Spirit Lake Lodge

To whom this may concern,On March 4, 2017 the customer and her friend rented 2 snowmobiles from us for a four hour unguided snowmobile trip. We sent their group out from our location in downtown Grand Lake in order to simplify the process for our customers as well as us. (No trailering, no driving...

cars to the trailhead, etc.) Multiple rental companies were operating out of town on the same day. The customer and her friend joined their group with another group who also rented from us (The two parties were not associated with each other)The customer and her friend returned from their four-hour trip, and both of their machines had significant damage to them. The customer’s friend also damaged one of the machines in the other party. The customer left her wrecked snowmobile on the mountain since she was unable to ride with a suspected broken arm.  We sent two guys to retrieve the abandoned machine. This would have cost the customer $200.00, but due to the nature of the incident we did not charge the customer for the retrieval of the abandoned snowmobile. When the guys arrived at the abandoned snowmobile they found it on the other side of the ravine, which measured roughly 10-15 feet across and 2-4 feet deep and spanned ¾ of the way across the half mile long meadow. The customer signed a document stating that she would stay on the trail, and on the designated play areas (This meadow is not included in the list of play areas). Pictures were taken onsite where there was damage found to the windshield (air deflector), windshield support, steering, bottom pan and the suspension module (S-Module) (Pictures of the accident scene and snowmobile on the mountain are attached). From the pictures you can see the customers snowmobile nose-dived into associated ravine “wall” which provided a blunt impact to the front of the snowmobile that had enough force to break the customers arm. The impact also had sufficient force to tweak the snowmobiles S-Module. By comparing the attached pictures; (Arm 1 .jpg to Arm 2 .jpg) we can see that in Arm 1 the shock is centered with the upper A-Arm, while in Arm 2 the shock is pushed back in the A-Arm (Not centered) this is indicative of a twisted S-Module. When the S-Module is twisted the skis no longer are aligned and the snowmobile maneuvers poorly/erratically. The blunt frontal impact also dented in the front bottom pan and cracked it on side. The bottom pan has heat protecting foams as well as safety reflectors on either side; these also get replaced, as a new bottom pan does not come equipped with those parts. The front bumper was also pushed in upon further inspection. The handlebars and handlebar riser was pushed forward significantly upon arrival at the scene; the two grown men we unable to push back the handlebars on the mountain (The customer was not charged for repair of the handlebars/riser) The customer and her friend went to the emergency room after the accident to get evaluated. When they returned we showed them the damages/estimates, the customer and had every broken part pointed out by our mechanic and signed a document agreeing to pay for all the broken parts. The customer’s friend also caused damage to two snowmobiles and did not have sufficient funds to pay for her damages. She asked what the process would entail if she couldn’t pay for the damages that day. Per standard protocol we stated that we call the sheriff to write up a formal incident report as well as type up a contract to agree on a payment solution. In the end the customer was able to pay for the damages to the two snowmobiles. One of which had significant damage and could not be rented for the remainder of the season (End of March).  The customer’s snowmobile was scheduled to go back out that afternoon and was reserved for the full day on March 4th also. In most cases we would have charged the customer with a loss of rental fee, but due to the nature of the incident we waived the fee (Value of $380.00). The fee was also waived for her friend. Upon analyzing the scene and testimonies from the other party who they were with it was determined that the customer was traveling at a higher rate of speed and not aware of her surroundings while operating the snowmobile.  The other party who saw the accident told us that the accident/impact looked so bad that they through she was far more injured then she was. As of now the customer’s snowmobile has been repaired and is back in service.The Management,Spirit Lake Lodge & Snowmobile Rentals *More pictures are available, was only able to upload four. If any further pictures are requested please send e-mail to [redacted].