Yes. Switzerland has done an excellent job of keeping ski resorts open and safely protecting the skiers.

So our courses for the winter of 2020 2021 have all run as planned and we’ve had a great winter.

And there is a massive effort in all the lift companies to make sure that all lifts can operate with the minimum hassle and staying within the Covid safety restrictions.

This is an important topic and we want to keep things simple.

It’s important to remember that Switzerland has had an excellent response to the pandemic, and whilst cases have risen and fallen in recent months, the medical facilities are ensuring that seriously ill patients are well taken care of and local rules mean cases have kept low.

We also want to emphasise that whilst we have formal Terms and Conditions, our top priority is always our trainees.

So we will always do the right thing – even in an unexpected situation.

CLOSURE OF RESORT BEFORE YOUR COURSE

In the highly unlikely situation that this happened, we would refund all your course fees that we have received. So any deposit and additional payments are returned to you.

CLOSURE OF RESORT DURING YOUR COURSE

Again, we can’t see this happening following assurances from the lift companies and the messages from the Swiss Federal Council.

But if we had to stop a course due to Covid after the course had started, we would refund on a pro-rata basis.

Again, dead simple.

CLOSURE OF SWISS BORDERS BEFORE YOUR COURSE

With the impressive Swiss response to Covid we don’t anticipate Switzerland closing its borders again.

But if it did, we would refund you all the course fees we have received.

CLOSURE OF YOUR HOME NATIONS BORDERS BEFORE YOUR COURSE

This is the trickiest of the scenarios because it involves anything happening globally – and would be well outside of what we can control.

For example, in all the above scenarios we would be able to claim back lift passes and accommodation costs. However if you ended up unable to leave your home nation that becomes more difficult.

So technically our normal Terms and Conditions apply.

But this is where we would be driven by doing the right thing – not just by the Ts&Cs.

We have been talking to our accommodation partners and we have a plan in place so that, if you were hit by a last minute closure, we should be able to get everything resolved and refund as much as we can.

So, if you ended up trapped at home and unable to join us in Switzerland we would simply arrange a credit so you can transfer to another course or a refund if you were able to send us proof of your situation.

That way you don’t have to worry about losing your course fees if you get trapped.

Currently Switzerland has quite a few nations and regions on its quarantine list – but it changes every two weeks and some are being removed. As you will know the situation is very fluid but the Swiss have a sensible and pragmatic approach.

Essentially if you travel from a high risk country (or through one within 10 days of entering Switzerland) you need to quarantine.

If you transit a high risk country – so not staying more than 24 hours to facilitate onward travel – it doesn’t count towards the quarantine requirements.

You can find out more via the Swiss Office of Health about their latest quarantine list.

But if you quarantine in Switzerland it’s currently ten days or seven days with a test-to-release on day seven.

And that’s something we can arrange for you – just get in touch to see how this would work for you.

How this works with your accommodation depends on where you are staying, but we can resolve this.

We are aware that some countries have added Switzerland to their quarantine lists – so on return to these nations you would need to quarantine.

Naturally nobody wants to have to isolate – but we think that if you were to need to do this it would be worth it for the five weeks of training and getting your Basi Level 1 qualification.