Last updated: 14.10.2026
1. Who we are and what these terms cover
These terms apply to everything Irniger Bluebird Snowsports (sole proprietorship of Basil Irniger, Lucerne, Switzerland; “we”) offers on this website, by email or by message: private ski, snowboard and freeride lessons, private tours on request, posted tours and weeks, and the extras that go with them.
Our lessons take place in Engelberg and, on request, elsewhere in Central Switzerland.
By booking, you confirm that you are at least 18 years old or have the permission of a parent or legal guardian, and that you accept these terms for everyone in your booking.
All times are Swiss local time (CET/CEST).
2. Bookings
You book online on this website, or by email or message. You choose the sport, level, language, lesson and day; we assign an instructor who teaches what you asked for. If your instructor cannot teach on the day, we arrange another qualified instructor and let you know.
A booking is confirmed when you receive our confirmation email. Please check its details (dates, times, meeting point, participants and level) and tell us straight away if anything is wrong.
Lessons are private: for you and the people in your booking, up to the group size shown.
Private tours on request: we plan the tour with you and confirm the date, the plan and the price in writing. The tour is booked once you accept that offer.
Posted tours and weeks: signing up for a date is binding and confirmed straight away by email.
Bookings by partners: hotels and other partners can book lessons for their guests. These terms then apply to the guest taking part. Either the partner pays for the lesson or the guest receives a payment link; the partner’s own agreement with us covers its billing.
3. Prices and payment
All prices are in Swiss francs (CHF), as shown on the website and during booking: per lesson for one person, with a supplement for each additional person, unless stated otherwise. Discount codes and offers are applied during booking. Price changes do not affect confirmed bookings.
You pay when you book, by card, TWINT or another method offered by our payment provider.
Posted tours and weeks are paid with the link in the confirmation. Payment is due within the number of days after signing up stated on the tour or week page, and no later than the activity starts. Your confirmation gives the exact deadline in Swiss local time. If payment is not received by then, the unpaid reservation is cancelled automatically, the payment link is closed and the places are released. We notify you by email. Any cancellation charge is calculated under the tour’s cancellation rules (section 4) at the time the payment deadline expires.
The private taxi from Lucerne has a fixed price, shown when you book and charged with your booking. Lift passes and train tickets we buy for you (section 5) are passed on at cost, with a separate payment link before the lesson.
Payments are processed by our payment provider, Mollie, and where applicable by your bank or card issuer. We do not store card details on our own systems.
4. Changes and cancellations
By you: lessons
Unless your offer or confirmation says otherwise:
- You can move or cancel a lesson yourself until 17:00 on the day before, in your account or with the link in your confirmation email, or by contacting us by email, phone or WhatsApp, or telling your instructor directly by then. A lesson over several days can be moved or cancelled one day at a time.
- A lesson or day cancelled by 17:00 on the day before is refunded in full; for the private taxi and other third-party services, section 5 applies.
- Later cancellations, no-shows and late arrivals that shorten the lesson are not refunded. If you do not arrive and we hear nothing from you within the first hour after the start time, the lesson counts as a no-show.
- After 17:00 on the day before, we try to accommodate changes such as the time or the number of participants, depending on availability; if no alternative works, the rules above apply.
- Arriving late does not extend the lesson beyond its booked end time. Any extension is voluntary and depends on availability.
Please cancel as early as you can, so the time can go to other guests. Refunds are made to the payment method you used.
By you: posted tours and weeks
For a tour or week on a posted date, the cancellation terms on its page and in your confirmation apply. Unless stated otherwise there: free of charge until 17:00, 14 days before; a cancellation charge of 50% until 8 days before; 75% until 3 days before; after that, and for no-shows, the full price.
To cancel a posted tour or week, contact us by email, phone or WhatsApp, or tell your instructor directly.
Cancelling is always free if someone takes your place: a person you bring, or someone from the waiting list.
A posted tour runs from the smallest group shown on its page. If fewer have signed up by 17:00 three days before, we call it off: you get everything back, and 10% off your next tour.
By us
If we have to cancel before the activity starts, for example because of illness, serious operational problems, official measures or conditions we consider unsafe, we:
- offer another date, time or instructor, or
- refund what you have paid for the affected service if no alternative works.
For freeride days and tours, the avalanche bulletin and the weather decide; you hear from us by 17:30 on the day before at the latest. If we cancel before the activity starts, we refund the affected service. Conditions can still change overnight or during the activity. Once a lesson or tour has started, the instructor may change the plan or end it early for weather or safety, without a refund; we offer a suitable alternative where possible.
We are not responsible for other costs such as travel, accommodation, lift passes, train tickets, rentals or insurance.
5. Extras and third-party services
Unless clearly stated otherwise, our prices do not include:
- lift passes
- train tickets and other transport
- rental equipment
- insurance
- meals and drinks
You are responsible for a valid lift pass and, where needed, train tickets for your lesson; suitable and safe equipment; and clothing for the mountain and the weather.
Third-party services: the private taxi, lift passes and train tickets. These are provided by others; we arrange them for you. You authorise us to book or buy them with the details you give us, in your name where the provider allows. We do not act as their seller, and their providers’ conditions apply. Whether a third-party service is refunded when your lesson is changed, shortened or cancelled, by you or by us, depends on its provider’s conditions: we pass on what the provider refunds, and do not refund third-party costs ourselves.
Private taxi from Lucerne: for full-day lessons within the city of Lucerne, we book a private taxi that takes you and your instructor from your hotel to the mountain and back, door to door, at the fixed price shown when you book. It is a third-party service: whether it is refunded depends on the taxi company’s conditions (above).
Lucerne pickup by train: for full-day lessons within the city of Lucerne, your instructor meets you at your hotel and travels with you to the mountain and back by train, in the class you booked, with help on every connection. Train tickets are not included.
Lift passes and train tickets: we can buy them for you, at cost (payment: section 3).
Delays and disruptions of taxis, roads, trains or lifts are beyond our control and do not extend the lesson.
Avalanche equipment: a rented avalanche kit (transceiver, shovel and probe, with or without an airbag backpack) is booked by 17:00 on the day before, handed over at the meeting point and returned at the end of the day. If it is lost or damaged through carelessness, we charge the repair or replacement.
6. Risks, liability and insurance
Skiing and snowboarding involve inherent risks, including falls, collisions, changing snow and weather, and other hazards. By taking part, you:
- accept these risks,
- confirm that you are physically and mentally fit to take part,
- agree to follow your instructor’s instructions and the FIS rules.
Freeride days and tours take place away from marked and controlled runs, where avalanches, terrain and changing snow carry risks that remain even with careful guiding. For these, you also:
- carry an avalanche transceiver, shovel and probe (they can be rented from us),
- meet the requirements stated for the day or the tour,
- accept that the guide may change the route, turn back, or exclude a participant when their safety or the group’s requires it, without a refund.
To the extent permitted by Swiss law, Irniger Bluebird Snowsports and its instructors are not liable for accidents, injuries, damage or loss of property during or in connection with lessons, unless caused by gross negligence or intent.
You are responsible for accident, health and travel insurance that covers winter sports, including off-piste and touring, and rescue costs; we recommend a Rega patronage.
Parents or legal guardians remain responsible for their children outside the lesson, make sure the children follow the instructor’s instructions, and stay reachable by phone during the lesson.
7. Behaviour and safety
We may exclude participants from a lesson if they do not follow safety instructions, are clearly under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or behave in a dangerous or seriously disruptive way. There is no refund in that case.
8. Weather, lifts and resort closure
Lessons take place in most weather. As long as the resort runs lifts, even partly, a lesson can generally take place. If the area is fully closed, or conditions are unsafe, we may cancel or adapt the plan; section 4 (“By us”) then applies.
For freeride days and tours, open lifts are not the measure: the avalanche conditions and the weather decide, as described in section 4.
9. Photos and video
We take photos or videos during a lesson only if you ask us to. We never use photos or videos of guests for marketing without their clear prior consent.
10. Data protection
We process personal data in accordance with Swiss data protection law and, where applicable, EU law. Details are in our Privacy Policy.
11. Governing law and jurisdiction
These terms are governed by Swiss law. The place of jurisdiction is the competent court at the seat of Irniger Bluebird Snowsports, unless mandatory law provides otherwise.
12. Contact
Irniger Bluebird Snowsports
Baselstrasse 13
6003 Lucerne
Email: info@bluebird-snowsports.ch
Website: bluebird-snowsports.ch
