The bill amends existing Washington statutes (RCW 79A.40.010, 79A.45.030, and RCW 79A.45.060) to update terminology related to ski areas and explicitly include recreational conveyance devices associated with winter sports (for example, aerial tramways, aerial lifts, surface lifts, tows, conveyors, and similar devices). It requires owners or operators of those devices to construct, furnish, maintain, and provide safe and adequate facilities and equipment to receive and transport persons, and it states owners/operators of the devices covered by RCW 79A.40.010 are not common carriers. The bill revises and restates skier conduct and safety rules in RCW 79A.45.030, including requirements that persons act within their ability, use designated boarding/disembarking areas, not throw objects from lifts or interfere with safe operation, control speed and course, avoid grooming equipment and lift structures, and not place objects in uphill tracks or cross uphill tracks except at designated locations. It clarifies that a person is the sole judge of their ability to negotiate terrain, creates a presumption that a person boarding a tramway or lift has sufficient ability, limits operator/attendant liability for failure to instruct, places primary duty to avoid collisions on downhill skiers, makes persons outside trail confines responsible for resulting injuries or losses, and states boarding without authority is trespass. The bill changes liability/insurance requirements in RCW 79A.45.060 by requiring every operator of an aerial tramway, aerial lift, surface lift, tow, conveyor, or similar device to maintain liability insurance of at least $1,000,000 per occurrence. It exempts tramways that are not open to the general public and are operated without charge, but the insurance requirement still applies to tramways operated by schools, ski clubs, or similar organizations. These are modifications to existing law that add and clarify safety, conduct, and insurance obligations rather than creating a new crime; the text does not include any new penalties beyond the trespass statement. The bill was introduced at the request of the Parks and Recreation Commission and the record shows it was prefiled 01/06/26, passed the House 02/10/26, and passed the Senate 03/03/26. The extracted text does not provide an effective or operative date, a formal statutory definitions section for terms used, or detail other enforcement mechanisms or penalties that might appear elsewhere.

If enacted, commercial ski areas and anyone who owns or runs aerial tramways, chairlifts, surface lifts, tows, conveyors, or similar winter-sport conveyances will need to ensure those systems are built, maintained, and operated to promote patron and employee safety and carry at least $1,000,000 in liability insurance per occurrence. That will increase ongoing costs for operators and especially for smaller operators like schools or ski clubs (which the bill specifically keeps within the insurance and safety rules), while patrons and on-foot or downhill skiers will face clearer personal responsibilities for avoiding collisions and following posted or given instructions; operators’ exposure for injuries caused by a rider’s lack of ability or failure to follow instructions is more limited except where operator negligence causes conditions. The people most affected are resort and lift owners/operators, schools and club operators of lifts, employees who run or maintain lifts, and skiers using the areas; they should expect higher insurance premiums, potentially higher maintenance or upgrade spending, and a shift in how liability claims are likely to be framed. The bill text does not provide an effective date or precise definitions and does not spell out enforcement or penalty details, so the timing and some implementation specifics remain unclear.