Opinion ID: 2621732
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: A Genuine Issue of Material Fact Exists as to Whether the Course Layout Was Inherently Dangerous.

Text: The trial court's summary judgment analysis focused on alleged misrepresentations that could have invalidated the release. As with any contract, a release of liability is only valid to the extent that it reflects a conspicuous and unequivocally expressed intent to release from liability. [25] The trial court granted summary judgment after determining that no genuine issue of material fact existed as to whether ATVSI or Hartley Motors knew that the course was allegedly unsafe. Even if there was no genuine issue of material fact regarding a misrepresentation, the trial court erred in failing to consider the scope of the release signed by Moore. [26] Moore agreed to release the ATV Safety Institute and all other organizations and individuals affiliated with the ATV safety class from liability, loss, and damages including but not limited to all bodily injuries and property damage arising out of participation in the ATV RiderCourse. But the release does not discuss or even mention liability for general negligence. Its opening sentences refer only to unavoidable and inherent risks of ATV riding, and nothing in its ensuing language suggests an intent to release ATVSI or Hartley Motors from liability for acts of negligence unrelated to those inherent risks. Based on this language, we conclude that Moore released ATVSI and Hartley Motors only from liability arising from the inherent risks of ATV riding and ordinary negligence associated with those inherent risks. [27] As we noted in Kissick v. Schmierer , an exculpatory release can be enforced if the intent to release a party from liability for future negligence is conspicuously and unequivocally expressed. [28] However, underlying the ATV course release signed by Moore was an implied and reasonable presumption that the course is not unreasonably dangerous. Moore claims that she was injured when she fell off her ATV after riding over a rock obscured by tall grass. We assume the truth of this assertion for purposes of reviewing the superior court's summary judgment order. Moore asserts that the course on which the class operated was set up in such a way that she had to ride into the grass and that this posed an unnecessary danger. The allegedly improper course layout may be actionable if the course posed a risk beyond ordinary negligence related to the inherent risks of off-road ATV riding assumed by the release. [29] As we have explained in the context of skiing, [i]f a given danger could be eliminated or mitigated through the exercise of reasonable care, it is not a necessary danger and is therefore not an inherent risk of the sport. [30] We have described an unreasonable risk as one for which the likelihood and gravity of the harm threatened outweighed the utility of the . . . conduct and the burden on the [defendant] for removing the danger. [31] If the course was designed or maintained in such a manner that it increased the likelihood of a rider encountering a hidden rock, then the course layout may have presented an unnecessary danger; holding an ATV safety class on an unnecessarily dangerous course is beyond the ordinary negligence released by the waiver. Holding a safety class on an unreasonably risky course may give rise to liability even if encountering rocks is generally an inherent risk of ATV riding. Moreover, the fact that the course was geared towards novice ATV riders may also affect the level of care required of ATVSI and Hartley Motors to reduce unnecessary dangers and unreasonable risk. [32] Whether the injury resulted from an unnecessarily dangerous course or a course placed perilously close to an obscured obstacle are questions of fact. Here, Moore presented facts that could support a finding that the ATV safety course was laid out in an unnecessarily dangerous manner that was not obvious to novice ATV riders and therefore not within the scope of the release. Thus, it was error to grant summary judgment.