Risky business "guiding" sledders in any terrain let alone big terrain. Accidents do and will happen, more often when we are pushing our limits. We are in the sue someone if you can era and it sucks. The losers of frivolous lawsuits should be liable for the defendants legal bill...period.
I agree that going on record and claiming a poo is more dangerous than any other sled in the mountains weakens his position in a lawsuit. The reliability claim is ridiculous, have been riding a long time and all brands break. The newer Pros do not break any more than the other brands. He should have excluded any sled in a condition they deem unreliable and not named a brand, that way they wouldn't alienate a lot of potential customers.
Since I am not in the guiding business, we just do that for free here
, I do not know all of the pitfalls. What I am pretty sure of is that this was a bad decision that is likely to have more negative repercussions than positive.
I would think that at a minimum they use a damage and injury waiver. Then you have people showing up with their own equipment which seems to be part of the problem. I would compare it to Porsche Club drivers ed events. Not racing but high speed track events, in your car. Same waivers apply but cars must be inspected for safety by a qualified mechanic before being allowed to participate.
The problem I see with trying to implement inspections is sledders pride, the same problem when you call out one brand. If you took 15 minutes per sled looking for potential or existing issues you could probably preclude many of the backcountry breakdowns.
My sled gets a pretty thorough inspection after each weekends ride, and a once over before leaving the house for the next ride. Owners should do this but most don't. Those are the guys breaking down in the back country. The Pro is the best mtn sled out there, sales figures, races won etc. It is also likely the highest maintenance sled out there. As they age and some are neglected, you will see problems.
One of riding buddies, who obviously didn't do pre flight checks brought his '13 Pro out with a ground down jackshaft from it spinning inside the bearings race behind the brake disc. I heard the metal on metal squeal when we were in the trees. Back on the road, inspection revealed the top pulley moving back an forth with nearly 1/2 of play and no tension on the belt at all. It was amazing it worked at all. He would have kept riding it that way but he is fairly young and new to mountain life. I made him ride out.
So it happens whether being guided or not and I think it is peoples habits more than the manufacturers sleds. The problem you are having with Pros is the owners neglecting them. How many Pro owners have followed the recommendation in the manual to go through and re-torque all of the fasteners on the machine at 1000 miles?
I might lean towards mandatory machine inspections prior to heading out. In addition, have a few good rentals around in case you have a sled that is sure to be a problem. That way you could continue to offer tours for the most popular mountain sled ever.
