Rising Sun Guides Terms & Conditions
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A 25% non-refundable deposit is required to confirm all reservations.
- Full payment is due 60 days prior to the start of the tour. If the tour is booked within 60 days of departure, full payment is required to confirm.
- Cancellation within 60 days but 30 days prior to the tour will incur a tariff in the amount of 50% of the full tour cost.
- Cancellations within 30 days will incur a tariff in the amount of 100% of the full tour cost.
- At the time of booking, you will receive a message with your invoice allowing you to complete payment by international bank transfer or with your credit card through Paypal. Paypal is the preferred method on payments under 100,000Yen. There is a 4% service fee associated with all paypal transactions, however on payments up to 100,000 Yen Rising Sun Guides will accept this fee. For larger payments, the 4% service charge will be added to your invoice. Alternatively, bank transfer is the preferred method on large transactions as the associated flat rate fees are lower. All bank transfer details are available on your electronic invoice. If you choose to complete a bank transfer, please ignore the paypal service charge listed on your invoice and only transfer the amount owing on the balance line of your invoice before the paypal service fee.
Note: You do not need a Paypal account to use this online system. Simply follow the instructions and links provided with your electronic invoice.
- All customers signing up for a guided tour are required to read and sign a release of liability waiver before departing. Failure to do so will result in cancellation of the tour without refund.
- All participants under the age of 19 must also have a parent or legal guardian sign their release of liability.
- RSG reserves the right to cancel any tour at any time (typically due to inclement weather, unsafe backcountry travel conditions or guide injury / sickness). In the event of cancellation, the customer will be offered the opportunity to either reschedule or receive a refund.
All guests booking our backcountry or lift assisted day trips are covered by the RSG Powder Guarantee.
- All participants entering the backcountry (anywhere outside of the ski area boundary) on a guided tour must be at least 13 years of age.
- We ask guests to be honest with themselves about their skill level. If you have booked and paid for a trip with RSG but it is clear that your skills are insufficient for the trip you have booked, we will cancel the remainder of the day and refund 50% of your booking fee.
- It is your responsibility to care for any rental equipment supplied by Rising Sun. Guests will be charged for repair or replacement of any lost or damaged items.
The Rising Sun Powder Guarantee
We know that you came to Japan to ski powder and that’s what we want to find for you. We’re lucky that this is a product Hokkaido consistently delivers; however even here there are some days when good conditions can’t be found and we don’t want you to waste your money on a guided day that isn’t up to snuff. If we don’t think we can find good snow anywhere on the day of your trip then we will offer the choice to reschedule (subject to availability), receive a full refund (less transaction fees) or proceed with lowered expectations to see if we can find something good out there.
This is a pretty big statement and something that`s probably only possible here in Hokkaido but it does come with the following conditions:
The decision to cancel, reschedule or refund will be made by Rising Sun Guides:
We are tuned in to conditions across the island and even if conditions are looking bleak where you are, we have more than a few tricks up our sleeve and its often just a matter of doing a little driving to find better skiing. You hired Rising Sun to find you the best snow… so let us!
We do guarantee snow however we cannot guarantee a particular depth of snow or that it will always be untracked:
Particularly on lift assisted trips you can expect to be crossing tracks particularly as the day wears on. Of course our guides know these mountains well and will be aiming to keep you several steps ahead of the crowds throughout the day.
The powder guarantee is only offered on day trips:
For guests on our multi-day package trips, we`ll do something with you every scheduled day regardless of conditions. If its really not worth strapping in, then we`ll take you sightseeing, hot springing or something else fun for the day. We will however refund for any unused lift tickets.
The decision to cancel, reschedule or refund might be made at the last minute:
We will typically make the decision to cancel the day before your trip operates however, we do like to give the weather every chance to fix itself and will sometimes leave the decision until the morning. In these cases your guide will arrive to meet you as scheduled in the morning providing the latest weather information and final decision for the day.
We can always go ahead with the trip (or alternative plan) with reduced expectations:
Even in the worst conditions we can often still pull together a great day particularly after expectations have been adjusted. Any day on snow is better than a day inside right? There`s also plenty of other fun things to see and do in Hokkaido on an off day so we`ll happily supply and facilitate alternatives where possible.