When Ski Equipment Malfunctions
 

Ski equipment cases generally concern the failure of alpine bindings to release under circumstances in which the injured person would have expected them to have opened and prevented injury.

Liability in these cases will hinge on whether the ski bindings were properly set and/or whether the bindings, if set correctly, were functioning properly. Often this threshold question isn't even reached because the equipment is rented, and most ski shops now require a waiver or release as part of the rental contract - see 2010 Avalanche Liability and Ski Law Update.

The second issue of liability in these cases concerns whether the fall which injured the person was of the nature and type which exerted forces through the binding which, if set and operating properly, should have opened the binding. A number of injuries exist which are currently not altogether preventable even by properly set and operating bindings. Often the testimony of a biomechanical engineer is needed to establish the causal link between the binding failure to release and the resulting injury.