.23.Applicability of article.
Chapter 3. Actions · Article 25. Winter Sports Safety Act · Last amended 2012 · Last verified July 16, 2026
In one sentenceSection 8.01-227.23 limits the Winter Sports Safety Act’s liability rules and presumptions to disputes between an operator and a participant or passenger, leaving claims against anyone else — another participant, a manufacturer, or any other person — untouched.
Full Text of § 8.01-227.23
Plain-English Summary
This closing provision fixes the article’s reach: the liabilities and presumptions it creates, including the assumption-of-risk presumption in § 8.01-227.19 and the operator-liability standard in § 8.01-227.20, apply only to actions or potential actions between an operator and a participant or a passenger.
The article has no bearing on a claim a participant or passenger might bring against someone else — another skier, an equipment manufacturer, or an independent contractor, for example. Those claims proceed under whatever law would otherwise apply, unaffected by anything in this article.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Winter Sports Safety Act apply if I sue another skier who ran into me, rather than the resort?
No. Section 8.01-227.23 limits the article’s liabilities and presumptions to actions between an operator and a participant or passenger; it does not reach a claim against another participant.
Can an equipment manufacturer rely on this article’s protections if sued over defective ski gear?
No. The article applies only to disputes between an operator and a participant or passenger, not to claims against manufacturers or other third parties.
What relationships does § 8.01-227.23 say the article governs?
Actions or potential actions between an operator and a participant or a passenger, and nothing broader.
If the article does not apply to a claim against another skier, what law governs that claim instead?
Ordinary Virginia negligence and tort law, unaffected by the article’s assumption-of-risk presumption or its operator-specific liability standards.
Why does the article limit itself to disputes between an operator and a participant or passenger?
Because the Act is built around the specific relationship, warnings, and duties running between a winter sports area operator and the people who use its facilities, not general accident liability among third parties.
Amendment History
2012, c. 713.
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Code of Virginia, published by the
Code of Virginia, Virginia Division of Legislative Automated Systems. Last verified July 16, 2026.
· Official source
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