People ask us how we run our trips, and rightly so. You’re coming away with us, often on your own, often somewhere you’ve never been. Here’s the short version.

Who hosts our trips

Every HELVETII trip is hosted by at least one of our Event Hosts, and more than one on the bigger weekends. They’re not there to supervise you, they’re there to host the weekend and look after the group.

Our Event Hosts are trained in Emergency Outdoor First Aid through World Class Training, funded by us, and they hold a Basic DBS check. They work to our Crew Code, Health and Safety Policy and Safeguarding Policy, and we have a Designated Safeguarding Lead they can raise anything with.

Our hikes and activities

We’re a social adventure company rather than a mountaineering school, and our hikes are pitched accordingly, generally moderate, on well-trodden paths and established trails. Every route is chosen and risk assessed in advance, and we grade the difficulty on the trip page so you’ve got a fair idea of what you’re signing up for before you book. Where a route is more technical or demanding than that, we bring in a qualified mountain leader.

The rest, kayaking, coasteering, climbing, ghyll scrambling and the like, is delivered by third-party providers who specialise in those activities. We check they’re insured and qualified every time we book, not once a year. We don’t instruct activities we aren’t qualified to instruct.

Weather

Weather in the UK does what it likes, and we plan around that.

We watch conditions through the week leading up to every trip, and if a route isn’t sensible we’ll change it. Sometimes that call gets made days out, sometimes on the morning by the Event Lead on the ground. We’d rather do a shorter walk and have a good day than push on and have a miserable one.

If something goes wrong

Every trip has a plan for it. Your Event Host carries a first aid kit and a way of calling for help, knows where the nearest hospital is, and has your emergency contact details with them on the hill rather than sat in a folder back at the bunkhouse.

Before you come

Everyone who books completes a participation form. It covers your emergency contact, anything medical we should be aware of, allergies and dietary requirements.

It’s not box-ticking. If something happens on a hill, the person helping needs to know whether you’re diabetic or carrying an EpiPen. That information is only seen by the Event Hosts running your trip, and it’s handled in line with our Privacy Policy.

We send a kit list before every trip so you know what you need.

What we ask of you

We’ll do ours. There’s a little bit we need from you, and none of it’s rules for the sake of rules.

Bring what’s on the kit list, boots especially. Nobody enjoys a day in soaked trainers and we can’t lend you feet.

Be honest on the participation form about your fitness and anything medical. Not so we can judge it, but so your Event Host can plan a day that actually works for you instead of finding out at mile four.

If you’re struggling, say something early. Everyone’s been there, nobody minds, and it’s a lot easier to shorten a walk at the start than rescue it at the end.

And stick with the group. Half the reason you came is the people, so you may as well.

Now and again your Event Host will shorten a day, change a route or ask someone to sit one out. That’s always a call made for the whole group rather than a comment on any one person.

Your money

HELVETII Adventures Ltd is a member of Protected Trust Services, membership number 6542. Your booking is financially protected, and we operate as a package organiser under the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018.

Insurance

HELVETII Adventures Ltd holds public liability, employers’ liability and professional indemnity insurance, arranged for us as a tour operator. That covers our business and our responsibilities as the organiser of your trip. It does not insure you personally, which is why we ask everyone to arrange their own travel insurance.

Still got questions?

Ask us. If there’s something here you’d like more detail on, or something we haven’t covered, drop us a message and we’ll tell you straight.

And whoever you end up going away with, HELVETII or otherwise, these are good things to ask about. If you’ve got a question about one of our trips specifically, our FAQs cover most of them.