The following Booking Terms and Conditions, together with our Privacy Policy and any other written information we bring to your attention before we confirmed your booking, will form the basis of your contract with Essential Altitude Limited, a company which is registered in England under company number 12416057 and whose registered address is 71-75 Shelton Street, London, WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom. They explain both your and our respective rights and obligations. Please read them carefully before you book.
In these Booking Terms and Conditions “you” and “your” means all persons named on the booking (including anyone who is added or substituted at a later date). “The Company”, “we”, “us” and “our” all mean Essential Altitude Limited.
IMPORTANT: Our Role as Arranger of your Holiday
Except in relation to the provision of skiing instruction services, if you book an arrangement (such as chalet accommodation, airport transfers, resort activities, etc.) through us but that arrangement will be or has been supplied by a third party supplier, your contract for that arrangement will be with that third party. A booking of this type is known as an “Arranged Booking”. For Arranged Bookings, the terms and conditions of the relevant third party will form the basis of your contract with that third party (which can be made available to you upon request). Please read these third party terms and conditions carefully. We act as agent only for the relevant third party and we have no liability in relation to the acts or omissions of the third party or any supplier or other person or party connected with the Arranged Booking.
As we only act as an agent for the third party concerned, we reserve the right to pass on to you in full any additional costs and charges of whatsoever nature imposed by the third party in accordance with its own terms and conditions.
Planning your ski holiday
Descriptions:
Every effort is made to ensure that the details, description and guide prices contained in the Company’s literature, including of course its website, are correct, based on information passed to the Company by its suppliers. However, changes do occur, sometimes at short notice, and therefore the Company cannot guarantee the completeness and/or accuracy of the information. However, the Company will always endeavour to advise you at the time of booking or, if after booking as soon as possible, of any such changes to our published information. It is not always possible for the Company to control all elements of the holiday whereby advertised facilities can become unavailable at short notice due to inclement weather conditions, lack of demand, emergency repair works, etc.
Certain hotels advertise special features and attractions shown in property descriptions. These are accurate at the time of publication but are subject to change and cannot be guaranteed. We will advise you of any significant changes to the advertised attractions as soon as we become aware.
Travel to and from the resort
With the exception of airport transfers which we can arrange for you if desired, you are responsible for making arrangements for travel to and from the resort.
Passports and visas:
It is your responsibility to be in possession of a valid passport and any visa that may be necessary. You should allow ample time when making visa applications and check for recent changes to visa/passport requirements. For visa enquiries, please contact the Embassy or Consulate of the country you are visiting. Please note that our staff and those of our suppliers are not qualified to offer advice on visas. It is your responsibility to check the passport and visa requirements applicable to you for the country you are visiting. Any information we give you is for guidance only and we cannot accept any liability for your failure to check and comply with any passport or visa requirements.
Vaccinations and other travel advice:
We recommend that you consult the foreign travel advice provided by the government of your country of origin.
Resort development and noise:
If we learn of building works close to your accommodation that may affect your enjoyment of your holiday, we will do our best to advise you prior to your departure. We would urge you to read the resort and hotel descriptions carefully to identify sources of noise which exist or might expect to exist (ie, roads, bars, discos, etc). However, it is impossible to predict noise created by individuals, machinery, traffic, etc. or any temporary noise disturbances.
Resort activities:
We are informed that the activities referred to throughout this website are available. However, they are not organised by us and we cannot guarantee they will be available during your holiday. Unless they are pre-booked through us as part of your package when you confirm your package holiday with us, then they do not form part of your package. For any activity you book directly whilst on your holiday your contract will be directly with the provider and not with the Company.
Guests with special needs:
If you have a disability or medical condition requiring special travel, accommodation or dietary requirements you must let us know in advance. Please contact us at info@essentialaltitude.com before confirming your booking. We will endeavour to try to meet your special needs requirements, but it cannot be guaranteed, and your travel insurance should adequately cover any pre-existing medical conditions.
If you or any member of your party has any medical problem or disability which may affect your holiday, please tell us before you confirm your booking so that we can advise as to the suitability of the chosen arrangements. In any event, you must give us full details in writing at the time of booking. If any third party supplier reasonably feels that they are unable to properly accommodate the particular needs of the person concerned, we must reserve the right to decline his/her reservation or, if full details are not given at the time of booking, cancel the booking when we or the third party (if applicable) become aware of these details
Special requests:
We will do our best to ensure that your holiday experience with the Company is as special as possible. However, if you have any special requests you must advise us at the time of booking and confirm them in writing or by email. Although we will of course endeavour to secure any reasonable requests with the relevant service provider, no guarantees can be given that that any request will be met. Failure to meet any special requests will not be a breach of contract on our part and conditional bookings cannot be accepted (i.e. any booking which is specified to be conditional on the fulfilment of a particular request).
Lost property:
If you lose an item during your holiday, you must report it to the Company within seven days of your return home. We will try to help find the item, and if found, we will post it to you and you will be charged the cost of postage plus a handling fee of £15 per lost item. However, the Company accepts no liability in relation to any items of lost property.
Booking checklist:
To avoid booking amendment charges, please remember to book all the additional items you require when you first confirm your holiday reservation.
If you have any questions about your reservation before confirming it, please write to our reservation department: info@essentialaltitude.com
Making your booking
By making a booking, the first named person on the booking agrees on behalf of all persons detailed on the booking that:
Our aim is to provide the right holiday to suit your requirements. You can contact us at info@essentialaltitude.com and we will tailor-make a holiday experience for you.
Price policy
The prices included on our website are guide prices and we reserve the right to alter the prices of any elements of your holiday. We will advise you of the current price of the holiday that you wish to book before your contract is confirmed.
Payment
To secure the booking, we will require payment of the full booking cost and may require evidence of insurance (see the insurance paragraph below). Payments may be made by bank transfer or most major credit cards in favour of Essential Altitude Limited.
On receipt of the correct payment, we will book your arrangements and issue a Confirmation Invoice. A contract will come into existence on the date we issue a Confirmation Invoice. It is important for you to check the details on the Confirmation Invoice as soon as you receive it, as these set out the services that we have arranged for you.
In the event of any discrepancy please contact us immediately as it may not be possible to make changes later. We regret that we cannot accept any liability if we are not notified of any inaccuracies in any document within 24 hours of you receiving it. Where you have made an Arranged Booking, we will have no responsibility for any errors in any documentation except where those errors were made by ourselves.
All correspondence and other communications will be sent to the address of the person who made the payment unless you specify otherwise. If you request correspondence through a business address, a residential address will also be required for emergency and security reasons.
Amendments and Cancellations
Amendments by you
The Company will make every effort to assist you if you wish to alter the arrangements which you have already booked, but it may not always be possible. Requests for amendments must be in writing and signed by the person who made the booking payment. If it is possible to make the amendment, it will be subject to an amendment charge of £50 per service, together with all communication charges and/or other expenses incurred by the Company as a result of the change. These charges will be payable whether or not the Company succeeds in confirming your requested amendment. If you wish to change your arrangements while on your holiday, all costs are payable by you.
If you or any member of your party is prevented from travelling, that person may transfer their place to someone else, subject to the following conditions:
No refunds will be given for members of your party not travelling or for unused services.
Cancellation by you
Should you or any member of your party need to cancel your chosen holiday once it has been confirmed, the party leader must immediately advise us in writing. (If you notify us by email, you should receive an email within 24 hours; if you do not receive one, please contact us again.). For Arranged Bookings, the applicable cancellation charges will be those set out in the booking conditions of the relevant third party whose services have been cancelled. In addition to the third party supplier’s cancellation charges, we will levy a £50.00 administration fee for each cancelled party member per service.
In relation to cancelled ski instruction bookings, the following cancellation charges will be payable, depending on the number of days prior notice the Company receives of your cancellation.
| Days notice | % of cost of ski instruction |
| 61 days or more | 10% |
| 60 – 46 days | 25% |
| 45-29 days | 60% |
| 28-7 days | 90% |
| Less than 7 days | 100% |
Depending on the reason for cancellation, you may be able to reclaim these cancellation charges (less any applicable excess) under the terms of your insurance policy. Claims must be made directly to the insurance company concerned.
Changes and/or cancellation by us
If there is any change or cancellation to an Arranged Booking by a third party for reasons other than force majeure (see paragraph [x] below], we will inform you as soon as possible of that and of any compensation that the relevant third party may offer under its own booking conditions. Of course, if you wish, we will make every effort to secure suitable alternative arrangements on your behalf. However, as agent only in relation to Arranged Bookings, we cannot accept any liability for any changes or cancellations made to these bookings.
We also cannot accept liability where a change or cancellation of one third party arrangement may affect your liability to join other third party arrangements you have booked, irrespective of whether the Company has acted as the booking agent or not.
If there is any cancellation by us of booked ski instruction services for reasons other than force majeure (see paragraph[x] below), the Company will offer a full refund of the cost to you of those services. If the ski instructor with whom you have booked is not available for any reason other than force majeure, then the Company’s responsibility is limited to finding you an alternative ski instructor of similar experience but the Company shall not be liable to pay any compensation in these circumstances.
Force majeure, events beyond our control
Except where otherwise expressly stated in these Booking Terms and Conditions, we regret that we will not be liable or pay compensation if our contractual obligations to you are affected by “force majeure”. In these Booking Terms and Conditions, “force majeure” means any event beyond our or our suppliers’ control, the consequences of which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken. Examples include warfare and acts of terrorism (and threat thereof), civil strife, significant risks to human health such as the outbreak of serious disease, or natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, or weather conditions which make it impossible to travel safely to the travel destination or remain at the travel destination, the act of any government or national or local authority including port and river authorities, industrial dispute, labour strikes, natural or nuclear disaster, fire, chemical or biological disaster, unavoidable technical problems with transport, and all similar events outside our or our suppliers’ control.
Our liability to you
In respect of Arranged Bookings, your contract is directly with the third-party supplier concerned. We regret that we cannot accept any liability in relation to the performance of Arranged Bookings, or for the acts or omissions of the third party concerned. We will provide you with details of where to find the relevant supplier(s)’ terms and conditions at the time we take your booking. Please be aware that some of these conditions may limit or remove the relevant supplier(s)’ liability to you.
In relation to any service we provide as an agent for the relevant third party(ies) or, in other words, in our capacity as arranger of your holiday (as opposed to any service provided by the third party(ies) itself/themselves for whom we are not liable), our maximum liability to you if we are found to have been negligent is limited to the commission(s) we earn or are due to earn in respect of the Arranged Booking(s) in question. Subject to the foregoing, we do not exclude or limit any liability for death or personal injury which arises as a result of our negligence in the arrangement of your holiday.
In the absence of any negligence or other breach of duty by us, we are not responsible for any theft, damage, destruction or loss of your property or belongings whilst you are on holiday.
IMPORTANT NOTICE IN RELATION TO OUR PROVISION OF SKIING INSTRUCTION SERVICES
Skiing is physically challenging and carries with it inherent risks that we cannot entirely eliminate. These include the material risk of personal injury, such as broken limbs and bones, head injury, knee injury, etc., and ultimately death. Accidents can and do happen, including avalanches.
Rules
In the absence of any negligence or other breach of duty by us, your participation in skiing is entirely at your risk.
Insurance
We cannot emphasise enough the importance of purchasing comprehensive travel insurance (“Personal Insurance”) prior to the date of travel. This insurance must be commensurate to the value of your booking and cover all members of your party for cancellation and curtailment, all medical expenses including evacuation/repatriation, personal baggage, personal liability, death and permanent disability, and travel document insurance. If you suffer from a disability or medical condition you should disclose this to insurers. Please read your insurance policy details carefully and take them with you on holiday. It is your responsibility to ensure that the insurance cover you purchase is suitable and adequate for your particular needs and personal circumstances (financial and other).
Please note that special cover may need to be arranged if you intend to ski off-piste.
As a condition of us accepting your booking, you must provide to us evidence of Personal Insurance as per the above. [TBC – DO WE WISH TO SPECIFY A MINIMUM £ LEVEL OF COVER] Whilst we cannot make recommendations, we can provide on request the details of insurance brokers who can arrange insurance of the type mentioned above.
We may require evidence of Personal Insurance as a condition of us accepting your booking. Whilst we cannot make recommendations, we can provide, on request, the details of an insurance broker who can arrange insurance of the type mentioned above.
Data protection
In order to process your booking and to ensure that your holiday arrangements run smoothly and meet your requirements, we need to use the information you provide such as your name, address, any special needs/dietary requirements etc. We take full responsibility for ensuring that proper security measures are in place to protect your information. We must pass the information on to the relevant suppliers of your holiday arrangements. The information may also be provided to security or credit checking companies, or as required by law. We will not, however, pass any information on to any person not responsible for part of your holiday arrangements. This applies to any sensitive information that you give to us such as details of any disabilities, or dietary/religious requirements. If, however, we cannot pass this information to the relevant suppliers, we cannot accept your booking. In making a booking, you consent to this information being passed on to the relevant persons. You are entitled to a copy of your information held by us. If you would like to see this, please contact the Company during normal working hours
Further details regarding how we treat your data is set out in our website Privacy Notice.
Behaviour
When you book with us, you accept responsibility for any damage or loss caused by you or any member of your party. Full payment for any such damage or loss must be paid directly at the time to the accommodation owner or manager or other supplier. If you fail to do so, you will be responsible for meeting any claims subsequently made against us (together with our own and the other party’s full legal costs) as a result of your actions.
We expect all our clients to have consideration for other people. If, in our reasonable option or in the reasonable opinion of any other person in authority, you or any member of your party behaves in such a way as to cause, or be likely to cause, danger, upset or distress to any third party or damage to property, we are entitled, without prior notice, to terminate the holiday of the person(s) concerned. In this situation, the person(s) concerned will be required to leave the accommodation or other service. We will have no further responsibility toward such person(s), including any return travel arrangements. No refunds will be made and we will not pay any expenses or costs incurred as a result of the termination
Severance
If any provision or part-provision of this contract is or becomes invalid, illegal or unenforceable, it shall be deemed deleted, but that shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the rest of this contract.
Prompt assistance
If, while you are on holiday, you find yourself in difficulty for any reason, we will offer you such prompt assistance as is appropriate and possible in the circumstances.
If you have a complaint
If you are unhappy with any aspect of the Company’s arrangements while you are on holiday, you must address your complaint immediately to the Company’s local representative [TBC insert LS and PS contact details] and to the management of the hotel or other third-party supplier whose services are involved. They will do their best to rectify the situation. It is unreasonable to take no action while on holiday, but then to write a letter of complaint upon return. If the problem cannot be resolved locally and you wish to complain, full details must be sent to the Company in writing to arrive within 30 days of your return. We will do our best to investigate and reply to you within 28 days of receipt of your letter. Failure to take either of these steps will deny the Company the opportunity to resolve the problem immediately and/or investigate it properly. Accordingly, you taking these steps is a pre-condition to being able to pursue any other dispute resolution mechanisms (including mediation and court proceedings) which may be available.
Mediation
In the rare event of a dispute in connection with this contract which cannot be amicably settled, the parties agree to enter into mediation in good faith to settle such a dispute and will do so in accordance with the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) Model Mediation Procedure. Unless otherwise agreed between the parties within 14 working days of notice of the dispute, the mediator will be nominated by CEDR. To initiate the mediation a party must give notice in writing (“Mediation notice”) to the other party to the dispute, referring the dispute to mediation. A copy of the referral should be sent to CEDR.
Unless otherwise agreed, the mediation will start not later than 60 days after the date of the Mediation notice. No party may commence any court proceedings in relation to any dispute arising out of this contract until it has attempted to settle the dispute by mediation and either the mediation has terminated or the other party has failed to participate in the mediation.
Governing law and jurisdiction
This contract and any matters arising from it are governed by the laws of England and Wales and are subject to the jurisdiction of the Courts of England and Wales.