N.M. Stat. § 24-15-3 (2026)

As used in the Ski Safety Act:

   A. "ski lift" means any device operated by a ski area operator used to transport
passengers by single or double reversible tramway, chair lift or gondola lift, T-bar lift, J-
bar lift, platter lift or similar device or a fiber rope tow;

    B. "passenger" means any person, at any time in the year, who is lawfully using a
ski lift or is waiting to embark or has recently disembarked from a ski lift and is in its
immediate vicinity;

   C. "ski area" means the property owned, permitted, leased or under the control of
the ski area operator and administered as a single enterprise within the state;

   D. "ski area operator" means any person, partnership, corporation or other
commercial entity and its agents, officers, employees or representatives who has
operational responsibility for any ski area or ski lift;

   E. "skiing" means participating in the sport in which a person slides on snow, ice or
a combination of snow and ice while using skis;

    F. "skiing area" means all slopes, trails, terrain parks and competition areas, not
including any ski lift;

     G. "skier" means any person, including a person enrolled in ski school or other class
for instruction, who is on skis and present at a skiing area under the control of a ski area
operator for the purpose of engaging in the sport of skiing by utilizing the ski slopes and
trails and does not include a passenger;

   H. "ski slopes and trails" means those areas designated by the ski area operator to
be used by skiers for the purpose of participating in the sport of skiing;

   I. "ski retention device" means a device designed to help prevent runaway skis;
and
   J. "skis" means any device used for skiing, including alpine skis, telemark skis,
cross-country skis, mono-skis, snowboards, bladerunners, adaptive devices used by
disabled skiers, or tubes, sleds or any other device used to accomplish the same or a
similar purpose to participate in the sport of skiing.

History: Laws 1969, ch. 218, § 3; 1953 Comp., § 12-16-3; recompiled as 1953 Comp.,
§ 12-28-3 by Laws 1972, ch. 51, § 9; 1978 Comp., § 24-15-3, repealed and reenacted
by Laws 1979, ch. 279, § 3; 1997, ch. 211, § 2.

                                     ANNOTATIONS

Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 1979, ch. 279, § 3 repealed and reenacted 24-
15-3 NMSA 1978, effective April 4, 1979.

The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, inserted "at any time in the year" near
the beginning of Subsection B, added Subsections E and J, redesignated former
Subsections E to H as Subsections F to I, inserted "terrain parks and competition areas"
in Subsection F, inserted "including a person enrolled in ski school or other class for
instruction, who is on skis and" near the beginning of Subsection G, substituted "a
passenger" for "the use of a ski lift" at the end of Subsection G, and made minor stylistic
changes throughout the section.