A recent issue of the Kendall Report from Kendall Insurance to NSAA insurance plan managers, expressed concern over the growing number of Alpine rental shops adding crosscountry equipment rentals. Most shop managers assume the same rental form works for both types of equipment. In reality the binding release disclaimers on Alpine rental forms are not appropriate for cross-country bindings.
Shops renting both types of equipment should have separate crosscountry rental forms with disclaimer information pointing out that crosscountry bindings will not release during a fall. A cross-country rental form must be considered as important in the defense of a liability claim as the Alpine equipment rental form is.
Cross-country skiing is still new and there have been very few problems with liability claims, but the potential is there. To check this idea and to see what some of the major cross-country touring centers were doing about binding release disclaimers, I collected rental forms from four Western touring centers.
An Idaho center has a very limp release on their rental form. It states that if the rental equipment is not returned in the same condition as it left, that the customer is liable for repair or replacement costs. That’s it. No disclaimer information about bindings.
A California center went a hair further with a tersely worded release: “Check all items. Renter is responsible for all losses or misuse of equipment. Equipment is rented at your own risk.” The words “at your own risk” come a little closer to the point, but there’s no mention of bindings and their function.
In Oregon, a popular touring center has an excellent rental form with a comprehensive release. Their release covers damage to the equipment, extra charges for equipment kept out after 5:00 p.m. and accident liability. Part of their liability release reads as follows: “I fully understand and assume the risk involved in skiing and the use of ski equipment and hereby release (area name) and its employees and subsidiaries from any claims resulting in injuries I may receive with the equipment I am renting.” A bit tighter than the other two, but still no disclaimer on bindings.
The rental form of California’s largest and most popular touring center simply uses an Alpine rental form for cross-country rentals. The touring center operator had selected a popular standard Alpine ski rental form from his office form supplier and had his center’s name inserted in the right places. This release covered all the essentials from equipment damage to personal liability, then finished off with this disclaimer in bold type: “Bindings are not guaranteed and are only as good as their mechanical function.” It’s a disclaimer, but what does it mean. It’s so unclear and ambiguous, it could be legalese from the mouth of “professor” Irwin Corey.
If your want to blunt liability claims you must have an all encompassing release statement and a clear binding disclaimer on your rental form. As we’ve seen, the cross-country pros haven’t come up with either. There are two ways of tackling the problem. One is to incorporate the binding disclaimer within the release statement; the other is to put it in bold type at the bottom of the release statement.
As part of the release statement, the binding disclaimer might read: “I understand that the bindings I am renting will not release on a fall and I fully understand the risk involved in their use, etc.” As a bold type statement the wording could be: “Crosscountry bindings do not release on a fall. In signing this release you acknowledge this fact.” Check with your legal department, lawyer or insurance company and get the right wording on your cross-country rental forms for the coming season.
While liability claims have not been a problem in cross-country skiing, this will surely change as the sport continues to grow in popularity and as more inexperienced people try it. The carefully written release with proper disclaimers is the rental shop’s first line of defense in a claim. Nobody in cross-country is about to cry wolf over the potential of liability problems, but most experienced crosscountry touring center and rental program operators are beginning to see that a few sentences of protection now may be pounds of proof in years to come.
