The present terms govern every booking placed with Snowtailors, the private ski school operating in Val Thorens and across the 3 Valleys. They prevail over any prior correspondence and over any standard purchase conditions the guest may otherwise circulate. Acceptance is given by paying the deposit referenced in article 2.
Article 1What these terms cover.
Snowtailors is a private ski school. We sell time with state-certified instructors — half-days, full days, and weeks of tailored coaching — to individuals, families and small groups who book directly with us. The present terms apply to that contractual relationship and to it alone. They do not extend to the lift companies, equipment suppliers, hotels or chalets through which we may, on a guest's behalf, organise complementary services as a concierge convenience.
By placing a booking — whether through our website, our email address, our WhatsApp line or a phone conversation — the guest confirms that they have read these terms, understood them, and accept them in full on behalf of every member of the party named in the booking. A parent or legal guardian accepts these terms on behalf of any minor in their group. No counter-signature is required; payment of the deposit constitutes acceptance.
Article 2The booking process.
A booking begins as a conversation. The guest sends a request, by any of the channels listed on the contact page, with the dates, the names of the people skiing, and the resort. We answer within twenty-four hours with an availability check and a tailored quote — a written summary that lists every confirmed session, the instructor or instructors assigned where possible, and the total price.
The booking is confirmed on receipt of a non-refundable deposit equal to thirty per cent (30%) of the total. The deposit secures the dates and the instructor; nothing is held in our calendar until it has cleared. The remaining balance is due on the seventh day before the first session — what we refer to internally as J–7. A reminder is sent automatically. For bookings placed less than seven days before the first session, the full sum is due at the moment of confirmation.
Article 3Pricing & periods.
The rates published on our website are starting indicators — the floor of what a half-day or a full day with a Snowtailors instructor costs. They do not constitute a contractual offer. The final figure is always the one written into the personal quote we send by email, which takes account of the period, the size of the group, the instructor's seniority and any logistical specificity (early start, helicopter coordination, language).
A high-season premium of up to twenty per cent applies during the three statutory peak windows of the French Alpine calendar — the Christmas and New Year fortnight, the four French school-holiday weeks of February, and the Easter week. The premium is shown line-by-line on every quote and never applied retroactively. Prices are quoted in euros, including all taxes applicable in France.
Article 4Methods of payment.
We accept three forms of payment. The first is a Stripe Payment Link, sent by email, valid for credit and debit cards as well as Apple Pay and Google Pay; this is the most common channel and supports every major currency at the bank's prevailing rate. The second is a SEPA bank transfer to our French account, the details of which appear at the foot of every quote. The third, which we require for any single transaction above ten thousand euros (€10 000), is a domestic bank transfer with the corresponding remittance reference.
Cash payments are not accepted, in accordance with French law on professional services. Cheques are not accepted. Bookings paid by an employer or third party require the third party's written confirmation that they accept these terms on the guest's behalf.
Article 5Cancellation by the guest.
Plans change. The cancellation framework that follows is the one we have used for fifteen seasons and has proved fair to both sides; it is set down here in full so there are no surprises.
- More than seven days before the first session (J–7+): the deposit is refunded in full, less a fixed administrative fee of one hundred and fifty euros (€150) covering instructor reservation costs.
- Between three and seven days before (J–3 to J–7): fifty per cent (50%) of the total is retained; the remainder is refunded.
- Less than three days before (under J–3): the full amount is non-refundable. The instructor's calendar is, by then, locked.
A cancellation must be sent in writing — email or WhatsApp message — and is effective from the time-stamp of receipt at our end. Refunds are processed within ten working days, by the same channel as the original payment.
Article 6Cancellation by Snowtailors.
We will only cancel a confirmed booking in circumstances of force majeure — a category which, in the high mountain context, has a precise meaning. The relevant cases are: an avalanche-risk bulletin of grade four or five issued for the sector by the local prefecture; a full-day closure of the relevant lift system for safety reasons by the operator; the sudden incapacity of the assigned instructor; or any other event of an unforeseeable, exterior and irresistible nature within the meaning of article 1218 of the French Civil Code.
Our standing policy in such cases is, in order: first, to propose an alternative instructor of equivalent seniority; second, to propose a rescheduling within the same season at no additional cost; and third, where neither of the above is possible, to refund the full sum paid, including the otherwise non-refundable deposit, within ten working days.
Article 7What is included.
Each booking purchases instructor time — the number of hours, the number of skiers, and the period set out on the personal quote. Included within that figure are the instructor's professional liability insurance, the cost of the instructor's own lift pass for the day, their equipment and their preparation time before the first run. Nothing else is implied.
Article 8What is not included.
The following items are excluded from the price of the lesson and remain the guest's responsibility, even where Snowtailors organises them as a concierge convenience: the guest's own lift pass; equipment rental (skis, boots, helmet, poles); on-mountain meals for guest and instructor where the day extends to lunch; helicopter or off-piste deposit fees; mountain rescue and personal accident insurance; any taxi, train or airport transfer. Items organised by us on the guest's behalf are billed separately, line-by-line, on the same invoice as the lessons.
Article 9Insurance & cover.
Each Snowtailors instructor is covered, individually and at all times, by the professional liability insurance held collectively through the École Nationale de Ski et d'Alpinisme. That policy responds to claims of professional misconduct or negligence on the part of the instructor in the performance of the lesson; it does not cover the guest's own equipment, personal belongings, accident or repatriation.
We strongly recommend that every guest holds a personal mountain-sports insurance policy covering off-piste rescue, helicopter evacuation and medical repatriation. Such cover is widely available — through the lift company's daily supplement, through the Carré Neige programme, or through a dedicated travel insurer — and the cost is modest. Failure to hold such a policy is the guest's own decision; Snowtailors cannot assume that responsibility.
Article 10Liability limits.
Skiing is a mountain sport. It carries an inherent risk of injury that no level of supervision can wholly remove. By booking with Snowtailors, the guest acknowledges that risk and agrees that the instructor's role is to teach, to advise on terrain and conditions, and to apply professional standards of supervision — not to guarantee an absence of falls, weather change or sudden conditions on the mountain.
Snowtailors' liability is limited to direct, foreseeable damages arising from a proven failure on the part of an instructor and capped at the amount paid for the lesson concerned. Indirect or consequential losses — missed flights, lost equipment, holiday days that cannot be rescheduled — are excluded. Force majeure events as defined in article 6 exclude all liability on our side.
Article 11Behaviour on the mountain.
The instructor is, on the mountain, the senior figure of the group. Their judgement on terrain choice, avalanche stability, weather, and the readiness of any guest to attempt a given descent is final. A guest who refuses that judgement releases Snowtailors from any liability for the consequences.
Visible alcohol intoxication, the use of any controlled substance, or behaviour that endangers other skiers or the instructor are grounds for immediate termination of the session, without refund. We have, in fifteen seasons, applied this clause exactly twice; we expect not to apply it again.
Article 12Photography & video.
Our instructors occasionally take photographs and short video clips during a session — for the guest's own archive, for our internal training, and on rare occasion for the editorial pages of this website. We never share, license or sell such images. A guest who would prefer no photography to take place needs only to say so at the beginning of the lesson, and the instructor's phone stays in their pocket.
Any commercial or editorial use of an image identifying a guest by face or name requires the guest's explicit, written, prior consent. That consent is sought separately and is never a condition of booking.
Article 13Disputes & governing law.
These terms are governed by French law. Any dispute that cannot be resolved by good-faith conversation between the guest and Antoine Sangouard, the founder, will be brought before the Tribunal Judiciaire de Chambéry, which has exclusive jurisdiction. EU consumers retain, in addition, the right to refer a dispute to the European Online Dispute Resolution platform.
Article 14Updates to these terms.
The present version is dated May 2026 and is the only version in force. We reserve the right to amend it for future bookings; the version applicable to any given booking is the one published on this page on the day the deposit is received. Material changes — to deposit percentages, cancellation tiers or governing law — will be flagged by email to any guest with a confirmed booking on the date the change takes effect.
Article 15Questions, & contact.
Any question about the present terms can be addressed, in any language we work in, to snowtailors@gmail.com or by phone to +33 6 11 87 05 68. We answer within twenty-four hours, and the answer comes from a person — never an automated system.
Snowtailors — Val Thorens · May 2026