College Ski Trips without the price tag!

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1 College Ski Trips without the price tag! Prices start from 269, and with centres in top resorts such as Val Thorens, La Plagne, Flaine and more! Thank you for your enquiry about planning a college Ski Trip with Action Outdoors. We hope that you will find our prices not only very competitive but also allowing you as much flexibility as you could hope for when planning the week. The UCPA all inclusive ski package works perfectly for college groups looking for everything to be run in-house; full board accommodation, ski school, ski hire and evening entertainment. We simply need to know when and where you would like to go and how many people would like to come! Our mission is to make college activity holidays really simple to plan and organise. We understand that your workload isn t reduced just because you have agreed to plan the annual ski trip and that you cannot afford to forget any minute detail. We are here to help. Who are Action Outdoors? Action Outdoors is the UK partner to a huge non profit French organisation called UCPA. UCPA is the French National Outdoor organisation (union des centre sportif de plein air) and offers a wide range of sports holidays including college trips for year olds in every activity under the sun. The UCPA centre s are large - majority sleep around 350 people in multi share rooms (normally 4 people to a room but this does vary between resorts), with shared bathrooms, dining facilities, social areas and a bar. To keep the cost as low as possible, dishes are to be cleared away after eating plus rooms are to be cleaned at the end of the week thus it isn't a luxury way to go skiing just a very cost effective one as everything is included in the price. UCPA is a huge organisation that has been in existence for over 50 years and takes people away on courses every year. Why not book direct with UCPA? Although colleges can book direct with UCPA, there is no difference in your package we are simply the UK booking agent. The major benefits are that we can charge in either Euro or GBP, that we understand the college trip legalities and that our paperwork is in English. ACTION OUTDOORS PROVIDED AN EXCELLENT SERVICE, THE CHILDREN & TEACHERS ALL WENT HOME FULL OF ENTHUSIASM FOR THEIR NEXT TRIP! THE Page 1

2 Our prices Resort Week starting 27Nov 4 Dec 11 Dec 1 Jan 2 Jan 8 Jan 15 Jan 22 Jan 29 Jan 5 Feb 26 Feb 5 Mar 12 Mar 19 Mar 26 Mar 2 Apr 9 Apr 16 Apr Flaine La Plagne Les Arcs Les Contamines Les Deux Alpes Val Thorens Les Orres All group prices shown are in pounds sterling and include the following: - Accommodation - All Meals - Lift Pass - Equipment hire (skis, boots, poles and helmet) Page 2

3 ACTION OUTDOORS COLLEGE SKI TRIPS WINTER 2016/17 Page 3

4 Why choose Action Outdoors? Action Outdoors can be described as offering the no frills ski package to keep costs as low as possible. We start with the basic UCPA package and allow groups the option to build it up to suit specific needs. Arranging your college trip As long as you have over 10 people definite in joining the trip then you can access the group rates which include: - Accommodation - All Meals - Lift Pass - Equipment hire (skis, boots, poles and helmet) - Ski Instruction Travel We don t tie you in to a fixed travel option. However, we can help with the following: After years of paying through the roof for our college ski trips, we were excited to find a price where we didn t need to blush when presenting the week to parents! Chartered coach travel if numbers exceed 40 pax Book your own flights (cheaper and more flexible for you this way) and we can arrange a group transfer to depart at an agreed time Arrange your own travel Extras As the group leader, you can also decide the following: - Free place ratio - Marketing material (Posters and flyers) - Ski Trip hoody / T shirt Page 4

5 Programme Options UCPA college programmes can be tailored to suit your needs. The base product is from Monday morning to Friday afternoon. We quote from the Sunday to Friday evening and from this you can add on the following: Sunday morning arrival and Ski Saturday night arrival Friday evening packed meal Friday evening meal, accommodation and breakfast The following diagram provides an example of the timetable for a Sunday to Friday stay. If you prefer to travel Saturday to Saturday then, for an additional charge per person covering the extra nights and 3hrs ski instruction, the programme would look similar to this: Page 5

6 Accommodation The accommodation is in purpose built activity centres that are designed to be both practical and functional but provide a social environment where your group, both students and teachers, can relax after a day s skiing. The centres tend to be centrally located both to the lifts and to the town centre. Bedrooms Groups will be accommodated together in dormitory style rooms. Rooms in the majority of the centres sleep 4 people. Each bed has a corresponding locker for individual belongings. Bathrooms are shared or en-suite depending on the resort. Males and females can be kept separate if required. Individuals are required to strip their beds and clean the rooms at the end of their stay. Dining The buffet style restaurants offer a huge selection of food suitable for every taste including any fussy ones. Breakfast tends to be cereal, bread and jams with plenty of hot chocolate and coffee. Lunch can either be packed or served hot back at the centre (pasta and rice dishes with unlimited ice cream and cheese). The evening meal includes starters of soup and salad, the main course will be a wide range of pasta and rice dishes, sausages, fish, steaks etc depending on the theme of the night with cheese and cakes for dessert. The tables do need to be cleared and wiped down after use. This is all part of how UCPA manage to keep prices so low. Page 6

7 ACTION OUTDOORS COLLEGE SKI TRIPS WINTER 2016/17 THE FOOD AND ACCOMODATION WAS PERFECT FOR OUR GROUP, EVERY ONE HAD A COMFORTABLE BED AND PLENTY TO EAT. EVERYONE WAS HAPPY! Page 7

8 ACTION OUTDOORS COLLEGE SKI TRIPS WINTER 2016/17 Facilities All centres have a games room, TV lounge, lecture room (or area), WiFi and ski shop onsite. Some even have a pool or spa. If you would like access to a room to bring the group together for a meeting or social event, then these need to be reserved through reception on your arrival. Evening entertainment Apres Ski entertainment is arranged at the Centre Directors discretion and may include activities such as football, swimming, ice skating, stretching, snow skating, luge, videos and presentations. After dinner there are often activities such as karaoke, games and disco s laid on for those that want to join in. The bar serves soft drinks for under 18 year olds and of course beer and wine for the adults. Page 8 Lift pass The area covered by the lift pass depends on the centre. The AO team can advise on this. It is valid depending on your chosen package but basic is 5 days Monday to Friday. Equipment The equipment is provided according to the individual s standard rather than the group budget with the ski shop hosting a huge range of equipment and boots to suit everyone. If anyone in the group suffers from sore feet then it is just a matter of popping in and exchanging their boots for a new pair. Instruction The instruction really is for all ability levels; whether your students have never skied before or are some of the lucky few who have grown up skiing. Everyone has access to the basic package of 20 hours (this can be increased if arrival on Saturday) and groups will be formed on arrival by the centre ski school.

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10 Group Decisions Dates Normally group leaders are fixed with when their college group can travel. If you can be flexible then early January is the cheapest time to go skiing, with prices picking up on a weekly basis until the peak period over the school half term. Prices then stay high until after Easter when they decrease rapidly back down to the January rates. Obviously the more expensive periods relate to the more popular weeks and school holidays. Dates and centres are normally released in May, 7 months prior to the winter season starting. NB Sometimes the UK half term doesn t fall during one of the French half term (different regions have different dates). When this is the case, Half Term week is possible otherwise the dates that we can actively offer will be around Christmas and Easter. Location Due to the French schools understandably taking priority, UCPA only offer a limited number of choices and dates to colleges. Once you have travelled with Action Outdoors once, UCPA normally start planning you into their programme. Numbers Unless you are able to predict the numbers attending, it is better that you base your numbers on a realistic figure and if the trip proves popular, then numbers can increase as much as availability allows. Any places not taken at 10 weeks prior to travel will be handed back to UCPA thus will be available for public sale which may limit your group size and result in loss of your deposit. Unique to UCPA Apart from the price, there are a few other aspects that we pride ourselves with: Everything is on site (ski shop, restaurant, lecture rooms, bar) making it very simple in terms of administration and logistics. Plus the centres are walking distance from the main lift and town. Colleges from around Europe attend, making it the perfect place for the students to practice their French (Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish etc) The range of food is huge and the amount unlimited, so everyone will be able to eat as much as they like without the parents worrying that their little ones will fade away after a days skiing. Group rates The group rates starts with a minimum of 10 people. The normal accompanying adult to student ratio is a minimum of 1 adult to 8 students. Please note that the adults do pay the same rate as the students and, out of instruction, the students do remain the responsibility of the adults. Marketing material Action Outdoors is able to provide posters to advertise the event if this would be of any help. We can also design a banner advert for your ski trip facebook page. We will help and advise as much as we possibly can to make sure that students are aware of the trip and find it as easy as possible to sign up. Ski trip t-shirt / hoody If you would like to arrange an item of clothing for the trip, then, if booking through our group specific web page, we can add this as an option allowing people to select the size that they need. If you do not have access to any budding designers, we can sketch out a logo for you this end that can be used to brand the event. From there, we can arrange the printing or provide you with the funds raised to use at a local shop the choice is completely yours! Page 10

11 The Centres Resort Accom External evening Entertainment Flaine 3 star Ice rink Bowling Sledge Swimming Indoor climbing Piste Lifts Runs Fact Webpage 265km 78 17G 64B 45R 15Bl Brilliant beginners area but plenty for all and accommodated in a fantastic centre UCPA Flaine La Plagne 3 star Cinema Ice rink 225km 81 10G 69B 33R 18Bl A piste runs underneath the renovated centre UCPA La Plagne Les Arcs 2 star None within easy walking distance 200km 57 11G 53B 32R 19BL Huge centre which is great for big groups to keep them together UCPA Les Arcs Les Contamines 2 star Ice rink 120km 26 8G 12B 19R 9Bl Quieter ski area but plenty to explore UCPA Contamines Les Deux Alpes 2 star Swimming pool Bowling Ice rink 230km 51 14G 26B 14R 8Bl Lively ski resort with a huge range of pubs and clubs. UCPA Les Deux Alpes Val Thorens 2 star Bowling Cinema Swimming Pool 140km 30 9G 28B 23R 7Bl Brand new centre in an area that offers a huge range of pistes UCPA Val Thorens Les Orres 1 Star Ice rink 100km 19 7G 6B 20R 4BL Large but basic centre in the sunny Southern Alps Please speak to a member of the Action Outdoors team for more info. Page 11

12 ACTION OUTDOORS COLLEGE SKI TRIPS WINTER 2016/17 EVEN AS THE LEAD TEACHER OF THE COLLEGE GROUP, I STILL MANAGED TO RELAX AND HAVE MAXIMUM SKI TIME KNOWING THAT EVERYONE ELSE WAS DOING THE SAME Page 12

13 Travel Options We don t tie you in to travel, groups are completely free to arrange their own but we are also very willing to help plan the logistics for your exped too! There is no requirement to use a vehicle at any of the UCPA centres. The majority are ski in / out with the remainder walking distance to the slopes (Chamonix and Les Contamines are exceptions but buses are provided by UCPA at these resorts). Flights We do not hold an ATOL Licence as found it more cost effective to allow groups to arrange their own flights simply because prices increase on a daily basis and the collection and amendment of the required information. Transfers However, we can easily arrange your transfer from the airport to resort. Transfers can be arranged for the whole group or individuals as required. The cost is dependent on location. Coach Action Outdoors are partners to a scheduled coach service, Snow Express. We can offer individual seats with departure either from London or Folkestone for prices around 130pp. Alternatively, we can organise a private vehicle for your group that will pick you up from a suitable location. The price for a private coach averages around 6000 depending on distance and date. This includes the channel crossing, tolls and drivers accommodation whilst in location. ACTION OUTDOORS ENSURED OUR TRIP FROM DOOR TO DOOR WAS AS EASY AND AS SMOOTH AS POSSIBLE, MAKING MORE TIME TO ENJOY THE BEAUTIFUL MOUNTAINS Page 13

14 ACTION OUTDOORS COLLEGE SKI TRIPS WINTER 2016/17 Unsure of numbers... The centres do have a limited capacity and from your initial contact with us through to when the deposit is received, places may no longer be available. We therefore have 2 reservation options available for you: Determined Pay a group deposit of 1000 to cover a group contract if you are in a position to secure the location and bed spaces. Numbers can change by 10% up to 12 weeks prior to travel. The deposit will then be refunded as long as 80% of places have been taken at this point. Unsure If it is the first time that a ski trip has been organised and you are really unsure on numbers, then we will provide you with some marketing material and help you generate a facebook page to advertise the event. We will keep you up to date on the availability of the centres then, once you have a keen interest from more than 10 people*, we can issue a contract for this number and keep increasing until your demand ceases or until there is no more availability. *We can only offer the group rate for over 10 pax. If numbers fall below this due to cancellations, all those remaining will need to default onto the individual adult / child rates. If you are doubtful about numbers then speak with a member of the AO Team about travelling on a specific family week instead. Occasionally prices may vary depending on the euro exchange rate. Page 14

15 ACTION OUTDOORS COLLEGE SKI TRIPS WINTER 2016/17 FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE You will need to keep in contact with Action Outdoors regarding payment and numbers. We will also be able to answer any specific questions about the resort. Each individual will receive joining instructions prior to travel. If you would like to tailor these specifically for you group, then this can be arranged very easily. ADMINISTRATIONAL DEADLINES: We will send out the following s requesting the following information: - Name list 1 month before travel. Any changes are to be notified immediately. - Suggested room layout 2 weeks before travel - Expected time of arrival and dietary requirements at least 3 days in advance. Page 15

16 Your Next Step If you are interested to find out more about organising a college ski trip with Action Outdoors then please contact a member of the Action Outdoors team and we can discuss the options available. Once location and dates have been agreed, we will send over a contract and deposit invoice. We can normally reserve the places through UCPA for 10 days. Once we have received the signed contract and deposit, we will confirm the places and send over confirmation of contract within 48hrs. Groups Department Action Outdoors groups@action-outdoors.co.uk +44 (0) Page 16