Advice for tour participants

This page provides tour participants with advice on:

• our participation statement
• safer ski touring
• choosing the right tour
• applying to go on a tour
• insurance
• costs
• sharing accommodation
• single room supplements
• low carbon travel
• writing up tour reports

Participation statement

In line with Mountaineering Scotland, the Eagle Ski Club recognises that off-piste skiing, ski touring and mountaineering are activities with a danger of personal injury or death. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions and involvement.

Taking part - safer ski touring

If you wish to join a tour or meet, please follow these principles:

• Accept the risks of ski touring and ski mountaineering, and take responsibility for your own actions and safety. This involves acting responsibly, carrying necessary kit and taking steps to develop your skills and experience.
• Accept that unguided tours operate on the basis of "participative leadership". This involves self-responsibility in risk management, using a collaborative ethos of consensus-building, group communication, teamwork and working together. A key role of the experienced club “leader” is to facilitate a group decision-making process in which all members of the group are expected to participate. 
• Play an active role in the team by working together, communicating with others and helping to build consensus around team objectives and conditions. An important part of this is a mutual assessment of skills and experience.
• Exercise a duty of care to others in the group and to other ski tourers at a level commensurate with their own current skill and experience level.
• Follow our Code of Conduct.
• Follow the public health guidance and obligations of the country you are travelling in, and any club guidance in the event of a public health issue.

Choosing the right tour

We have a wide range of skills, experience, levels of confidence and aspirations amongst our 1500 members, This is why it is very important to match your own skills and aspirations with the right tour or meet.

Before applying to join a club tour, please read the Types of Tour page to understand the differences in leadership style and levels of responsibility between guided and unguided touring. It is important to choose tours that match your level of comfort and experience in risk assessment and management.

Also read the Tour Grading page and make sure your level of fitness, skill, and experience and risk appetite fit the description of the activity.

Applying to go on a tour

For a member-led tour, you will need to complete the standard tour application form: Tour Application Form

For a tour led by a professional guide or instructor, the detailed tour description will provide information on how to apply.

Before applying, check the profile of the member putting forward the activity (clicking on the name of the tour organiser will take you to their profile) and find out about their skills and experience.

Be willing to provide one or more references. The leader or organiser of a tour will normally ask for two referees who can comment on your experience, fitness and ability level (this helps to ensure that you would be suitable for the tour).

Acceptance on a tour is at the sole discretion of the leader.

Children under 18, except where expressly invited, are normally only accepted at the organiser's discretion. See the Child Safeguarding Policy.

Insurance

If you take part in Club activities that involve ski touring, ski mountaineering or any off-piste activity, you must have adequate personal accident and search & rescue insurance cover to pay the cost of “getting you off the mountain” by helicopter if necessary, and to pay for any extended local hospitalisation and/or repatriation. Such cover should extend to all medical emergencies and not just accidents. The club also recommends that you have adequate insurance cover for things like cancellation and curtailment and loss or damage to equipment.

Given that levels of cover provided by policies vary, you are advised to read policies carefully. Insurance cover can be complicated and more detailed guidance is available on the Insurance Advice page:

Insurance Advice

The Club has Combined Liability Insurance cover through its affiliation with Mountaineering Scotland. This provides public liability cover for all members, who are UK residents, while they take part in Club activities, as well as their own general mountaineering and ski mountaineering activities. Due to the specifics of the Mountaineering Scotland policy, there are a number of exclusions to the Club's Combined Liability Insurance. You can find a summary of this insurance here:

Mountaineering Scotland club insurance policy - summary

Costs

For tours organised by a club leader, the expenses of the tour will be shared between those taking part and the conditions for participating will be as stated on the tour application form.

For tours offered by professional guides or instructors, this is a financial relationship solely between you and the professional guide or instructor, not the club, and you must accept the terms and conditions of the provider. 

Before committing to a tour or course, you should make appropriate enquiries regarding the standard, costs, and other relevant factors.

On the trip, the tour leader or organiser will ask the group to agree on the person who will look after cash for drinks, lunches, etc and, in some cases, to pay accommodation as a group. This can involve looking after a kitty which is replenished every few days.

Sharing accommodation

Ski touring accommodation will commonly involve members sharing rooms in hut dorms or in self-catering accommodation.

In some cases, if there is an odd number of participants or if someone is uncomfortable with sharing on gender grounds, an additional single room might need to be added.

For tours organised by a club leader, the price for an additional single room should normally be divided across the group.

Guides and instructors have been asked to try to negotiate accommodation to help avoid single room supplement costs. Where this is unavoidable, this should be stated in advance on the tour description.

Low carbon travel

Please use low carbon travel options as much as possible to reach your ski touring destinations. You could also think about sharing lifts or going out for a longer trip, combining a couple of tours. Detailed advice is available for each ski tour destination here:

Low Carbon Travel advice for 2023 destinations

Submitting a tour report

We all enjoy reading our fantastic Yearbook and the descriptions of each tour and how it went. The Yearbooks page is a great searchable resource to give you ideas for your future touring. You can also search the Yearbooks by region on this page: Yearbook Regions.

For each tour, we need someone to volunteer and write up a report and send in some photos. Go on, have a go!

To submit a tour report for the Yearbook, follow the guidelines on this page: Yearbook Submissions. Please use our online form for submitting your report, which you can find using this link: https://eagleskiclub.wufoo.com/forms/esc-yearbook-submission. This form collects all the information required by the Yearbook Editor.