Send them the bill....

I'm sure it's in the mail!!

Wonders if they will be the first to be charged under the new laws for skiers and snowboarders who stray out of bounds. I think it is a good idea. Saves the taxpayers a lot of money.

Wouldn't it be nice if the rescued would be grateful and appreciative enough to insist on paying the cost of their rescue?

Hospital bills too, of course!

And they would quickly volunteer to put in some hours helping out at one of the organizations that saved their behinds.

Yup, if you need the services of search and rescue, fire, police, hospitals, ambulance, doctors, teachers and all other types of public service personnel you should have to pay out of your own pocket. Wait a minute....we already do, it's called paying taxes. Go figure!

You all learn throughout your lives that you could be killed at any instant while travelling in a vehicle, yet you do it anyway. If you don't heed the warnings and are involved in an incident you should have to pay for your rescue, police, fire, ambulance, etc, etc yourself.

Makes perfect sense to me.

Oh, wait a minute, thats different isn't it.

Alrighty then!

Whereever I've skied, there are signs posted that show where the boundaries are. When one goes past the boundary, one should be held accountable for their actions.

And, I guess that if I do something that is outside the norm, I should be held accountable too. Driving a car is not outside the norm though. As for the drivers that cause wrecks and damage through reckless driving, they can be held accountable for the costs involved.

I agree with 3cents worth, IF you go out of bounds, or are doing something else that is not recommended, or you have been warned against, you should be held resposible for the costs of rescue. In Arizona, California and Nevada, there are a lot of dips in the roads(no pun intended!) through the deserts where flash floods are channeled, to avoid wiping out the highway every time it rains. The government in Arizona anyway, decided that if they have to rescue you from a a flooded wash that you have driven into, despite the signs warning drivers "do not enter when flooded" then you shall pay for the privilege. I support this type of thinking, and shouldn't you be so grateful to be alive that you will gladly pay the costs?
metalman.

"When one goes past the boundary, one should be held accountable for their actions."

That includes doing anything in life including driving your car or anything else we humans know to be life and limb threatening. You knew the risks but did it anyway.

"Driving a car is not outside the norm though"

Really?
Then neither is skiing out of bounds or sledding in an avalanche chute. After all humans were meant to be hurtling down the hwy in 2 tons of steel, right?

We are all very aware that driving or riding in a car is a very risky business. You take a risk every time you do so. You could have a tire blow out at 100Kms an hour or have a Moose run out in front of you in the dark of night. You knew the risks but went anyway. Therefore according to your rules you should be subject to the same rules you would have skiers, sledders hikers, etc live by.

So, by your logic, most skiers ski out of bounds? They would have to in order for that to be the norm. I guess that if the majority of skiers ski out of bounds, then the rest of us should pay to look after them.

And, you say, the average sledder sleds in avalanche chutes? Once again, if this is the norm, I guess we should be paying to look after them too.

In my opinion though, the average skier does not ski out of bounds and the average sledder does not run up and down avalanche chutes. I have no problem with paying for the rescue of the average person doing something that most people do in the event that something goes wrong. The ones that go beyond and push the envelope though, I do have a problem with paying for.

You don't seem to think that driving a car is something that most people do (hence the norm in our society)? I don't know how to argue that with you.

Don't we have to have insurance when we drive? Doesn't that pay some of the bills when you have an accident? Don't people that do really dumb things with their vehicles sometimes get to pay extra monies as penalties for their actions? I believe those are called fines.

Maybe the out-of-bounds skiers and the chute-running sledders should have to have some insurance before they partake in what they enjoy. Then, the average person wouldn't have to pay as much when something happens to them.

Anyhow, it would be interesting to compare the percentage of all drivers that are killed/injured/need to be rescued each year to the percentage of all skiers that ski out of bounds that are killed/injured/need to be rescued each year. I have no proof, but my gut says that the skiers' percentage will be higher. If you have the numbers, it would be an interesting read.