Booking Conditions – Overseas Treks & Trips

PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT

When something becomes predictable and absolutely safe, it ceases to be exciting or to be an adventure. For an activity to be adventurous it must have an uncertain outcome and it will carry risks. Going into mountainous regions is implicitly hazardous, and if we add to that an adventurous activity then, by necessity, the hazards are increased. This implies an inherent and intractable risk of injury or, in the extreme, loss of life. Anyone considering taking part in a trip needs to consider this very seriously and to take responsibility for their own participation or for that of persons for whom they are a guardian. Our trips are fascinating and exciting, well beyond the realms of what can be achieved by staying near to home, not simply because of the mountains we visit, but because of the astonishing parts of the world we go to. Sadly, some of these are impoverished. This alone is an important incentive to go but it means we operate invariably in regions with limited infrastructure. If you are injured, problems with infrastructure alone can mean a delayed evacuation and so a worse medical outcome than for a similar accident nearer to home. We hope that joining one of our trips will set your pulse racing and your imagination soaring. In order to take part in a truly exciting, adventurous activity with all the rewards of experiencing diverse cultures and sharing unforgettable memories with newly found friends, you have to accept the risks involved. The British Mountaineering Council Participation Statement says that: The BMC recognises that climbing 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.

Booking Conditions – Overseas Treks

Please read the following booking conditions very carefully:
1)	All bookings are made with Will4Adventure Ltd whose address is 13 Spring Hill, Sheffield S10 1ET, United Kingdom. The Director of Will4Adventure Ltd is William Legon. Contact: will@Will4Adventure.com Tel: 07791860163 or +44 (0)114 2668817
2)	The term “expedition” used in these booking conditions refers to all itineraries described on this/our website including those which might otherwise be known as tours, treks, trips or holidays, but not including those specifically entitled ‘extensions’.
3)	To book a place, complete the Booking Form and send it to Will4Adventure Ltd with your deposit of £200 per person. Unless the expedition is full, you will receive confirmation of booking and Expedition Handbook.
4)	Any extensions to our expedition itineraries should be purchased separately. The arrangements for extensions are made on an individual basis once a booking is made. Extensions are subject to a separate deposit to be quoted per person per extension on demand. Confirmation of receipt by Will4Adventure Ltd of your extension deposit will not be confirmation of your extension as it will not be possible at that time for Will4Adventure Ltd to confirm that the booked extension will be available or that it will be identical to that offered. We will confirm all of the arrangements to you before you pay your final balance. Should the confirmed extension itinerary be significantly different to the published one then you will be free to cancel the extension only and a refund will be made. This will not affect your booking of the main expedition itinerary, which will be held as a separate contract, nor the cancellation terms pertaining to it.
5)	You may pay your deposit using any lawful means. If sending money by electronic (bank) transfer then you must pay the remitter’s (your) fees and the beneficiaries (our) fees.
6)	A second payment of 50% of the total due must be made before 60 days prior to departure. The final balance will be taken in-country as a cash payment in Pounds Sterling (£) unless otherwise advised.
7)	Bookings accepted after the balance due date can be secured with the appropriate deposit and a 50% payment of the total due must then reach us within 7 days of us confirming your booking but no less than 3 days before your scheduled date of departure to take part in the expedition.
8)	Notice of cancellation must be given in writing. Should you cancel, the following scale of charges will apply: 60 days or more before the expedition starts – loss of deposit. 30 days or more but less than 60 days before the expedition starts – 30% of total trip cost. 10 days or more but less than 30 days before the expedition starts – 60% of total trip cost. Less than 10 days before the expedition starts – 100% of total trip cost.Similar terms are adopted throughout the travel industry and cover the costs of advance payments made by Will4Adventure Ltd. Cancellation charges may be covered, in part, by your travel insurance provided the reason for cancellation falls within the terms of the policy.
9)	Not included by expedition cost: passports, visas, insurance, inoculations, excess baggage, items of personal nature such as drinks, souvenirs and laundry, other items as specified within the itinerary details. Note: you are responsible for organising your own passport, visa, insurance and health inoculations.
10)	Transfers from one expedition to another may be possible, and an administration charge of £60 per person, per booking, will be payable. At the same time, you must pay any costs that we have incurred in respect of your booking, such as deposits paid by us to agents, if these are neither refundable nor transferable. Transfers between expeditions will not be affected until all such fees and costs are received by Will4Adventure Ltd.
11)	Transfer requests must be received by Will4Adventure Ltd in writing and before the date the second payment is due. A transfer request after this point will be treated as a cancellation and the transfer fee will not be accepted.
12)	You cannot transfer a booking from an expedition to a course.
13)	You may transfer your booking more than once, as long as you pay the transfer fee on each separate occasion, at the rate prevailing at the time of payment, and pay any costs incurred by Will4Adventure Ltd in respect of each booking held. The final expedition to which your original deposit is transferred must start within 18 calendar months of the start date of the expedition originally booked. Failure to travel within this time will be taken as a disinclination to travel and as a de facto intention to cancel the booking, regardless of the payment of any transfer fees or costs in the intervening period. Under such circumstances, the deposit and any money paid to affect a transfer, or transfers, will be forfeited to Will4Adventure Ltd.
14)	During an expedition, every effort will be made to adhere to the planned itinerary but it must be accepted that with adventurous activities of this type, or by being in the developing world, or by visiting regions with limited infrastructure by virtue of their remoteness or otherwise, or with world-wide travel in general, changes to the programme will occur from time to time. Will4Adventure Ltd accepts neither responsibility nor liability, for any ensuing costs, or the consequences of any such change, however caused.
15)	Circumstances may arise where we are forced to alter dates, expedition duration, flight schedules, trekking routes, or hotel accommodation. We will try to inform you of any such changes as soon as we know of them.
16)	On assessing the conditions expected to be encountered in the mountains or the abilities of the Team Members, your Expedition Leader may decide to change any aspect of the trip, if he or she believes that to continue with the itinerary or activities, or any latterly agreed alternatives, would place anyone at undue risk.
17)	Your Expedition Leader will do his or her utmost to ensure that any problems are solved for the benefit of the Team as a whole. Signing the booking form signifies your acceptance of the Expedition Leader’s authority to make decisions affecting the group or individuals. For instance, the Expedition Leader may require an individual or individuals to leave the expedition if he or she believes that a person, or a person’s health, is at risk, if an illegal act is committed, or behaviour may become, or has been, detrimental to the safety, enjoyment or well-being of the group or of any individual within the group.
18)	A client leaving an expedition at any stage, for whatever reason, will not be entitled to any refund nor to compensation unless agreed by the Director of Will4Adventure Ltd, William Legon.
19)	We receive regular Travel Advice from the UK Foreign Office (FO). We will not knowingly operate expeditions in contravention of such advice if the advice advises against “all travel” to a country and is published before the due start date of an expedition.
20)	We reserve the right to cancel an expedition if the FO Advice effectively puts the destination country or significant parts of the country out of bounds such as to make the principal objective untenable. If the principal objective remains achievable in observance of the FO Advice, we will alter the itinerary and the expedition will not be cancelled. For example, the FO may advise that it is unsafe to traverse an area which lies on the published approach trek. In such circumstances, if the objective can be reached by using an alternative route, we will do so and the trip will not be cancelled.
21)	If the FO does not issue unambiguous advice against travel, a disinclination to travel on the basis of a perceived threat or hazard, howsoever formed, will be interpreted as a voluntary cancellation and the cancellation charges set out in these booking conditions will apply. This does not affect your right to transfer between expeditions under the terms of these booking conditions.
22)	Non-UK Nationals should consult their own government for advice on travel to the destination country and all countries transited en route. We will not be bound by the advice of such foreign governments, nor will our booking conditions be waived, save where such advice coincides with the advice of the UK Government, and the booking conditions above become effective.
23)	Team sizes described by Will4Adventure Ltd are target sizes and may be increased or decreased at the discretion of Will4Adventure Ltd. We give no undertaking as to the minimum size of a team, but we do undertake to ensure that leaders and support staff are supplied in appropriate numbers to ensure the principle objectives of the expedition can be achieved. Similarly, leaders named in expedition descriptions, anywhere in our literature or on our website, may also be changed.
24)	We reserve the right to cancel any expedition which does not have sufficient people taking part to make it financially viable. By the same token, we will endeavour to ensure that an expedition runs if at all possible. If an expedition is likely to be cancelled under such circumstances, we undertake to inform you as soon as possible, but this may occur after second payments are due.
25)	Anyone booked onto an expedition cancelled by Will4Adventure Ltd will be entitled to a full refund of money paid to Will4Adventure Ltd. Anyone on such an expedition will be invited to transfer to another expedition and no transfer fee will be payable. Should you transfer to another expedition any difference in price will be invoiced or credited accordingly.
26)	Many of our expeditions (including treks) involve going to high-altitude and carry an inherent risk of altitude illness. Similarly, most of our trips visit remote locations or poorly developed regions where infrastructure is limited. In such places, the risks to health are increased and the ability to treat injury or illness effectively is reduced. Additionally, climbing and mountaineering, which includes treks that cross glaciated terrain or snow-bound passes, are hazardous activities with a risk of serious injury or death. By signing these booking conditions you acknowledge these hazards and your acceptance of the associated risks.
27)	Neither Will4Adventure Ltd nor any of its representatives will be responsible for any illness, injury or death sustained on our expeditions, nor will they be liable for any uninsured loss of personal property.
28)	Most expeditions have days in the itinerary that are included to provide flexibility in case of bad weather, or some other untoward event, and thereby increase the chance of your principle objective being achieved and for the expedition to be successful. If these days are not needed in order to achieve the aims of the expedition and the team decides to return from the mountains early, any additional costs incurred by you and associated with extra hotel nights, or services that would not otherwise have been provided nor were given in the published itinerary, must be met by you at the time.
29)	Will4Adventure Ltd cannot be made liable for the consequences of strikes, industrial action, wars, riots, sickness, quarantine, government intervention, weather conditions, the failure of a scheduled airline, or other untoward occurrences, whatever they may be.
30)	In the event of civil unrest in a particular region, we undertake to inform our clients of the situation as soon as we have knowledge of it.
31)	For all expeditions, you must have insurance that covers you for all of the activities, specifically those deemed to be hazardous, included in the itinerary and for any activities you may undertake if traveling independently as part of an extension. You must ensure you have adequate cover for search, helicopter rescue and repatriation in the event of a medical emergency. Your travel insurance provider must agree beforehand to meet the costs of any search, rescue or recovery, for medical reasons, of you to the nearest appropriate medical facility even if prior authorisation from the insurer may not be possible due to the remoteness of the recovery area or because medical expediency demands your recovery before such authorisation could be received.
32)	Having made every effort to ensure the correctness of any of our publications, online or otherwise, we cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies.
33)	Will4Adventure Ltd’s agents and representatives, other than the Director of Will4Adventure Ltd, are not entitled to promise refunds for whatever reason, and Will4Adventure Ltd will not be bound by any such promises.
34)	These booking conditions may only be waived in special circumstances, and in writing, by a letter from the Director of Will4Adventure Ltd.
35)	The terms and conditions of all agreements made with Will4Adventure Ltd shall be subject to, and governed by, English law.
36)	When making your booking it is implied and accepted that you have read and understood all these booking conditions and agree to abide by them.

Booking Information

It is essential that you fill out a Will4Adventure medical history questionnaire (supplied after booking) prior to attending and provide any updates in this regard that may occur between making the booking and attending the event. Will4Adventure cannot accept any liability for any loss or injury caused by medical conditions that were not disclosed. Disclosure of a medical problem will not necessarily preclude you from attending.

Risk and Dangers – BMC Participation Statement

Whilst we maintain high professional standards of client care and safety, you must accept and understand that climbing, mountaineering and other mountain related activities all take place in hazardous terrain. The risks involved can be minimised but never entirely eliminated.
We therefore draw your attention to the British Mountaineering Council’s (BMC) Participation Statement:

The BMC recognises that climbing 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.

When booking on any of our courses or treks you must understand and accept the BMC participation statement and the participation statement that we have outlined at the top of this page.

Booking Conditions – Overseas Treks & Trips

PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT