Booking terms and conditions
All bookings are made with the Mountain School UK, which is a trading arm of Sykes Adventure Limited, Registered Company Number 13157231 (Here in after referred to as the Company) whose registered office is 13 Chatham Avenue, St Annes, Lancashire, FY8 2RT. Whose Managing Director is Sam Sykes.
The terms and conditions of all agreements made with the Company shall be subject to, and governed by, English Law.
Any reference to the term ‘trip’ in these booking conditions covers any course, trek, walk or expedition we sell.
In order to make a booking you can, book online as laid-out on the individual product page. Unless the trip is full you will receive confirmation of booking and further details within a few days.
It is important to be aware that once your payment is made, should you wish to cancel at any time thereafter, the cancellation penalties detailed below will be applied.
It is strongly recommended that you have suitable cancellation insurance coverage from the time of booking.Cancellation of a trip by the Company will entitle you to a refund of the full cost of your trip, unless cancellation has been forced by unforeseen government intervention in which case actual costs incurred by the Company will be subtracted from any refund due. No other compensation will be allowable.
Cancellation of bookings must be notified in writing or by email. Cancellation charges are set out below, based on the date of receipt of written notification:
More than 10 weeks before departure – 40% of total trip cost
8-10 weeks – 60% of total trip cost
6-8 weeks – 80% of total trip cost
Less than 6 weeks – 100% of total trip cost
Failure to provide vital documentation such as a visa, medical permission and trip insurance will result in exemption from the trip. Provision of these documents is responsibility of the participant and cancellation of the trip due to inability to provide these documents is subject to the same cancellation terms and conditions noted above.
Whilst every effort will be made to adhere to the planned itinerary, it must be realised that in this type of adventurous travel, changes to the itinerary may occur for which the Company accepts no responsibility, however caused. The Company will make every effort to inform you of any change, when possible before departure. Your final itinerary may differ in respect of the places where you stay overnight. In particular it may be necessary to alter your itinerary at short notice due to adverse weather, mountain conditions, client or leader illness, road conditions, or to operating conditions imposed by owners and operators of accommodation, facilities, aircraft, vessels and other forms of transport. Should such conditions involve clients in extra costs such as accommodation, transportation and meals, such costs should be borne by the client. The company will have clear communication through-out this process.
The Company cannot be held responsible for any missed connecting transport that was booked independently of the Company. Even when advice was given on which flights the companies guide is taking. All flights booked by the individual are at their own risk and responsibility.
We reserve the right to cancel any trip which does not have sufficient people taking part to make it financially viable. If a trip is likely to be cancelled under such circumstances, we undertake to inform you as soon as possible, but this may occur after final balances have been taken but will not occur less than 30 days before the departure date.Unless the client has agreed to be flexible in writing(Including email) and wait to see closer to the time.
If you have any complaints whilst on holiday, you must immediately inform your leader or our overseas representative who will use all reasonable efforts to remedy it. If you remain dissatisfied, you must make full details of the complaint known to us in writing within 28 days of the end of your trip. If you fail to follow this simple complaints procedure, you’re right to claim the compensation you may otherwise have been entitled to may be effected or even lost as a result.
Anyone booked onto a trip cancelled by The Company will be entitled to a full refund of the fees paid to the Company for that trip. No other compensation will be allowable.
Our Leaders will do their utmost to ensure that any problems are solved for the benefit of the group as a whole. Signing the booking form signifies your acceptance of the Leader’s authority to make decisions affecting the group or individuals. For instance, he/she may require an individual to leave the group if he/she believes that person’s health is at risk, inadequate fitness, if an illegal act is committed, or their behaviour becomes detrimental to the safety, enjoyment or well-being of the group. Should the Leader take such action, that person would not be entitled to any refund.
The company reserves the right to change the advertised trip leader.
Most of our non UK based trips involve going to high-altitude and carry an inherent risk of altitude illness. Most of our non UK trips visit remote locations with limited infrastructures where the risks to health are increased and the ability to treat injury or illness effectively is reduced. You must also understand climbing, mountaineering and trekking are hazardous activities with a risk of serious injury or death.
Neither the Company nor any of their representatives will be responsible for any illness, injury or death sustained on their trip except where such illness, injury or death is caused by negligence or that of their representatives, nor will they be liable for any uninsured loss of personal property.
On assessing the conditions expected to be encountered in the mountains or the abilities of the team members, your trip Leader may decide to change any aspect of the trip, if he/she believes that to continue with the itinerary would place anyone at undue risk.
Most trips have days in the itinerary that are included to provide flexibility in case of bad weather or other delays, and thereby increases the chance of your main objective being achieved and for the trip to be successful. If these days are not needed in order to achieve the aim 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.
The Company cannot be made liable for the consequences of strikes, industrial action, wars, riots, sickness, quarantine, government intervention, weather conditions, or other untoward occurrences.
To take part in one of our trips you must be covered by adequate insurance for the complete duration of the trip. Your insurance must include cover for: cancellation, medical expenses, injury, death, cost of repatriation, search and helicopter evacuation. If in the event of an emergency medical rescue or evacuation from a trip of you the client, either by foot, helicopter or otherwise, the responsibility for the payment of such costs will lie with the client. Any subsequent costs for expenses such as hotels, food, transport etc shall be borne by the client. It is imperative that the client ensures adequate insurance is in place before departure. Including a full medical disclosure to the insurance company of your up to date condition.
In case of a suspected or confirmed emergency involving you or the group of which you are a member, the Company reserves the right to arrange (or to make arrangements for its or your insurers to arrange) search, rescue and recovery as it deems appropriate and reasonable. You agree to indemnify the Company and keep the Company indemnified from all losses, apportioned appropriately to you, arising from any such search, any such helicopter usage and any resulting repatriation, for medical or non-medical reasons, including legal costs of making a recovery against you.
Sykes Adventure Limited representatives, other than the Directors of the Company, are not entitled to promise refunds or additional services for whatever reason, and the Company will not be bound by any such promise.
A client leaving a trip at any stage, for whatever reason, will not be entitled to any refund or compensation unless agreed by the Director of The Company.
Exchange rates may vary, but once we have confirmed your booking we guarantee the price won’t change. We will not pass on surcharges of any kind. We only offer itineraries that we are confident won’t change. Our pricing is simple and straightforward with no hidden extras.
The website prices stated beyond April 2019 should be seen as indicative and may be subject to minor changes. You will not be eligible for any refund if the trip cost is reduced on our website after you have booked.
If the UK Foreign Office does not issue advice against all travel to your destination, and you decide not to travel on the basis of a perceived threat or hazard, howsoever formed, this will be interpreted as a voluntary cancellation and the charges set out above.
Non-UK Nationals should consult their own government for advice on travel to the destination country and all countries transited en route. The Company will however be governed by advice from the UK Foreign Office.
Having made every effort to ensure correctness of this website and supporting materials, we cannot be held responsible for any inaccuracies.
The Company shall ensure that appropriate security measures are in place to protect your personal data (as defined by the Data Protection Act 1998). When you make a booking, you consent to all the information you provide being passed on to the Company’s suppliers, agents, sub-contractors, employees or volunteers whether based inside or outside the European Economic Area for the purpose of our providing you with the trip
By agreeing to these booking conditions, you consent to the Company’s staff taking photographs and/or video footage of you during the trip and that these images may be used by the Company for publicity and training purposes including, but not limited to, in brochures, websites material and in the media. Photos and video footage supplied by you or other team members may also be used as described above.
By uploading a review you consent to the Company taking intellectual property rights of the content published, to be reused on our website and/or other publicity.
On the advancement payment for a booking on any of our trips the client acknowledges that he/she has read and understands the above booking conditions and agrees to be bound by them.