2023/2024 TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Once a booking is made at Snowwater, significant expenses and long-term commitments are incurred on your behalf. It is assumed that you have become familiar with and understand the policies below before booking your trip with us. By completing a deposit, final payment, confirmation form, and our waiver, you agree to be legally bound by the terms and conditions below.

BOOKING POLICY

• Deposit
  A 50% deposit is required to reserve your trip. We recommend cheque or bank wire for international guests, or e-transfers from Canadians to minimize credit card fees and commissions. Credit cards can be used to book a trip, as seen on the FLYWIRE statement.
• Final Payment
  The final 50% payment is due 90 days prior to your trip.

RE-BOOKING ALUMNI POLICY

We are very proud of Snowwater’s annual return rate, and offer our alumni a special re-booking rate of 25%, when made within one week of trip departure.

During our high season, seat preference is given to both the Snowwater Membership Club, as well as full lodge buyouts. Our goal is to the ensure that each group is well matched based on ability and supporting a harmonious lodge environment. Occasionally changes to groups rosters may be implemented at the sole discretion of Snowwater. In this case, we will do our very best to find alternate dates that will work well for your group.

• Alumni Deposit - 1st payment A 25% deposit is needed to hold your dates
• Alumni Deposit - 2nd payment A second 25% deposit is due June 1
• Alumni Final Payment The final 50% payment is due 90 days prior to your trip

**Please see our full group booking policy if you are person who is booking all 12 spots, as we do have additional requirements in this case.

LATE PAYMENTS

We will consider that you have cancelled your seat if we do not receive the balance payment 90 days before your trip start date. All monies on account will be forfeited and you will lose your spot.

GRATUITIES

Gratuities are not included in the Final Booking Price.  At the end of your trip, you will have the opportunity to leave a tip for the staff. On average, a guest will leave 10-15% of the pre-tax full trip price (eg: $1200-$1800 per person for a 4 day).  All tips are greatly appreciated by our entire team.

CANCELLATION AND REFUND POLICY

Having to cancel a dream trip is as much a disappointment as it is a surprise.  We highly recommend that you purchase insurance to protect yourself from unforeseen circumstances.

Snowwater does not provide refunds for any cancellations. We provide future ski credits or allow for replacements.

Trip ‘cancellation insurance’ protects you before you get here; trip ‘interruption insurance’ covers you during your trip.

Please not the following if you need to cancel:

• Your seat will not be considered cancelled, or filled, until we receive written notification of the seat transfer and confirmation from the new replacement.
• If you purchased trip insurance, you can make a claim to recoup all money lost.
• You can find your own replacement and transfer your deposit to the new person. We will leave it to you and your substitute to compensate each other for all monies on account. Payments cannot be put towards someone else already signed up on ANY trip with us at any time. Please note the timeframes in place for when you cancel a trip, as per below.
• If we find a replacement for your seat, you will receive a 75% credit of whatever we sell the seat for, valid for up to two years.
• Trip dates cannot be rescheduled within 90 days of a trip start date for the same season.

If you cancel more than 90 days before your trip start date:

• Receive a full credit voucher for the dollar value of all payments made, valid for up to two years after the time of issue, less a $250 admin fee. This value will be put towards a new trip and is subject to price increases.
• Find a replacement, as per above. You will have two weeks to fill the spot before we start looking for one, unless you ask us to do so earlier.

If you cancel less than 90 days before the start date:

• All money on account is forfeited.
• Find a replacement as per above. We will start looking for a replacement once we hear from you in writing about your cancellation.

Credits of any kind will not be granted in the event of non-arrival, unused services, missed ski days for any reason, or unused nights due to travel or weather disruptions. For peace of mind, we recommend you protect yourself with comprehensive travel insurance to cover any cancellation fees.

LATE ARRIVALS

Late transfers to the lodge are subject to a $250 shuttle fee per person. Late shuttles will only operate until 6:00pm. After this time, you will need to stay in town at your own expense and arrange an early morning transfer, still incurring the shuttle fee.

SNOWCAT BACK-UP

• While we wish we could control the weather – we cannot. There is no guarantee on weather or snow conditions that you will encounter during your trip. Snowwater proudly offers a back-up snowcat program when poor weather or hazardous conditions prevail.
• Snowwater does not provide heli ski credits if we are operating a limited heli program due to poor weather, or other.
• If we are unable to operate due to extreme weather issues, a lodge fee of $750/day will be applied for accommodation, food, transport, and service while at the lodge. Snowwater reserves the right to offer partial credits based on a weather-related inability to operate.
• In the rare case that all skiing must be cancelled due to a mechanical failure, Snowwater will provide a credit for time missed which may be applied to another trip valid for up to two seasons.
• Snowwater reserves the right to cancel trips at any time. Under no circumstance is Snowwater responsible for the client’s inconvenience or travel expenses.

HELICOPTER TRANSFERS

We do offer heli transfers from Castlegar airport, or 1.5km, weather permitting. This is flat fee, return rate.

THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS POLICY
WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND PURCHASING TRIP INSURANCE

Snowwater reserves the right to modify our terms and conditions and all policies at any time.

Any such modification will be effective immediately upon public posting. The use of our services following any such modification constitutes acceptance of the modified terms.

FULL GROUP BOOKING POLICY

Snowwater offers a unique and highly coveted product to a very limited number of people each winter. With only a three-month operating season we require all seats to be filled to keep our business viable, and all payments to be made on time, as per our terms and conditions.

We often have the case where an individual will assume the responsibility of booking the entire
12 seats for a trip, without knowing the names of all the people coming on the trip.

In this case the following points must be followed for us to hold all 12 seats:

• The group leader will assume responsibility for the entire reservation, made on one invoice, as per Snowwater’s payment schedule.
• Snowwater will not be involved in any financial reimbursements between parties whatsoever. We can provide individual invoices, but we will not be involved in transferring funds between group members.
• The group leader is responsible for any last-minute cancellations and finding replacements.
• All payments will be made via FLYWIRE payments. Alternatively, if you opt to pay with a credit card, the group leader will assume all associated credit card fees per transaction, as seen on the flywire invoice.
• Snowwater will not hold any unpaid seats and reserves the right to cancel unpaid seats that are not paid on time. In this case, credits will be issued for future trips, as per our terms and conditions.
• Gratuity not included in the Final Booking Price. Please speak to your group about the norm for tipping at Snowwater. At the end of the trip, you will have the opportunity to leave a tip for the staff. On average, a guest will leave 10-15% of the pre-tax booking costs as indicated on the Booking Confirmation.

THERE ARE NO EXCEPTIONS TO THIS POLICY
WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND PURCHASING TRIP INSURANCE