Wyoming lawmakers are considering legislation that would extend workers’ compensation protections to volunteer ski patrollers and add ski patrol personnel to the state’s legal definition of a first responder.
The Wyoming Legislature’s Joint Labor, Health & Social Services Committee considered the proposal during an Oct. 1 meeting in Riverton. The committee’s official agenda specifically included a draft titled “Worker’s compensation-volunteer ski patrol” as part of a broader discussion about workers’ compensation coverage and mental health benefits.
The proposal, currently identified as Draft 27LSO-0037 v0.3, remains a legislative draft and has not become law. If ultimately enacted, it would amend Wyoming’s workers’ compensation statutes to specifically include volunteer ski patrol personnel among volunteers covered by the system and classify ski patrol personnel as first responders.
Why The First Responder Designation Matters
Under Wyoming’s existing workers’ compensation law, a first responder is currently defined as a peace officer or an employee who works or volunteers as a firefighter, search and rescue worker or ambulance worker. Ski patrollers are not specifically included in that definition.
That distinction can be particularly important when it comes to mental health injuries. Wyoming law allows first responders to receive workers’ compensation benefits for a qualifying mental injury without first suffering a compensable physical injury. The condition must meet statutory requirements, including a diagnosis from a qualified mental health professional and clear and convincing evidence supporting the claim.
Workers who do not qualify as first responders generally face a different standard. Under current law, a mental injury usually must be caused by a compensable physical injury and occur at the same time or afterward to qualify for workers’ compensation coverage. The Wyoming Department of Workforce Services outlined that distinction earlier this year while lawmakers were examining whether emergency dispatchers should also be classified as first responders.
Adding ski patrol personnel to the first responder definition would therefore potentially make qualifying mental health claims compensable even when the patroller did not suffer a physical injury during the incident.
Volunteer Patrollers Are Currently In A Different Category
Wyoming workers’ compensation law generally excludes volunteers unless they fall into specifically enumerated categories. Current law includes volunteer firefighters, search and rescue personnel, ambulance personnel, search pilots, mine rescue workers and several other groups, but does not specifically list volunteer ski patrollers. Draft 27LSO-0037 would add volunteer ski patrol personnel to that list.
That would represent a meaningful change for patrollers who provide emergency medical care, transport injured skiers, respond to accidents and perform other safety duties at ski areas without working as paid resort employees.
The coverage issue varies significantly around the country. The National Ski Patrol notes in its patroller training materials that workers’ compensation insurance generally covers employees injured in the course of their employment, while coverage for unpaid volunteer patrollers and emergency responders depends on the laws of the individual state.
Proposal Could Take Effect In 2027
The draft calls for the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services to develop the rules necessary to implement the changes. Under the current version, the primary workers’ compensation changes would take effect July 1, 2027, if the proposal successfully moves through the Legislature and becomes law.
For now, the measure is still at the interim committee stage. The Oct. 1 discussion was part of the Joint Labor, Health & Social Services Committee’s work ahead of Wyoming’s 2027 legislative session, meaning the proposal would still have to move through the formal legislative process before any new benefits became available.
The debate nevertheless raises an unusual question for the ski industry: whether people who volunteer to provide emergency medical care and mountain rescue services at ski areas should receive the same workers’ compensation protections Wyoming already provides to several other categories of volunteer first responders.
