Booking Conditions

BOOKING CONDITIONS ("Conditions")

In these Conditions "we", "our" and "us" means the International School of Mountaineering Limited (ISM). [Company Reg. no. 5594790, Registered office: 144 Burneside Road, Kendal, Cumbria LA9 6DZ, UK.] We comply with the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992. "You" and "your" means the person who makes the reservation with us.

Winter/Summer 2021 – Covid Booking Conditions

The continuing restrictions and lockdowns caused by the Coronavirus pandemic is making it difficult to predict how the ISM summer and winter programme will be delivered and whether the ability for clients to travel freely will be affected.We are trying to be as flexible as possible, and want ISM clients to be able to book with confidence.

Our usual booking conditions ask for final balance payments eight weeks before the course start date. However, for winter 2020/21 and summer 2021, we will consult our clients four weeks before the course start date. Four weeks before a course start date, we hope to have a good idea of whether we think a course will realistically able to run or not, whilst still allowing clients time to finalise travel plans. Our decision whether to run a course or not will take into account the number of bookings we have, national and international travel restrictions and other Covid related issues at that time.

Once a course is confirmed, we will then ask for your balance payment. If ISM cancels a course for any reason, the ISM client will get a full refund. If a client withdraws from a course for any reason within that four-week window leading into the course start date then any payments made are non-refundable.

We strongly advise clients to take out appropriate travel insurance to help cover any last minute cancellations.

Your Booking

We will only accept a booking from a person who is 18 years or over at the time the booking is made. Younger persons may book specific courses with our agreement and subject to written parental consent. You must supply a deposit of £200.00 with your booking or if within 58 days of the start of your course date your full payment. We will issue our confirmation invoice to you as acceptance of your booking. The contract between you and us will come into force on the date your booking is accepted by us. The contract includes information posted on our internet site, your completed booking form, any other forms completed by you and all written communications from us to you. Should any of the terms of this contract be legally declared void or unenforceable, the remainder of our contract will remain in full force and effect.

Your booking constitutes acceptance by you of our Conditions and your acceptance to abide by the Conditions. You understand and accept our courses are in challenging, often dangerous and difficult terrain. You realise and accept the potential risks and hazards that can be involved in courses of this kind.

Your balance payment is due 58 days before your course start date. Failure to pay your balance entitles us to cancel your trip and no refund is payable. [If you have any special requests please notify us at the time of booking, however, we are unable to guarantee any special request can be met.] On receiving your balance payment we will send to you our information summary and course joining instructions. You must read this information and comply with it.

We will do our best to ensure that all the facilities detailed on our website are available during your course. However, we cannot guarantee that the facilities will be available to us, for example outdoor facilities are subject to prevailing weather conditions. We reserve the right to vary the availability of facilities to accommodate the needs of the majority of our clients.

The guiding ratio for any course or activity may be varied at the discretion of ISM to allow for circumstances such as staff absence or illness so long as such changes do not compromise the safety of course members or infringe any guidelines concerning guiding/instructing ratios as may be set out by the IFMGA.

General Requirements

You must ensure you are fully fit (both physically and mentally) to participate in your selected course(s). Should you be unsure of the standard of fitness required please contact us, as we are happy to answer any queries. We reserve the right to require a report from a medical practitioner to confirm the position. Should it become clear to us in our reasonable opinion that you are not suitable to participate in your chosen course(s) we will be entitled to cancel your course(s) without refund if whilst on a course.

Any necessary medical vaccinations and other preliminary arrangements including all visa procurements are your responsibility and we accept no responsibility in the event that these are not completed in time for the start date for your course. You agree to comply with all reasonable instructions we and the Guides give to you both before and whilst on your course. The decision made by us or the Guide as to the conduct, itinerary and objectives of the course is final. You will be responsible for bringing the proper clothing and equipment which we advise you in any of our printed course information and internet site.

You must take care of your valuables. We do not offer any security measures in respect of these items. Our liability for loss or theft is limited to instances where we are negligent. Please note the insurance requirements detailed below.

Price

Unless specifically excluded for a particular programme, the price of your course includes hotel accommodation the night before and after the course, board and accommodation throughout the course, guiding and instruction, transportation, cablecars, mountain railways and the loan of technical equipment for the advertised programme.

The price of your course fee excludes any travel costs incurred by you travelling to the location of the course and any drinks purchased during the course.

Payment

Our preferred method of payment is by Bank Draft. We also accept debit cards (Maestro, Switch, Delta, Electron, Solo), and credit cards (Visa and MasterCard). Non-European registered cards will be subject to a 2.5% transaction fee. Payments made to us by you are held in trust until your course is over, or until such time as either of us cancels or terminates.

Insurance

You must have in place an insurance policy covering as a minimum the following risks; repatriation, helicopter rescue, On and Off-Piste skiing for Ski Tours and medical treatment following an accident in the mountains. Cancellation insurance is strongly recommended. We reserve the right to cancel your booking at any time before your departure if we are not satisfied that adequate insurance for you is in place. You must bring your insurance documentation with you when attending your course.

Changing your Booking

If you wish to change your booking in any way, please write to us immediately. We will make reasonable effort to make the necessary changes for you. Any such change by you will incur an administrative cost of £20.00. Any significant change you request within 58 days of the start date of your course may at our discretion be treated as a cancellation and the cancellation charges below shall apply.

Cancellation by You

You must notify us immediately in writing if you cancel your booking. The following charges will apply:
a. 58 days or more before your course start date - loss of deposit;
b. between 58 and 28 days before your course start date - loss of 50% of full course fee;
c. less than 28 days before course start date - loss of full course fee.

Changes of Plan

While we adhere to our published course itineraries as closely as possible, please note the Guide has absolute discretion in the interests of safety, snow and weather conditions and other external factors to vary planned itineraries without notice should he/she deem it necessary to do so. If an itinerary has to change considerably from the published schedule and extra costs are incurred (due to additional transport/lifts being used) you may be asked for an extra payment to cover this. This would only happen with the prior agreement of the group and in very exceptional circumstances.

Cancellation by Us

We reserve the right to cancel or terminate your trip at any time should we in our absolute discretion consider your conduct will impair or be likely to impair the comfortable health or enjoyment of our other clients or staff or other members of the public; or, if you fail to disclose any material fact to us on booking your course or in any communication with us; or, if you are in breach of any terms of the contract between you and us. If we cancel your course in circumstances other than above (and not as a result of your default), you will have the option of a full refund, paying a supplement for the course to run, transfer to another course or an alternative, mutually agreed programme.

Contract Performance

We accept responsibility for ensuring that the arrangements which you book with us reach a reasonable standard unless any matter occurs without fault on our part or the part of any of our suppliers of the services if it is unforeseeable and unavoidable and attributable to an unconnected third party; or, it is your fault; or, it is due to unusual and unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control the consequences of which could not have been avoided by the exercise of due care; or results from an event which we or our suppliers could not foresee or forestall even if due care had been exercised.

In all instances except personal injury or death, our liability is limited to the cost of the relevant persons trip.

For the safety of our clients, our staff and third parties we reserve the right to cancel, postpone, curtail or alter (without prior notice) your course, in whole or part, for reasons resulting from unusual or unforeseen circumstances beyond our control or because the number of persons who agreed to participate in the course has not achieved our minimum numbers required within 21 days of the start date of the course. Compensation will not be payable by us in this instance.

Liability

We accept responsibility for death and personal injury caused by the negligent acts and/or omissions of us, our agents, suppliers and sub-contractors whilst acting in the scope of their employment.

Complaints

Whilst we will do our best to make your trip a success, any problem you have or matter which you wish to complain about must be made known to us whilst on the trip and the relevant service provider immediately. We or they will do our best to help and put things right. It is an important condition of this contract that you do let us or them know at the earliest possible opportunity.

If your problem cannot be resolved on the spot and you wish to take up the matter after your trip, you should make a written complaint at the time. You should follow this complaint up again in writing to our administration address within 28 days of your return from your trip. Failure to follow this procedure will deprive us of the opportunity to assist you and to rectify the problem, as such we will be unable to entertain any non-compliant complaints.

Governing Law

The contract between you and us shall be governed by English Law and is subject to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the English Court.