Drunk skiing - the legalities thereof

I was just reading another thread of the dangers of drink cycling and that its possible to get points on your license for such an offence.

is there some punishment or fine out there if you are out of control on skis due to being under the influence? there was a guy killed earlier this year in st anton, having left krazy kangaruh after many beers skied into a hut and this got me thinking about it too. and if so, who might police this?

no.

you could, however, probably be done for gross negligence or something similar should you injure someone whilst under the influence

actually i meant to add, st anton is certainly not an exception with having bars open till 7ish with still a bit to ski down at the end of what is for most a 3hr beer session. quite enough to be in all sorts of trouble. how can they be licensed?

i can see it now. "sorry, you cant smoke in here as its against the rules but we will serve you as much beer as you like and then its up to you to get home". daft, but great fun

I would have taken a ticket rather than cutting my head open while learning to snowboard after a few at lunch...

And I would have taken a skiing speeding ticket rather than my torn ACL.. but thats just no fun then eh

Yeah skiing in the dark is like that

As Tom also seems to have experienced, skiing drunk increases the chances of damaging your own body significantly. The event is burned on my memory despite being pissed at the time.

Unless anything happens, you won't get fined (you don't get fined for drunk walking either).

However: if anything happens (to you or someone else) and there is any significant amount of alcohol in your blood (and that could be the remains of a heavy drinking session the night before), almost all of your insurances will at least partly be invalidated. And being rescued off a mountain can turn out to be very expensive.

This, by the way, applies in Germany for driving a car as well: you might still be under the legal limit for driving, but if you have had something to drink (more than just a sip of wine), you are automatically partly at fault for an accident, even if someone bumps into form behind while you are standing at a red light.

Funnily enough, I have often wondered the same thing when out mountain biking. Sweating up a long climb, having 1 or 2 in the Hutte, then getting on the bike and pointing it down a steep single track full of tourists And that's without mentioning the hip flask full of Ardbeg...

surely that is against eu law? if u have done nothing wrong and are legally allowed to drive then there is no justification for paying out less in cover!! how do they scam that then?

It appears to be established case law.

Not everything that is legal means that it takes all responsibility from you. And German courts do tend to consider the responsibility of the individual going beyond what the law states you may or may not do (i.e. assume that common sense exists).

I think the limit is 0.03 % for when insurances/courts almost automatically assign part of the blame. The legal limit is 0.05%.

And: you may ski drunk, but don't expect your insurance to cover costs that arise from injuries. I have heard of people who have been breathalised after an accident on the slopes.