WCG Policies and Conditions

Payment Plans

Upon booking a trip with WCG you will be required to pay a deposit to confirm your reservation. 100% of your invoice must be paid no later than 30 days before your trip begins.

For longer expedition your full invoice must be paid no later than 60 days before your trip starts or upon booking. A deposit of $3000 will be charged upon booking.

Cancellation Policy

Cancellations made up to 45 days before your trip start date are eligible for a full refund. Cancellations made up to 15 days before your trip start date are eligible for a 50% refund. Cancellations made within 14 days of your trip start date are not eligible for a refund.

For trips to Alaska, your deposit of $3000 is non-refundable due to significant up front costs (glacier flights, guide airfare, etc.) WCG will do their best to credit your deposit towards another trip but all trip changes are at the discretion of the guide.

Rescheduling and Trip Changes

If you need to reschedule your trip WCG will do our best to accommodate your needs. If we cannot reschedule your trip in a timely manner and your cancellation is within 14 days of your start date, WCG reserves the right to retain 100% of the trip cost.

All trips are subject to changes in itinerary based on current conditions. All trip changes are at the discretion of the guide and any additional incurred expenses due to these changes are the responsibility of the trip participant.

WCG does not cover unforeseen additional costs associated with rescue/evacuation, travel adjustments, lost luggage, inclement weather, and/or any other unexpected expenses. It is strongly recommended that all participants purchase travel insurance to cover these costs.

Participant Responsibilities

Climbing is both an individual challenge and a team endeavor. Each participant is required to share in the responsibility of the safety and success of the team. For this reason, we ask that each participant:

  • Possess the necessary physical and mental fitness required for this program.

  • Review and understand all program information.

  • Update the WCG if there are any changes to your health or medical information before departure.

  • Be properly attired and equipped as outlined in the Equipment List.

  • Act in a considerate manner toward all team members.

  • Help minimize our impact on the environment and follow appropriate Leave No Trace practices.

  • Communicate with your guide staff if there are any changes in your medications or health while on your program.

  • Adhere to the advice of your guide staff.

  • Continue to self-assess throughout the program, evaluating your fitness, health, skills, and abilities in terms of the demands required of the program.

WCG reserves the right to dismiss the participant from a program or to send the participant to a lower altitude at any time if your guide(s) determine, in their sole discretion, that the participant is not physically, technically, or psychologically prepared for, or capable of participating in the program, or for any other reason that may compromise the safety, health, or well-being of the participant or the entire group. If this decision is made, the participant will not receive any refunds or credits and will be financially responsible for all additional costs associated with an early departure, including but not limited to, evacuation, transportation, hotel reservations, meals, etc.

Risk Management

Please clearly understand that mountaineering is inherently hazardous. Managing risk is WCG’s number one priority. Our guides manage significant hazards inherent in climbing/mountaineering, but they cannot eliminate them.  Objective hazards include rockfall, icefall, avalanches, slides or falls by individuals and rope teams on steeper slopes, weather-related problems including cold, heat, high winds, and other unnamed dangers that can occur while climbing.

You are choosing to engage in an activity in which guided and non-guided climbers have been injured or killed. While those accidents are indeed infrequent, they may occur at any time and be out of our control. We ask that participants acknowledge the risks and hazards of climbing/mountaineering and make their own choices about whether or not to engage in this activity. 

Harassment Policy

Western Climbing Guides (WCG) does not tolerate harassment or mistreatment of our participants or employees. Inappropriate conduct under this policy may include conduct that creates a disrespectful, intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment for a participant or employee. Engaging in such conduct is a violation of this policy.

WCG may consider conduct to violate the policy even if it falls short of unlawful harassment under applicable law. When determining whether conduct violates this policy, we will consider whether a reasonable person could conclude that the conduct created an intimidating, hostile, degrading, or demeaning environment.

Violation of this policy may result in removal from a program, as well as refusal to provide services indefinitely. We place the utmost value on the safety of our participants and employees. Please report any incidents to guide staff.

Age Requirements

All participants must be 8 years old at time of registration. Participants under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Photo Release

This Photo Release outlines the terms and conditions for WCG using your likeness in photographs, videos, or other digital media. 

I hereby grant Western Climbing Guides (WCG) or its affiliates permission to use my likeness in a photograph, video, or other digital media (“photo”) in any and all of its publications, including web-based publications. By granting permission, you allow WCG to utilize these media for lawful purposes. 

Here are the key points:

  1. Authorization: You authorize WCG to edit, alter, copy, exhibit, publish, or distribute the photos.

  2. Ownership: All photos become the property of WCG and will not be returned.

  3. Compensation: You will not be compensated for these uses.

  4. Rights: WCG exclusively owns all rights to the images, videos, and recordings and to any derivative works created from them. 

  5. Waiver: You waive the right to inspect or approve printed or electronic copies.

  6. Release: You release Western Climbing Guides and its assigns and licensees from any claims arising from these uses, including defamation, invasion of privacy, rights of publicity, or copyright.

  7. Hold Harmless: You hold harmless, release, and forever discharge WCG or its affiliates from any and all claims, demands, and causes of action which I, my heirs, representatives, executors, administrators, or any other persons acting on my behalf or on behalf of my estate have or may have by reason of this authorization.