The British Mountaineering Council (BMC) Participation Statement
“The BMC recognises that climbing, hill walking 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.”
https://www.thebmc.co.uk/bmc-mission-statements

General

• Participation in adventurous activities entails some risk of injury. All staff employed by AFS Mountaineering are trained and appropriately qualified to run advertised events and will at all times proceed in a manor to limit the risk of injury. However, customers need to accept that accidents and injuries can happen given the nature of the environments we are operating in.

• The word "event" is used throughout this page and refers to all activities advertised by AFS Mountaineering (courses, guided walking and climbing).

• Please ensure that you have read and understood the British Mountaineering Council Participation Statement above.

• These Terms and Conditions are designed to ensure safety, clarity, fairness to all parties and to ensure your experience from initial contact with us until the end of the event is the very best we can provide.

• The requirements of the Adventure Activities Licensing Authority mean that we are unable to take under 18's unless they are accompanied on the event by their parent or legal guardian. Any booking for a person under 18 must be made by their parent or legal guardian. All instructors employed by AFS Mountaineering have an enhanced DBS certificate. However, if you would like to book onto an open course or event with under 18s, please do not use the online booking form but get in touch as I have a separate form for under 18s. There is no admin charge for this.

• The parent or guardian needs to be aware and accept the risks involved in adventure activities and satisfy themselves accordingly.

• All bookings are on the basis that the customer will, at all times, observe the safety regulations set by the instructor.

• The contract is subject to availability of a course place/date and the acceptance by the customer of these terms and conditions.

• Neither the AFS Mountaineering website or literature constitutes an offer and AFS Mountaineering may correct any errors or omissions to its published prices at any time prior to the confirmation of the contract in accordance with this condition.

• All information is produced in good faith that it is accurate at the time of going to press.

Terms and Conditions of Bookings
1. Booking & payments - 

(a) Booking and payment can be made online via this secure website which is managed by Wix for open scheduled events. The booking system is painfully limited and you will need to complete the information for everyone in your group. However, we will email you an editable word version for everyone else in your group.

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(b) The Wix online booking and payment system will not support bespoke bookings for private events or for larger organisational bulk bookings. For bespoke bookings, an invoice will be raised and can be paid for by BACS. There is no administration charge to raise an invoice for private bookings or for larger organisational bulk bookings when paid in full (with the exception of points 1(c), 1(e), 1(f), 1(j) and 1(l) below where applicable).

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(c) Should you wish to pay an initial 10% deposit for bespoke bookings for private events or for larger organisational bulk bookings, it will be your responsibility to pay the remaining balance by the date specified (usually 4 weeks before the start of the event). If we have to chase with a new invoice, there will be an additional £5 admin fee added.

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(d) If booking within 4 weeks (28 days) of the start of the event, payment must be in full.

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(e) Where online booking is available, this is the preferred option. However, if you prefer to pay via invoice instead there will be an additional £5 non-refundable administration charge for raising an invoice.

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(f) Being already painfully complicated, the Wix online booking and payment system would end up looking even more complicated if I started including deposits / remaining balances / full amount. If you prefer to reserve a place by paying a 10% deposit where online booking is available please get in touch and we will send an invoice. All invoices for such deposits will include an additional £5 non-refundable invoice admin charge. Please note that it will be your responsibility to pay the remaining balance by the date given in your invoice. If we have to chase with a new invoice, there will be an additional £5 admin fee added.

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(g) Full payment is due 24 hours before the start of any event at the latest. If you do not pay your balance within the above time scale you may incur further charges in accordance with the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998. ​

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(h) The price of your activity / event can be varied due to government action, such as charges in VAT (if applicable) or any other government-imposed changes / currency changes.

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(i) We reserve the right to refuse a booking or to make changes to advertised prices until the point of confirmation of your event. If this occurs, we will notify you and if you are not satisfied with this all monies paid will be returned subject to an admin fee (outlined in Point 2).

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(j) There is a £10 handling surcharge for cheques for any event which is non-refundable.

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(k) For organisational clients where we need to liaise with a finance or procurement department to be added as a supplier, please note that there is a one off £100 admin fee.

2. Cancellation / Changes by you - Should you wish to change details of your booking after we have confirmed details, we will do our best to help accommodate you. We will initially offer you a place on the next available equivalent or suitable event where we can and at our discretion. However, should you ask for a refund the following cancellation schedule will be used to ascertain any outstanding fees:

(a) Any refund will be issued by BACS bank transfer so you will need to provide basic account to enable this (account name, sort code, account number).

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(b) More than 4 weeks (28 days) prior to the start date and time of your event: I will refund what you have paid minus a £5 refund admin fee and the Stripe online booking commission (currently 1.4%+20p for UK cards) if booked online. Please note that this is in addition to a £5 administration fee for raising an invoice if applicable as outlined in Points 1(c), 1(e), 1(f), 1(j) and 1(l).

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(c) Within 4 weeks (28 days) of start date and time or during the event:-  Full payment is due and no refund will be given.

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(d) If you are late for the start of an event you MUST inform the instructor. Contact details and other information is always given a few days before the start of an event. If you are severely delayed we cannot wait indefinitely at the expense of other paying clients and you may have to accept the event won't happen for you. We will try and be accommodating and offer you a place on another equivalent event at our discretion. However no refund will be given.

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(e) If you don't show up for the event or attempt to contact us / leave a message, this will be taken as a cancellation by you and no refund will be issued.

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(f) If you decide to leave an event part way through, our duty of care to you ceases and you will be responsible for getting back to your vehicle / accommodation. We take no responsibility for your safe return in such circumstances and no refund will be offered. However, we will endeavour to arrange for you to make contact with us when you have safely returned and also an agreed time by which we will contact mountain rescue if we have not heard from you. This is for everybody’s peace of mind and your safety.

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(g) No refund will be issued to anyone who causes distress to anyone (instructor, other client or anyone else outwith the group) through discrimination. Please see point 6d for more information.

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(h) Transfers: Should you wish to transfer to a course on a different date or different event and you are outwith 4 weeks of the start of the said course or event, there is a £5 administration handling charge for doing so. If you are within the 4 weeks before the start of the course or event, this will be considered a cancellation by you and you will not be refunded. Should you wish to book on to a separate event, full payment for that will be necessary.

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(i) It is strongly advised that you get your own holiday insurance in case you cannot make the event or you feel that adhering to these terms and conditions will be difficult for you. We eased our booking terms and conditions greatly during the pandemic but we cannot continue to operate as a business being so understanding about last minute covid occurrences. Please take out cancellation insurance! Please also see point 4.

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3. Cancellation / Changes by us -
(a) Should we make changes or cancellation due to AFS Mountaineering inability to provide resources or staff or when cancellation by others on your course makes continuation no longer viable or impractical we will inform you as soon as possible with suggested alternatives. Should these not be satisfactory or suitable for you we will refund all monies within 14 days (by BACS) minus the stripe commission fee (currently 1.4%+20p for UK cards) if booked online. We are not liable for any other costs incurred by you, and strongly recommend that you take out appropriate holiday / travel insurance.

(b) With all the good will and intention, we will try and find venues to meet which are less likely to be busy. However, given that public car parks fill up extremely fast, it is not improbable that we are unable to run the course or event on the day. If that is the case, we shall attempt to rearrange. No refunds will be issued in these circumstances.

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(c) Final choice of route - We will always strive to provide you with the activity / itinerary stated on your booking form / confirmation however the very nature of the outdoor environment means that the weather and other unforeseen circumstances can often determine that this is not possible. Examples of possible hindrance may be no water / snow, too much water /snow, high winds, landslides, road / river blockage, local access / land management / forestry issues etc. Any changes we are forced to make due to these or similar circumstances will be based on ensuring your safety and providing you with a quality outdoor experience. We will inform you as soon as we have made an assessment that such a change is necessary so we can discuss / arrange suitably comparable alternative activities / locations / itineraries for your day / event / course. Getting to a particular summit is NEVER guaranteed for the above reasons. We will always try and find alternatives but sometimes the nature of the weather means that it is unsafe to go to higher altitudes. Refunds are not provided in such circumstances as it is beyond anybody’s control.

(d) Some events require a minimum number of participants in order to be viable. These are stated in the event page. If we cancel the event because of insufficient numbers, you will be offered a full refund (minus the Stripe commission fee if applicable from online booking - currently 1.4%+20p for UK cards), or the offer of an equivalent event on a different date. We are not liable for any other costs incurred by you, and strongly recommend that you take out appropriate holiday / travel insurance.

(e) We reserve the right to refuse your participation if we deem your level of fitness, health or your clothing / equipment is unsuitable for the event, or if you appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs or you are otherwise behaving inappropriately. This will be treated as a cancellation by you and no refund will be given in these circumstances.

(f) If, due to Force Majeure we are unable to fulfil our contract with you, you will not be due compensation. This relates to extremely unusual or unforeseeable circumstances beyond our control which generally affect us all. These can include, for example, war, riot, industrial dispute and / or strikes, civil commotion, disorder, terrorist activity and its consequences, natural or nuclear disaster, malicious damage, fire, flood, epidemic, quarantine restriction or extreme weather conditions which make normal operations impossible to continue or dangerous. We will however try to reschedule in such instances when we can.

4. Insurance – Although we have full public liability insurance we recommend that you arrange adequate personal insurance cover for activities, holidays and courses. You should note that many travel insurance policies exclude cover for certain sporting activities, so you should carefully check the terms of any proposed insurance policy to ensure that it meets your requirements.
 

5. Liability – In the absence of any negligence or other breach of duty by us or our employees and agents, you will be responsible for any loss, theft, injury or damage to your own vehicles, their contents fittings or accessories. In the event of a breach of this contract by AFS Mountaineering, we shall not be liable for any loss, damage cost or expense arising out of the breach which was not reasonably foreseeable at the date the contract is made, except in respect of death or personal injury resulting from any act or omission on the part of AFS Mountaineering. AFS Mountaineering will only be liable for loss or damage caused by the proven negligence or default of the company or its employees in performing their obligations under this agreement.
 

6. Health and Safety – Outdoor adventurous activities take place in varied natural environments where there are natural hazards and risks to manage. Clients must adhere to the instructions, guidance and decisions of our mountain leaders as they have specialist knowledge & skills and are committed to keeping you safe.
(a) It is your responsibility when booking to ensure that you and members of your group are fit enough to cope with the activity and the environment associated with your booking. Clients must inform us prior to the event of any medical condition / illness / disability (including medication which may affect their performance) on the booking form so we can discuss your needs and make appropriate arrangements. All clients should inform the guide / instructor if there has been any change to the medical condition / illness / disability between booking and the start of the event. All clients should inform the guide / instructor immediately if they feel unwell during the activity.

(b) Illicit drug use - is not permitted prior to, or during our events / activities. Should you arrive clearly under the influence of illegal drugs, you will not be able to participate in the activity. You will get no refund in such circumstances. Should you decide to consume illegal drugs during the event, our duty of care and responsibility toward you ceases immediately. You will need to determine whether you are have the necessary skills to get yourself back to your car should the group decide to continue. Please see point 2(f).

(c) Clients wishing to bring alcohol on wilderness camping treks must be aware that they are responsible for it, it is for personal consumption in the evening and that they must drink responsibly so as not to behave inappropriately, cause distress to others, cause damage or be unable to continue the activity / be unfit in the morning. Behaviour that disrupts the smooth running of an event may result in the disruptive customer(s) being excluded. This will be treated as a cancellation by you as per Point 3(e) above.

(d) Clients must show respect to equipment / vehicles / buildings / other clients / wildlife (flora and fauna) and the environment / other hill / mountain users / staff / land owners or their employees – Abuse or causing distress to others or loss / damage due to negligence will result in repair / full replacement costs. This may also lead to exclusion from activities / accommodation / courses without refund. The customer is responsible for the safekeeping of all equipment issued for use during the activity/course.

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(e) Equality. Discrimination against any other client based on their (for example) gender, sexuality, religion, skin colour, ethnic origin, country of origin is not acceptable on any AFS Mountaineering event (the example is non-exhaustive). Every client has the right to enjoy the event and learn during any instructed course without fear of discrimination from anybody else. If anyone is causing distress by behaving in a discriminatory manner they will be asked to leave the event and no refund will be issued.

(f) The gear list is available on this website. You can find it here. It is your responsibility to contact AFS Mountaineering if there are items which you don't have as we can bring spares along if we have any. If you turn up without the essential kit and haven't informed us of this in advance and we do not have spares, we reserve the right to ask you not to join us should we decide that you are missing essential kit for the particular activity. This is for safety reasons and for the safety of others. You will not be refunded in such circumstances. 

(g) You must agree to inform us within 4 weeks of the event starting if you develop symptoms of a contagious respiratory condition (e.g., the flu, a cold or Covid 19). You must also agree to inform us if your health and general fitness has suffered as a result of a previous respiratory illness.

7. No Smoking Policy – In England and Wales - The Health Act 2006, and in Scotland - The Smoking, Health and Social Care (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Prohibition of Smoking in Certain Premises (Scotland) Regulations 2006 mean that smoking is prohibited in any building. This includes all AFS Mountaineering vehicles and tents. 

8. Dogs – If you are booking an activity / event for yourself or yourself with friends / family that is a bespoke and private event, you are welcome to bring well-behaved dogs. They must be kept on a lead at all times so as not to disturb wildlife and the owner will be responsible clearing up and appropriately disposing of dog mess. If you wish to bring your dog on a wilderness camping trek, you must have your own tent. AFS Mountaineering cannot provide tents under these circumstances.

9. Use of AFS Mountaineering equipment – With the exception of fair wear and tear, AFS Mountaineering reserves the right to charge for equipment provided to you for the activity / event that is lost, damaged or misused. This charge means the full cost of a new replacement or equivalent item of the same standard. If you are unsure of how to use the equipment please ask your instructor.

10. Service and feedback – We want you to enjoy your experience in the outdoors to its fullest, if you are dissatisfied with any aspect of the service provided by AFS Mountaineering please inform us as soon as possible and we will take appropriate action.

11. Photographs and Marketing – Photographs taken on our events may be used on our website, social media pages or other promotional material. If you do not wish to be photographed by AFS Mountaineering, please inform the instructor as well as tick the appropriate box on the booking form. We cannot be responsible for other people on an event taking pictures and posting them on their social media pages, but if you do not want to be photographed by them please ask people to be respectful of this. AFS Mountaineering does not believe in regularly sending out emails or newsletters. It annoys us as people when we receive them and are forever having to unsubscribe from emails that we never signed up to. Most of our marketing is done via our Twitter and Facebook Pages and you are welcome to like/follow us (Search AFS Mountaineering on Facebook or @afsmountains on Twitter). Our website also includes all of the set trips and courses that we are running.​

12. Personal possessions – We take no liability for loss or damage to your equipment or clothing that you bring with you on our activities.

13. Additional Terms and Conditions relating to wilderness camping treks – All wilderness camping events are self-contained. The group carries everything it needs (tents, sleeping bags, food, cooking equipment and fuel, etc.), and you will be expected to carry your fair share. There are no washing or toilet facilities (with the exception of one or two particular bothies) for the duration of the event, other than what we arrange ourselves. The instructor is not the sherpa, porter or cook. Advice on what food to bring can be given before any event. You are responsible for bringing your own food but if you are unsure or want any advice then please just get in touch and we'll be happy to advise.

14. Permits – It is your responsibility to obtain any permits required for any additional activities you wish to undertake whilst on one of our events (e.g. fishing).

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The Booking Terms and Conditions were updated on 2nd December 2021