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Mountaineering Expeditions

ATOL
0845 345 8848
climb@jagged-globe.co.uk

Frequently Asked Questions...

If you are interested in joining one of our expeditions or treks, we recommend that you telephone us to discuss the trip's suitability for you and to ensure that places are still available on it. Please read the following information very carefully:

Transparent pricing

The Full Price includes an international economy class flight from the UK, and all airline taxes that are payable with the ticket. Airline taxes include some airport handling fees, the UK Air Passenger Duty, fuel surcharges and foreign airport taxes collected through international ticketing.

We cannot include local taxes payable in cash on departure from overseas airports that do not form part of the original ticket price, as there is no reliable mechanism for us to pay them. These taxes are not added into the cost of your trip and so do not form part of the full-price for it.

Our full-price also includes all National Park Fees and Climbing Permits.

Others often omit park fees, permit fees (most notably those for Kilimanjaro) and airlines taxes from their prices, even though it is misleading and may be contrary to the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992 to do so.

Our price less tax is shown, so you can compare our prices properly and fairly with those organisations that omit such taxes in their pricing.

Of the prices we show for each trip, you pay either the full-price (from the UK) or the land-only price (joining in the destination country).

What the price includes:

What the price does not include:

When to book

We recommend that you book as soon as you are sure which trip you want to do, but preferably no less than 12 weeks before the due departure date although, even with hours to spare, we will always try to get you on the trip you want to do. If you book too late we may no longer be holding one of the flight reservations made for your trip, as it may have been handed back to the airline. Under these circumstances, we will buy a new ticket for you, but this may entail an additional cost.

Booking procedure

You can book a trip securely online or over the telephone. We require a £300 deposit for all trips except the following which have higher deposits: Denali, Carstensz Pyramid and 8,000m peaks (excluding Everest) £800; Antarctic Climber & South Georgia Traverse £950; Vinson US$5,000; Everest US$2,000. At the same time you should pay your insurance premium, if you want to buy the policy provided by us. We will then confirm your place on the trip and send you a Trip Dossier, which contains:

How to pay

We prefer to receive payment by debit card or cheque but you may pay by any lawful means, as long as the money we receive into our account is equal to the amount you owe. This means, if you are paying by bank transfer, for example, you must tell your bank that you want to pay the fees that occur at both ends of the transaction, i.e. the charges when the payment leaves your account and the charges when it arrives in ours. You may want to pay by credit card as this usually confers additional consumer protection, in accordance with the terms and conditions of your card. If you do use a credit card, a 2% charge will be added to the amount being paid (not including deposits) to cover the cost imposed by the bank to process the payment. The balance of the trip cost is due no later than 60 days prior to departure (90 days for Denali and all Antarctic trips).

Travel insurance

To be adequately protected in terms of insurance, you will need specialist travel insurance for participation in the hazardous activities described in your trip itinerary. We provide travel insurance suitable for all of the activities described on our website as part of our published itineraries. Our insurance is competitively priced and is available for a single trip, or to provide cover for several trips taken throughout the year. The schedule of cover and the premiums are shown on each trip overview page on our website. You can buy your insurance when you book, either online or otherwise, or at any time after that by contacting the office or again by going on line. Some other insurance policies demand that you seek their prior authorisation before arranging any medical assistance when overseas. Obviously, even with modern communications, it may not be possible to contact the UK before it becomes medically expedient to organise a recovery from a remote mountain location. If you buy insurance elsewhere, make sure that your insurer will agree to pay for any potential rescue or medical recovery without the need to get their authorisation beforehand.

Climbing/Trekking Experience and Medical Forms

In addition to your Trip Dossier, we will also send you a Trekking/Climbing Experience questionnaire and Medical questionnaire and declaration. If you have Internet access and an email address, you may complete these, as well as a hire equipment request form in your Jagged Globe Team Member’s Account, on a secure part of our website (login is sent to you via email). Please note that your experience and medical declaration must be submitted no later than 2 months before the departure date of your trip.

Optional single room

If you are joining a trip on your own, you will share a hotel room with someone of the same sex. If you want to pay for single use of a room (only available in main cities), please tick the box on the Booking Form, and you will be invoiced accordingly.

Joining abroad - land only

You can join our trips in the destination country and distinct ‘land only’ prices are given for each trip in this brochure. If required, please tick the ‘land-only’ box on the Booking Form. Please note that when booking on a land only basis, we are not responsible for any costs incurred before joining the trip, because of changes to our dates or the itinerary.

Flight reservations, alterations and points of departures

For most trips, we reserve international, scheduled economy flights for the group, usually departing from London Heathrow or London Gatwick. We can also buy an additional flight for you to go from a regional airport in the UK to join the group flight departing from London. Some airlines offer departures from UK regional airports as part of their international network, most notably Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM). KLM design their schedules so that flights leaving UK regional airports link in with their long haul services flying from Amsterdam. These trips (currently Kilimanjaro - Lemosho Glades and Kilimanjaro - Western Breach) give you the option of choosing a regional airport on the booking form. At any time, if there is any other aspect of the flight you want to change, such as the ticket class, routing, date or airline, please inform us in writing, either by email, fax or letter, and we will do our best to get you precisely the flight you want. Please remember, no changes to an existing flight reservation can be made without our receiving a written request from you.

Team composition and sizes

All of our trips are led by experienced Jagged Globe leaders. The leader is usually supported by either local guides or Sherpas (depending on the group size and where you are in the world). Porters assist with load carrying on all trips in Nepal, Tibet, Pakistan and India, and on selected trips elsewhere (Kilimanjaro, Aconcagua and Bolivian Climber). The team size for most trips is usually no more than 12 but this increases to 14 on some treks. Certain expeditions have places limited to eight or nine. This is indicated in the trip itinerary.

Will the trip run?

The vast majority of our trips do go ahead as planned. If a trip receives less than four bookings, it is usually cancelled. This decision is taken no later than 30 days prior to the trip's departure and members are informed immediately. We may ask you to consider transferring to another trip on similar dates, or will refund you in full.

Acclimatising to high altitude

We are experts at operating at high-altitude. Every trip we run has a realistic acclimatisation programme. This could involve an acclimatisation trek before a climb, or crossing several high passes during a trek in order to fulfil the maxim 'climb high, sleep low.' Acclimatising takes time and there are no safe shortcuts. All trips to altitudes in excess of 3,000 metres carry medicines essential to the treatment of altitude illness, and our leaders are trained to administer them and to know the symptoms. Where necessary, trips have a portable hyperbaric chamber and supplementary oxygen.

Food

All food on our treks and on expeditions to peaks up to 7,000 metres, is locally purchased and cooked by local staff accompanying the trip. For higher peaks and Ama Dablam, we send out food from the UK to supplement the Base Camp food and for use at high altitude. If camping on the mountain, above the snowline, you may be required to do some cooking yourself, and this will definitely be the case for 8,000 metre ascents. Please tell us when you book, or at any time after that, if you have a special diet. We will then ensure our staff in the destination country know about this and cater accordingly. If necessary, we will send additional food from the UK to ensure your dietary needs are not compromised by the possible limitations of local supply, but please ensure we have ample time to plan, buy and freight food accordingly.

Equipment

You will need to provide your own clothing and personal equipment, such as boots, crampons and an adequate sleeping bag, as listed in your Trip Dossier. We provide all group equipment. Members of all Jagged Globe Expeditions, Treks and Courses are entitled to a 15% discount* in any Cotswold Outdoor store. You can take advantage of this benefit until your trip departs.
www.cotswoldoutdoor.com
*Excluding sale items, books and maps.

Personal Equipment Hire

Certain items of specialist equipment are available for hire from us, which saves you considerable expense if you do not already own them. All prices are inclusive of VAT.