lawsuits: ag:

insurance is forcing ski hill ’owners t ‘raise’ their lift-ticket Prices to cover the cos

‘said Tuesday Grouse Mountain’s an-
‘nual liability: insurance premiums

‘December, ° :
Lift tickets, he ‘said, ‘will be rais-
ed for the 1986 winter. season to

: jeneral manager for the Cypress.
, area. Wayne "Booth

we have. not. decided ‘anything ‘yet.
SI's question of how mitch the
market will bear.’

°F At. Whistler’ ‘Moiintain ° “Single
“adult lift tickets were raised from
. $23 to $25 on Feb. S rr

* Whistler’s:” “marketing, manager
Bob: Dufour..said. the increase. is
largely due: to: annual . ‘insurance

INSURANCE ‘fanies
; LS to $504,000.”

Owner’ of - Mount.’ Seymour ..~ “But for us there are a number
esorts Ltd. - Earl ' Pletsch. : says of. factors.’ The interest rates: have
ability . insurance '. rates - ‘shot : “UP ‘gone ‘up and foreign exchange is
ight-fold- for that: mountain
jovember,- 1985.5 2

Everyone is going to’ be paying’ cannot afford :to | cut services,”
re: Skiers have had cheap skiing . Dufour. said. : ¥
“yp to now, but as you can see, we: :..«
‘have a problem and I’m afraid that ....

the public will just | have to pay.’”.. ,

“2. Neither. Booth nor Pletsch would.-
isclose their i insurance ‘rates. .,

In addition to: raising: lift ticket’
‘Mount
eymour. will “be ‘obliged to:charge
S “country. skiers $3) per day to

“ FEELING PINCH
“And because we. have the, vol-

“tion ski resort, we can increase our
rates and people will accept it to a
certain’ point: It’s ‘the smaller
mountains that are going to find
the going difficult,’’ he said. -’
aie Dufour said with most insurance
; companies’
wg liability’ i insurance, ; Whistler . was
“lucky to get any insurance at all.
“We really don’t have much of
a bargaining position right now.’
The ‘rate, hikes,” according: t
: Bont, ” will |-have~ impacts
beyond expensive lift:tickets. ,-
“ “The whole.'$5 ‘billion per: year:

.

fat

a local. ;

a ates = said.

shot up from $45, 000 to $425, 000 in

eflect that dramatic increase, ‘‘but’

premiums jumping from” ‘$75, 000”

in | getting | worse. We are competing:
“onan international market so’ we’

ume and because we area destina- -

shying away from.

. gas leak and its $100: billion.worth

haven't four ad the sport any laughing’ matter. Serious ac-

Asia results: the e high cost of Nability’

Canadian ski industry. is going: to"
be. affected. by these insurance...
“i s a. crisis, Q

RISKY PROPOSITION vol
i

Because it is’ so ‘dependent on
capricious weather conditions, the- ‘
'Ski-business-is already a:risky fi-
nancial proposition, Booth:added. |
_-To ‘suddenly. face unexpected in-
surance increases: of up to 1,000
per, cent, he said, is a blow that
many hills will fi nd difficult to ab- :
sorb... > a7
“And aitimately the skier ‘will
have to pay,’’ Booth said,

Though he said Cypress’ will be
raising its ski prices for winter
1986, Booth ‘said he did: not,’

yet; ‘know: the . sextent of’ that ‘ne .

crease. :

-_As ‘to ‘what’ ‘could be done’ to.
‘stop the upward spiral of insurance
costs for ‘ski: operations, Booth
said, ‘‘The rates are not a reflec-”..
tion of the ski industry: It’s an in-.:
ternational problem that is .\the
result of the financial position of.
insurance companies : the world’
over.”” . :

. PROFITS DOWN
Profits inthe Canadian in-
surance industry dropped from a |
reported $684 million in 1983 to -

$203 million in 1984..
Litigation costs, which accounted

~ for roughly five per cent of a claim’s
dollar in the 50s, are now up to 50
per cent of that same dollar.

Reinsurers have largely . aban-

‘doned the‘liability insurance mar- - |
vket

the face of such
_ catastrophies as the Bhopal, : India

of law suits, and massive insurance ‘
court awards.in the United States
that are. now, averaging $1. 07. mil-
lion. . eee .

3 ~ Wednesday, February 5, 1986 - North Shore News