IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Risks in mountain sports
Please read the following lines carefully
This is important information for all participants in our events, tours and trips.
The safety and health of all our clients who join us on mountain tours in the Alps or on trips to distant countries are our top priority.
Alpine hazards
Many of the activities in our programme involve an increased level of risk.
Rockfall, avalanches, the danger of falling, crevasse falls, altitude sickness, injuries, cold and much more besides are alpine hazards that cannot be ruled out completely, even with meticulous planning, careful execution and a defensive approach.
In the mountains there is always a residual risk, which unfortunately can also have serious consequences, including fatal ones.
On trips to remote regions, the overall risk is increased considerably further by limited rescue options and only basic medical care.
Here, even relatively minor injuries or incidents can have major consequences.
It is important that everyone who exposes themselves to nature, especially in the mountains or in remote regions, is aware of this risk.
Extensive training and many years of experience in mountaineering and on guided tours help us mountain guides to recognise as many risks as possible and act accordingly.
But we, too, are risk managers and are aware that we cannot influence everything. Unfavourable weather, snow or ice conditions and local circumstances can lead to changes to the programme, deviations and also to higher demands on participants. Clients who arrive well prepared for the tours help us, as the risk community we form when mountaineering, to keep the risks as low as possible.
Minimising risk
For these reasons, we expect and require the following of our clients who join one of our rope teams or are part of our guided groups:
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You are familiar with the tour description and the requirements that apply to the respective offer. You have taken note of and understood any instructions (written or verbal) from the mountain guides or from our official email address, and you are physically and mentally up to the requirements described.
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Before starting the tour or trip, you have no physical or health complaints that could impair your performance. If in doubt, you have had a medical examination by a specialist to confirm your fitness. Your preparation for the tour was complete in every respect (training, medication, vaccinations…).
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You have adequate insurance cover for the planned tour/trip. You have also checked with your insurer that the activities planned in the tour description (alpine climbing, ski touring, ice climbing, high-altitude mountaineering, etc.) are not excluded. Your complete personal insurance cover includes the following: health insurance, repatriation, rescue, as well as accident and trip interruption.
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You are aware that, as mountain guides, we are not permitted to administer medication.
You are responsible for your own personal first-aid kit and have discussed the medication you carry for emergencies with your GP beforehand.
If you have taken any medication during the tour, the mountain guide must be informed.
This is particularly important in the event of symptoms of altitude sickness (headache, nausea, loss of appetite, dizziness, racing heart, shortness of breath or vomiting), and especially if the tour is to be followed by an ascent to even higher altitudes.
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Your equipment is complete as per the packing list and in perfect condition.
If in doubt, you have sought advice from specialists or from your mountain guide.
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It goes without saying for you that the whole rope team / group adapts to its weakest member, as is customary in mountaineering.
If a member of the group is unwell, gets injured or cannot manage the whole tour, there is no question: we retreat together.
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You are aware of your role as a responsible and independent mountaineer and accept the remaining residual risk, which unfortunately we cannot rule out.
Do your part, too, to make the "community of shared risk" that we enter into together as a rope team as safe as possible. When everyone prepares conscientiously, we are all safer in the mountains.
