Rental Waiver & Terms

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE BOOKING

This is a legal agreement that affects your legal rights. By checking the agreement box at checkout, you give up the right to sue Madeline Adventures for injuries, death, or losses caused by its ordinary negligence, and you accept the inherent risks of the activity you book.

There is no staff on site at any location. There is no lifeguard on duty.

You are not required to agree. You are free to ask questions, propose changes, or decline to rent. Do not book until you have read and understood this Agreement.

Which sections apply to you. All numbered sections apply to everyone. Parts marked A apply only to kayak and paddleboard rentals on Lake Superior. Parts marked B apply only to camping kit rentals. Parts marked C apply only to snowshoe rentals. You may skip the lettered parts for activities you did not book.

This Release of Liability, Waiver of Claims, Assumption of Risk, and Indemnity Agreement (the "Agreement") is between Madeline Holdings LLC, a Wisconsin limited liability company doing business as Madeline Adventures (2800 E Enterprise Ave Ste 333, Appleton, WI 54913), including its owners, members, officers, employees, family members, agents, independent contractors, guides, and volunteers (collectively, the "Operator"), and the person completing the booking ("you" or the "Renter"). All rentals are self-service and honor-system, and there is no staff on site. In exchange for being allowed to rent and use the Operator's equipment, you agree to the following. If you are booking for others in your party, you accept this Agreement on their behalf as well as your own.

1. The activity and equipment

A. Paddling. You are renting one or more kayaks, sit-in or sit-on-top kayaks, or stand-up paddleboards (SUPs), together with paddles, personal flotation devices (life jackets / PFDs), and related gear, to paddle on the waters of Lake Superior in and around Madeline Island and the Apostle Islands. Paddling rentals are picked up and returned at the rack at Big Bay Town Park, Madeline Island, Wisconsin. Paddling is a "recreational activity" within the meaning of Wis. Stat. § 895.525.

B. Camping kits. You are renting a camping kit for overnight use at Hidden Branch campground, Ashland, Alabama. Kit contents are as listed on your confirmation and include a 2-person tent, closed-cell foam sleeping pads and folding camp chairs, and a basic cookware set (pot, pan, plates, cups and utensils). You bring your own sleeping bags and anything else you bring to sleep in. The kit does not include a stove, fuel, a lantern with a flame, or a heater. You may bring your own stove or use a campfire where the campground allows it. Keep any stove or fire at least 15 feet from the tent, and never use or bring a stove, grill, coals, fuel or any flame inside the tent or its vestibule, even to warm up after cooking. You must follow the campground's fire rules and any burn ban in effect. You are responsible for any stove, fuel or fire you bring or start. Rinse the cookware before you use it. When you are done, wash every piece with soap, dry it fully, and return every piece. Do not wash dishes in shower house sinks unless the campground allows it. You pick up and return the kit at a locker beside the shower house using the locker code in your confirmation. The Operator rents equipment only. The campground, your campsite, and its facilities are provided by the campground, not by the Operator.

C. Snowshoes. You are renting one or more pairs of snowshoes, and any poles or related gear listed on your confirmation, for snowshoeing at Hidden Branch or another location named on your confirmation. You pick up and return the snowshoes at a locker using the locker code in your confirmation.

In this Agreement, everything you rent is called the "Equipment," and the paddling, camping, or snowshoeing you book is called the "Activity."

2. Assumption of inherent and other risks

Every Activity is inherently dangerous, and no equipment, instruction, or precaution can remove these dangers. You knowingly and voluntarily accept all such risks, including the risks listed below for the Activity you booked, and the following risks common to every Activity:

• Death and serious personal injury;
• Your own physical condition, fitness, fatigue, and errors in judgment;
• Equipment that may fail, break, or be lost, and improper use or fit of Equipment;
• The acts, omissions, or negligence of other people and third parties beyond the Operator's control.

A. Paddling risks. Paddling on Lake Superior is inherently dangerous. Under Wis. Stat. § 895.525, a participant accepts the risks inherent in a recreational activity of which an ordinary prudent person is or should be aware. Paddling risks include, but are not limited to:

• Drowning, death, and serious personal injury;
• Cold water and cold air, hypothermia, and cold-water shock. Lake Superior is extremely cold even in summer and can incapacitate a swimmer within minutes;
• Capsizing, falling off or out of the Equipment, and being unable to re-enter it;
• Sudden and severe changes in weather, high wind, fog, waves, swells, seiches, and rip and shore currents;
• Being pushed, blown, or carried far from shore; becoming lost, stranded, or separated from your group; and remoteness from rescue or medical care;
• Collision with other vessels, motorboats and their wakes, docks, rocks, submerged objects, sea caves, cliffs, and shoreline hazards;
• Sun exposure, dehydration, exhaustion, strains, sprains, cuts, and overexertion;
• Aquatic life and encounters with wildlife;
• Your own physical condition, fitness, swimming ability, fatigue, and errors in judgment;
• Equipment that may fail, break, or be lost, and improper use or fit of paddles and life jackets;
• The acts, omissions, or negligence of other paddlers, boaters, and third parties beyond the Operator's control.

B. Camping risks. Camping overnight in the woods includes, but is not limited to, these risks:

• Spending the night outdoors in the woods, away from buildings and help;
• Wildlife, including snakes, animals that enter campsites, and animals drawn to food;
• Insects and ticks, bites and stings, allergic reactions, and illness carried by ticks or insects;
• Fire and campfires, burns, smoke, and wildfire;
• Heat, sun, and dehydration;
• Cold, rain, storms, lightning, high wind, and falling trees or branches;
• Slips, trips, and falls, including in the dark and on uneven ground;
• Cuts, pinches, and other injuries from tent stakes, poles, and other gear;
• Carbon monoxide poisoning, which can kill, if anyone uses a heater, stove, grill, coals, or any fuel-burning device inside a tent or its vestibule;
• Cooking, hot surfaces, burns, and illness from food or cookware;
• Remoteness from medical care and emergency help;
• Limited or no cell service.

C. Snowshoeing risks. Snowshoeing includes, but is not limited to, these risks:

• Cold, wind, and wet conditions;
• Frostbite and hypothermia;
• Slips, trips, and falls, including on steep or uneven ground;
• Ice, including thin ice over water;
• Avalanches and backcountry terrain;
• Getting lost or separated from your group;
• Limited daylight and darkness coming sooner than you expect;
• Exhaustion, strains, sprains, and overexertion;
• Limited or no cell service and remoteness from help.

These lists are not complete. There may be other risks, known and unknown, foreseeable and unforeseeable. You choose to participate anyway and assume full responsibility for all such risks.

3. Your responsibilities as a participant

You agree to: (a) act within the limits of your own ability; (b) heed all warnings and instructions regarding the Activity; (c) maintain control of yourself and the Equipment you are using; and (d) refrain from acting in any manner that may cause or contribute to injury or death to yourself or others. For paddling in Wisconsin, these duties are also required by Wis. Stat. § 895.525(4). A violation of these responsibilities is negligence on your part.

You further agree that you and everyone in your party will follow all posted rules at the location and all applicable local, state, and federal laws, and will supervise any minors in your party at all times. Minors must be accompanied by a responsible adult.

A. Paddling rules. You agree that you and everyone in your party will:

• Wear a properly fitted, U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket (life preserver / PFD) at all times on the water. No exceptions. PFDs are provided in the black boxes at the rack;
• Be able to swim and be physically capable of paddling, or stay off the water;
• Check the weather and lake forecast before and during your rental, and use your own judgment. Do not paddle in unsafe conditions, high wind, storms, or after dark;
• Stay within your ability and close to shore. Never paddle one mile or more from shore;
• Not drink alcohol or use drugs before or while boating, and not use the Equipment under the influence of either;
• Understand that there is no lifeguard on duty. No one is watching the water, and you are responsible for your own safety and your party's.

B. Camping rules. You agree that you and everyone in your party will:

• Never use any open flame inside a tent. This includes candles, lanterns with a flame, stoves, and lighters;
• Never use or bring a heater, stove, grill, coals, or any fuel-burning device inside a tent or its vestibule, and keep any stove or fire at least 15 feet from the tent. These can cause fire and deadly carbon monoxide poisoning. You are responsible for any stove, fuel, or fire you bring or start;
• Follow all campground rules and any fire ban, and keep any campfire only in a fire ring the campground allows, well away from tents and gear, and fully put out before you sleep or leave;
• Check the weather before and during your stay, and move to a safe place in storms or lightning;
• Check yourselves for ticks every day;
• Store food and trash as the campground requires;
• Not drink alcohol or use drugs in a way that makes you unable to keep yourself and your party safe;
• Bring what you need for your own safety, including water, a light, a charged phone, and any medicine you need.

C. Snowshoe rules. You agree that you and everyone in your party will:

• Check the weather, trail conditions, and sunset time before you go;
• Dress for cold and wet conditions and bring water, a light, and a charged phone;
• Tell someone not in your party where you are going and when you will be back;
• Stay on marked trails and open areas allowed by the location;
• Not enter avalanche terrain or backcountry terrain, and not walk on ice over water;
• Be back before dark;
• Not drink alcohol or use drugs before or while snowshoeing.

4. Fitness, ability, and equipment inspection

You represent that you are in good physical health, have no medical condition that makes the Activity unsafe for you, and have honestly assessed your own ability and experience, including your swimming ability and paddling experience if you are paddling. Because rentals are self-service, you have the opportunity, and the responsibility, to inspect the Equipment at the rack or locker before you use it, and you accept the Equipment in its then-present condition. If the Equipment appears unsafe, damaged, or incomplete, or conditions seem unsafe at any time, do not use it. Stop, get to a safe place, and contact us for a resolution.

5. Release and waiver of negligence claims

To the fullest extent allowed by law, you release, waive, and agree not to sue the Operator for any claim for personal injury, death, property damage, or other loss that you (or anyone claiming through you) may suffer arising out of the Activity or your use of the Equipment and that is caused by the ordinary negligence of the Operator. This release applies to the Operator's own ordinary negligence.

This release does NOT apply to, and you are NOT releasing, any claim based on the Operator's reckless, wanton, or willful conduct, gross negligence, intentional acts, or any liability that the law does not permit to be released. Nothing in this Agreement releases any such claim.

You understand that, without this release, you would have the right to sue the Operator for its ordinary negligence, and that you are voluntarily giving up that specific right in exchange for being allowed to rent the Equipment.

6. Indemnification

To the fullest extent allowed by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold the Operator harmless from any claim brought by a third party for injury, death, damage, or loss caused by your own negligent acts or omissions, or your violation of your responsibilities under Section 3, while participating in the Activity. This indemnity does not apply to claims caused by the Operator's own negligence, recklessness, or intentional acts.

7. Voluntary agreement and opportunity to negotiate

You acknowledge that: (a) you have had the opportunity to read this entire Agreement and to ask questions about it before booking; (b) the Operator invites you to raise concerns or propose changes to any term before you book. Call 715-913-7879 or email tim@madelineadventures.com, and we will respond and, where we agree, put any modification in writing; (c) you may choose not to agree and not to rent, and other options for the Activity may be available to you elsewhere; and (d) you are agreeing freely and voluntarily, not on a "take-it-or-leave-it" basis.

8. Equipment care, damage, loss & card authorization

You are renting equipment you retrieve and return yourself. There is no staff on site to check it in. You agree to return all Equipment to the same rack or locker you got it from, clean off sand, dirt, and snow, and return it in the same condition you received it, ordinary wear excepted. Normal wear is not damage. Burns, melting, warping, and lost pieces are not normal wear. A camping kit that comes back lost, damaged, dirty, or wet may be charged as described below.

You are financially responsible for any Equipment that is damaged beyond ordinary wear, lost, stolen, or not returned during your rental. You agree to pay the reasonable cost of repair, or the replacement cost of the item if it cannot be repaired or is not returned.

Card on file authorization. By booking, you expressly authorize Madeline Adventures to save the payment card used at booking and to charge it after your rental ends for repair or replacement costs, after we email you an explanation of the charge and its reason, up to these maximums:

• Paddling: up to $750 per rented boat or board on the booking (for example, a booking of two boats authorizes charges up to $1,500);
• Camping kits: up to $350 per camping kit on the booking (for example, a booking of two kits authorizes charges up to $700);
• Snowshoes: up to $150 per snowshoe rental (one pair) on the booking (for example, a booking of three pairs authorizes charges up to $450).

This authorization covers off-session charges made after your rental ends.

A. Paddling return & check-out. You agree to return all Equipment (boat, paddle, life jacket) to the same rack and location, re-lock it with the cable lock as you found it, rinse or brush off sand and dirt, and fully close and latch the storage boxes. At the end of your rental you must complete check-out: (a) re-secure the boat or board to the rack using the same cable lock provided; (b) return the paddle to its bag and lock it in the storage box; (c) return all life preservers to the storage box, fully closed; and (d) take and submit a photograph showing the secured equipment (by reply to your confirmation email). Failure to complete the check-out process is subject to a fee of $75, which you expressly authorize us to charge to your saved payment method in the same manner as the charges described above, and which counts toward the authorized maximum described above.

B. Camping kit return & check-out. At the end of your rental you must: (a) pack all kit items back as you received them, as listed on your confirmation; (b) place the kit in the same locker and lock it; and (c) take and submit a photograph of the locker locked (by reply to your confirmation email). Do not return a tent or sleeping bag soaked or with food inside. If it is wet, tell us in your message.

C. Snowshoe return & check-out. At the end of your rental you must: (a) knock off snow and ice; (b) place the snowshoes and any poles in the same locker and lock it; and (c) take and submit a photograph of the locker locked (by reply to your confirmation email).

9. No guarantee of conditions

We do not guarantee weather, water, snow, trail, or campground conditions, or that any particular experience will be available. Rentals are self-service; Equipment is provided "as is."

10. Cancellations, weather & changes (paddling rentals)

You can change your rental date or time using the reschedule link in your confirmation email, subject to availability.

Cancellations with at least 48 hours' notice before your rental start time receive a full refund. Cancellations with less than 48 hours' notice are not refundable. This includes cancellations for ordinary weather you can see coming in the forecast, such as rain, cold, or wind. You may still ask to reschedule, subject to availability.

We may cancel or pause any rental if we decide conditions are unsafe, such as severe weather, a closure of the location, or a fire ban. If we cancel, you may choose to reschedule or receive a full refund. You remain responsible for deciding whether conditions are safe for you during your rental.

To cancel, call 715-913-7879.

10A. Cancellations, weather and changes (camping kit and snowshoe rentals)

This Section 10 applies only to camping kit and snowshoe rentals. Paddling rentals keep their own cancellation terms.

10A.1 No refunds. Camping kit and snowshoe bookings are not refundable, except as stated in 10A.3 (campground closure or an Operator cancellation).

10A.2 Rescheduling. Renter may move a booking to another date at any time up to four hours before the booking start time, by replying to the confirmation email or by calling 715-913-7879. New dates are subject to availability and to the campground being open. A booking is moved only when Operator confirms the new date in writing.

10A.3 Cancellation or pause by Operator. Operator may cancel, delay or pause any rental at any time if Operator believes conditions are unsafe or the gear or locker is not usable. This includes severe weather, high winds, lightning, flooding, extreme cold, fire danger, or a closure by the landowner or a public agency. Operator follows the campground: if Hidden Branch campground is closed on a day you booked, the booking is cancelled and refunded in full, and if the campground is open, the rental goes ahead. Not enough snow is not a reason to cancel or refund. If Operator cancels or pauses a rental under this section, Renter may choose either to reschedule or to receive a full refund for the affected booking.

10A.4 Early return and no-shows. If Renter does not pick up the gear, returns it early, or ends the rental early for any reason not covered by 10A.3, there is no refund and no credit for unused time.

10A.5 Renter's judgment. Renter is responsible for checking weather, daylight and site conditions before and during the rental. Operator's choice not to cancel is not a promise that conditions are safe.

10A.6 Contact. For any change, call 715-913-7879 or reply to the confirmation email.

11. Minors

No one under 18 may book a rental or accept this Agreement.

A minor may participate only if an adult (18 or older) accepts this Agreement on the minor's behalf, and that adult must be the minor's parent or legal guardian, or an adult expressly authorized by the parent or legal guardian to do so. By completing a booking that includes a minor, you represent that you are that adult, you consent to the minor's participation in the Activity, you accept the inherent risks described above on the minor's behalf to the extent allowed by law, you agree to the indemnity in Section 6 for your own and the minor's conduct, and you agree that the minor will be supervised by a responsible adult at all times and will follow every rule in Section 3, including wearing a life jacket at all times on the water when paddling.

You understand that, under Wisconsin law and the law of other states, a parent's or guardian's agreement may not fully waive a minor child's own right to bring a claim, and this consent may not bar every claim the minor could later make.

12. Governing law & interpretation

This Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Wisconsin. Disputes are resolved by binding individual arbitration as set out in Section 12A, not in court, except as stated there. If the law of the state where you rent limits or does not allow any part of this Agreement, that part applies only to the extent allowed, and the rest of this Agreement still applies. If any part of this Agreement is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining parts stay in full effect. This Agreement is intended to be interpreted so that it releases the Operator's ordinary negligence only, and never reckless, wanton, willful, grossly negligent, or intentional conduct. This is the entire agreement between you and the Operator about the release of liability and assumption of risk, and it replaces any prior oral statements on that subject.

12A. Binding arbitration and class action waiver

Please read this section. It limits how disputes are decided. You and the Operator agree that any dispute, claim or controversy between us arising out of or relating to this Agreement, your rental, the Equipment or the Activity (a "Dispute") will be resolved only by binding arbitration on an individual basis, and not in court before a judge or jury. The arbitration is administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules in effect when the arbitration starts. The rules and instructions to file are at adr.org. The arbitrator applies the law that governs this Agreement under Section 12 and the addendum for your rental state, and may award any relief a court could award to an individual. Hearings may be held by video or phone, or in the county where you rented, at your choice. The Operator pays AAA fees beyond the filing fee the AAA consumer rules assign to you. A court may enforce the award.

Class action waiver. Disputes are decided only on an individual basis. You and the Operator each waive any right to bring or take part in a class, collective, consolidated or representative action. The arbitrator may not combine claims of more than one person.

What stays in court. Either of us may bring an individual claim in small claims court if it qualifies there. Either of us may go to court to stop infringement or misuse of intellectual property, or to ask for urgent court orders that protect a right until the arbitrator decides. Claims that the law does not allow to be arbitrated stay in court.

Your right to opt out. You may opt out of this Section 12A within 30 days after you accept this Agreement by emailing tim@madelineadventures.com with your name, booking email and the words "opt out of arbitration". Opting out does not affect any other part of this Agreement. If you opt out, Disputes are brought only in the state courts of the county named in your state's addendum (Ashland County, Wisconsin, where the addendum does not name one).

If part of this section fails. If the class action waiver cannot be enforced for a claim, that claim goes to court and not to arbitration, and the rest of this Section 12A still applies to all other claims. If any other part of this section is unenforceable, it is cut and the rest stays in effect. Section 12A survives the end of your rental.

13. Your agreement (electronic acceptance)

By checking the agreement box at checkout and completing your booking, you electronically sign this Agreement and confirm that you have read it, understand it, and agree to it; that you are at least 18 years old; and that you accept it for yourself and everyone in your party, including any minors as described in Section 11. Your acceptance, the date and time, and the version of this Agreement are recorded, together with your rental location and state, with your booking. You may print or save this page for your records.

Questions: call 715-913-7879, or email tim@madelineadventures.com.