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Chockstone Forum - Crag & Route Beta

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Travel Insurance - Mountaineering Course (Alaska)
Simple_One
23-Apr-2013
11:02:30 AM
Hi All,

I'm having trouble finding anyone that will offer travel insurance for a mountaineering training course I'm heading off on (and it's a requirement that you have it to attend the course). I'm looking for something that will cover you for climbing above 3,500m in North America and Canada.

The closest I have found is this:
http://www.insure4less.com.au/page/travel-insurance-rock-climbing/

But their specific wording says the following, and I imagine [the course that I'm off on] falls under 'professional guides':
This insurance will not cover you for:
2.Any climbing / trekking involving multi stage ascents, professional guides or porters without the prior specific approval of Underwriters.

I'm going to talk to them, just wanted to know if there were any other options to look at?
gfdonc
23-Apr-2013
11:29:02 AM
I've generally got a good response to them on any requests to vary the rules, it will involve an exchange of money of course ..

ajfclark
23-Apr-2013
11:39:53 AM
On 23/04/2013 Simple_One wrote:
>just wanted to know if there were any other options to look at?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=site%3Achockstone.org+%22travel+insurance%22
Simple_One
23-Apr-2013
11:57:48 AM
I appreciate the sarcasm, but most of the old threads recommend IHI/Bupa, and they no longer cover mountaineering.

ajfclark
23-Apr-2013
12:15:01 PM
How about the Austrian Alpine Club?
technogeekery
23-Apr-2013
12:28:25 PM
That looks like an awesome course!

Material for "TR of the Year"?
brendan
23-Apr-2013
2:06:57 PM
I'm off to Alaska next tuesday and the only options I have found for insurance are insure4less and the austrian alpine club, insure4less is really expensive ($540) for our 30 day trip but has good cover, AAC is cheaper ($60 a year) but hasn't got the same level of medical cover, wish there was some type of middle ground.
Simple_One
23-Apr-2013
2:41:06 PM
Thanks all for the info. I'll look into Austrian Alpine Club, I had disregarded them on the basis that I didn't live in Austria, but that doesn't seem to be an issue.

As for the course, it came up on The Clymb for some $1200 off, and I figured if I didn't do it now, I'd probably never get around to it, so that was me off to Alaska, hahaha.
I'm probably not as interested in hardcore mountaineering as others, but it seemed like a great way to get a reasonable enough level of knowledge and experience to pursue what I'm interested in, which is back country skiing and ski mountaineering.

@Brendan, hope you enjoy your trip mate, I'm certainly looking forward to it.

Robb
23-Apr-2013
3:38:23 PM
have a good trip brendan.

I arrive in anchorage on the 11th june . I' ll be keen to get an update on conditions when you get out?

Simple one - when and where is the course?.
brendan
23-Apr-2013
4:04:36 PM
im back in Canberra on the 5th of June then off to NZ for the Winter, ill email you about conditions or give us a call Robb

be safe over there

freepete
23-Apr-2013
9:52:15 PM
Hey I used AAC for a trip last year - http://aacuk.org.uk/p-benefits#AWS. Didn't have reason to claim but joining up was dead easy and the cover is pretty good for 60 bucks. Have fun.
tonytas
24-Apr-2013
1:31:13 PM
Have a look at Global Rescue - have rescued a couple of friends of mine, anywhere, any time, any place, (not Polar though) and reasonable price. Used by guides and care professionals working in difficult areas. Don't do general insurance though, you would need to have ordinary travel insurance for that.
https://www.globalrescue.com/
Damien Gildea
24-Apr-2013
6:53:25 PM
This 'school' has been discussed in some other forums.

The owner has changed the formats, names and marketing several times now due to criticism of his methods.

See:
http://www.summitpost.org/phpBB3/post902730.html?hilit=ukclimbing#p902730
and
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=428177&v=1#x6067145

You will notice that the moderators of Summitpost busted the owner pretty easily, posing as an innocent potential client asking about the course*, then coming in under his own name to defend the school. No way I would give this guy one cent of my money, nor let anyone close to me have anything to do with their 'school'.

* as their first ever post on a site's forum, just like you've done here "Simple_One".....
Simple_One
24-Apr-2013
10:55:24 PM
Yeah suffice to say, I'm not Ben, given that I'm based in Australia and work in IT not mountain guiding. To late for me, I've handed over my money, but, rest assured; if I get f---ed over you'll hear about it!

Personally I'm not looking to be a guide, or to be certified or anything, I just want to learn some of the skills and have a chance to practice them with some input from (hopefully) competent and experienced partners or instructors. If I knew people who had skills and experience in these areas, I'd have gone that path and funded a trip for them, unfortunately, I don't.

Definitely does seem dodgy posing as a client and talking to yourself....

However, since it concerns you so much I'll remove the links to the course and any mention of where it is or whom it's with.

The question as to travel insurance for mountaineering above 3,500m in the USA and Canada still stands.


EDIT:

So that took some reading (and some registering on UKC), but frankly I'm fine with what I read on UKC, I think Ben was detailed in his responses, and didn't claim to be something that he is not, nor to be offering something that the school does not. UKC seems to be populated by a few excessively up themselves wankers.

With respect to the behaviours on SummitPost, I have emailed Ben directly to see what he has to say, there are two sides to every story so I'll reserve judgement until I hear his.
adrian
24-Apr-2013
11:01:16 PM
insure4less is pretty much the only reasonable option I've found, but is expensive. Tell them what you want to do, and they'll tailor a policy for you with an associated large price tag.

The American Alpine Club (who partners with Global Rescue) have some coverage included with the fairly cheap membership fee, but from memory it covers rescue only and not the potentially huge medical bill you'll end up with if you're injured in the US. Even then, I think the standard coverage is only up to $5000 of rescue bills (which won't buy you much chopper time if you need it).

One Day Hero
24-Apr-2013
11:42:55 PM
Oh man, I followed other damo's links and found this http://mountaineeringtrainingschool.com/skip-college-and-be-a-mountain-guide/

Hope things don't go to shit for the o.p...............I'd be stressed as hell about spending 2 months on a glacier with someone who is almost certainly a total fuching tool! :/
Simple_One
24-Apr-2013
11:51:16 PM
The o.p. hopes it doesn't either!

Can't say I'm a fan of people discouraging education. That said, having left uni as an engineer some years ago, there were definitely people there who were pissing their money away because someone told them they should go to uni, not because they knew what skills they wanted to leave with (or why).

The argument he makes about money is fairly poor though and depends heavily on supposition, at least one peer reviewed study I know of has shown that (rightly or wrongly) higher academic qualification leads to be better remuneration. Very few people make a killing by having awesome fun doing what they love. At least I hope that's true, otherwise I'm in the wrong gig.
One Day Hero
25-Apr-2013
12:23:05 AM
He actually states that 15yrs of being a climbing guide will leave you with half a million in your bank account.........yep, that sounds like all the climbing guides I know :D

There are 18 messages in this topic.

 

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