terms and conditions...

Booking Conditions:

All bookings are made with Simon Abrahams Mountain Guiding.

To make an enquiry, please fill in the booking form and submit to Simon Abrahams Mountain Guiding.

Once we have processed your enquiry, we will contact you via email in order to confirm your booking with a deposit request. The deposit required is detailed below...

A deposit of UKP £100.00 for each day of guiding is required to confirm a booking more than 180 days from commencement.
50% of the total guiding fee is to be paid at least 180 days before commencement.
100% of the total guiding fee is to be paid at least 45 days before commencement.

We require full payment for bookings made within 45 days of the commencement date. On receipt of your deposit, you will receive confirmation of booking and itinerary joining instructions.

Any balances of the cost of your booking should reach Simon Abrahams Mountain Guiding at the appropriate number of days before the start date - a payment schedule will be provided with your booking confirmation email. If a balance is not received by the specified date, we reserve the right to cancel your booking and your deposit will be forfeited.

Whilst we are currently working on options for card payments, we do accept payments by bank transfer, details for which will be provided in your booking confirmation email.

You are responsible for all bank charges or fees associated with any payment transaction. In order to minimise currency exchange fees, you can either open a euro-denominated account at your local bank, which may avoid paying intermediary fees by making a SEPA (Single Euro Payments Area) transfer or use a peer-to-peer transfer platform, such as Wise. We will notify you of any incurred charges associated with your payment and this can be reconciled on arrival for your itinerary.

Notice of cancellation must be given in writing. Should you cancel, the following scale of charges will apply:

More than 45 days before the itinerary starts - Loss of deposit
45 days or less before the itinerary starts - 100% of total fee

Cancellation charges may be covered by your travel insurance provided the reason for cancellation falls within the terms of their policy.

Medical Statement:

You need to declare on the medical disclosure any conditions or long standing injuries that may be affected by the activities being undertaken. Medical disclosures are screened by our company medical advisor, if required. We reserve the right to request a medical certificate of fitness to participate, should we deem it necessary before accepting your booking.

Insurance Conditions:

For all bookings, you must purchase specialist mountaineering/off piste skiing rescue, medical and repatriation insurance to cover the dates, areas and activities involved. This should also include cancellation insurance. The following companies provide appropriate mountaineering insurance for UK and Channel Island residents:

For non UK and Channel Islands residents, please contact us if you require advice on appropriate providers.

Participation Statement:

Despite our high professional standards of client care and safety, rock climbing, mountaineering, skiing (piste, off piste and ski-mountaineering) all take place in hazardous mountain terrain. Activities at altitudes in excess of 3,000 metres carry a risk of altitude related illnesses. Objective dangers such as rockfall, icefall, avalanches or sudden changes in the weather are not always predictable and can never be entirely eliminated. Therefore, being in the mountains, carries an inherent risk of serious injury or death. By agreeing to these booking conditions you acknowledge your acceptance of the associated risks whilst participating in these activities.

General Conditions:

We reserve the right to cancel any course if there are insufficient numbers. If the course you have booked is cancelled, you will be given the opportunity to transfer at no extra charge. We will make a full refund if other dates are unsuitable.

Group sizes described in this website are target sizes and may be increased or decreased at the discretion of Simon Abrahams Mountain Guiding. We give no undertaking as to the minimum size of a group or course.

The guiding ratios for any course may be varied at the discretion of the Course Director to allow for circumstances such as absence or illness, so long as such changes do not compromise the safety of course members or infringe any guidelines concerning guiding ratios as may be set out by national authorities or concerned professional associations, such as the IFMGA or BMG.

Whilst every effort will be made to adhere to the course programme or itinerary schedule, it must be realised that with this type of adventurous activity, changes will occur from time to time. Simon Abrahams Mountain Guiding accepts neither responsibility nor liability, for any ensuing costs, or the consequences of any such change, however caused.

Circumstances may arise where we are forced to alter dates, duration, or hotel accommodation before an itinerary or course starts. We will try to inform you of any such changes as soon as we know of them.

On assessing the conditions expected to be encountered in the mountains or the abilities of the participants, our Guides may decide to alter any proposed venue, mountain objective, route or activity if they believe that to continue with the course programme or itinerary schedule would place themselves or any participants at undue risk. This applies to all courses and itineraries, including those that have a specific mountain or route as their primary objective, for example, Mont Blanc.

Our Guides will do their utmost to ensure that any problems are solved for the benefit of all. Signing the booking form signifies your acceptance of the Guides’ authority to make decisions affecting a group or individuals. For example, the Guides may require an individual to leave the course if they believe that a person's health is at risk, if an illegal act has been or may be committed, or behaviour is, may become, or has been, detrimental to the safety, enjoyment or well-being of the group.

Most courses have days in the programme that are included to provide flexibility in case of bad weather, or some other untoward event, and thereby increase the chances of your principle objective being achieved. If these days are not needed in order to achieve the aims of the course and you decide to return from the mountains early, any additional costs incurred by you and associated with extra hotel nights, or services that would not otherwise have been provided nor were given in the published programme, must be met by you at the time.

Anyone leaving a course or itinerary, for whatever reason, will not be entitled to any refund unless previously agreed by Simon Abrahams.

Simon Abrahams Mountain Guiding will not be responsible for any illness, injury or death, nor will they be liable for any uninsured loss of personal property.

Simon Abrahams Mountain Guiding cannot be made liable for the consequences of strikes, industrial action, wars, riots, sickness, quarantine, government intervention, weather conditions, or other untoward occurrences, whatever they may be.

Having made every effort to ensure the correctness of this website, Simon Abrahams Mountain Guiding cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies.

Only Simon Abrahams is entitled to agree refunds for whatever reason and not by any Guide working for Simon Abrahams Mountain Guiding and as such Simon Abrahams will not be bound by any such promises.

These booking conditions may only be waived in special circumstances, and in writing, by Simon Abrahams.

When making your booking it is implied and accepted that you have read and understood all these booking conditions and agree to abide by them.

Under Article L612-1 of the Consumer Code, if any potential dispute cannot be resolved directly with Simon Abrahams Mountain Guiding, then there is access to a consumer mediation system to achieve an amicable resolution:

Online dispute resolution (ODR) platform