1 - Miscellaneous
2 - Services
3 - Subscribing Activities
4 - Cancelling Activities
5 - Travelling
6 - Classification of Activities
7 - Customer Requirements
8 - Insurance, Claims and Liability

1 - Miscellaneous

1.1 Altitude 2000 - Trekking and Expeditions is not a tourist entertainment company. Our services are directed at athletes, practicing activities such as Trekking, Climbing and Mountaineering.

1.2 Our services are mainly focused on training courses, monitoring activities, organizing events and services as mountain guides.

1.3 All prices shown on our website, catalogs or any other means of advertising are exempt from VAT, under Article 53. of C.I.V.A.

1.4 In the course of our activities we may collect images (photograph and video). Customers wishing to reserve their image rights must inform us in time.

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2 - Services

2.1 Our services (activities) are generally referred to as Programs. A program includes several components and may include more than one type of activity.

2.2 Our programs are held on dates predefined on our agenda, provided there is the minimum number of subscriptions.

2.3 For pre-formed groups, we can schedule a program to a date of their choice (depending on our availability for the date in question).

2.4 We may conduct a program for a group of people with more or less elements than the established for that program (unless the number of people puts at risk the safety of the activity), but this will always be evaluated individually.

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3 - Subscriving Activities

3.1 Subscribing our programs should preferably be done online, via the registration form available on our website on page Subscriptions. In the event of problems occurring with the online application, you should contact us via phone, email or post.

3.2 Subscriptions will close, usually, 2 weeks before the start of the program. Depending on the activity or external variables this period may vary. We reserve the right to refuse subscriptions even if they were sent within the deadline.

3.3 Subscribing some programs requires the prepayment of an amount between 30% to 100% of the total price. Should a client cancel a subscription already partially paid, Altitude 2000 may retain a portion of that value, reflecting any reservations that have already been made to third parties and that cannot be undone. After the closing date of subscriptions, we do not return any amount in case of cancellation.

3.4 Altitude 2000 reserves the right to ask, as a guarantee fee, for a deposit of a variable value (between 10 and 50 euros), to allow admittance in programs involving the use by customers of expensive equipment owned by Altitude 2000. This will be returned in full at the end of the program, except if the client loses or damages equipment (by negligence only). In this case, Altitude 2000 shall retain all or part of that guarantee fee. If the responsibility for the damages cannot be ascertained, the value of the damage will be deducted in equal shares to the guarantee fee of all customers present in that program.

3.5 Young people under 18 must present an authorization, signed by parent or legal guardian, to subscribe our programs, unless they enter accompanied by the above mentioned.

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4 - Canceling Activities

4.1 An activity within a program or a program in its entirety, may in specific situations and for reasons of force majeure, be canceled. Such reasons may, for example, be of a legislative nature or weather related.

4.2 In the event that a program is canceled in its entirety, for any reason, and before it starts, it will be rescheduled for another date. Not being possible to reschedule, or not acceptable by a client, we will return in full any amount which has been prepaid by a client.

4.3 A program that is already in progress may have to be altered or aborted due to factors beyond our control, like, for example, unexpected changes of weather, risk of avalanche or rock fall, etc. In these cases, when the program is already in progress, Altitude 2000 cannot take any responsibility for what happened, nor make any refunds. All participants must be aware that, in mountain terrain, certain factors cannot be completely controlled or foreseen.

4.4 Any commercial expedition promoted by Altitude 2000 may be aborted, without refund, if our presence in a given region may contribute positively to the search or rescue of a mountaineer, missing or injured in that area, fellow countryman or not.

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5 - Travel

5.1 On our website are given possible Meeting Points for our trips, where we can embark or disembark clients requesting to travel with us, or meet with clients traveling in private vehicle. Other meeting points will only be possible if they do not compromise the program schedule.

5.2 Since October 2010 transportation is no longer included in the price of our programs, but available as an extra, so that customers can choose to travel on their own or request transportation in our vehicles.

5.3 If a client or group of clients intends to travel on private vehicle, they must make sure they can do so safely. For example, some trips may require that the vehicles are fitted, on a preventive basis, with snow chains.

5.4 Breaks during long distance trips are defined by us and should be enjoyed by all, in order to avoid wasting time with successive stops.

5.5 The vehicles we offer for our trips are selected for the best possible saving according to the number of clients, and may be passenger cars, vans or minibus.

5.6 Traveling in our vehicles or those rented by us may impose a maximum volume of personal luggage (usually 120 liters).

5.7 In case of traveling to a foreign land, some travel may occur during night time and / or for periods exceeding ten hours of total driving time.

5.8 Air travel is always the client's responsibility (booking and payment).

5.9 The food while traveling is never included (not in the program price nor the trip price).

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6 - Classification of Activities

6.1 Our programs are classified in three levels of difficulty: Low, Medium and High. This classification is complemented with two numerical scales from 1 to 5, for physical and technical difficulty separately. Example: Medium (3 / 2). A detailed explanation of this classification is available on our website on the Difficulty Levels page.

6.2 It is not allowed the participation of children under 12 years (or so) in programs of high difficulty (level 4 or 5). It is permitted on other programs if they are accompanied by parents or guardians, or authorized by them.

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7 - Customer Requirements

7.1 Punctuality. We ask all customers to be at the meeting point on time. Our punctuality begins with the timeliness of our customers.

7.2 Compliance with the instructions given by our guides. Participants should follow the directions given in the briefing and the instructions given during the activity.

7.3 Respect for Nature. Each client is responsible for the trash that he produces and must carry it with him to an appropriate location for disposal.

7.4 Respect for the people and their customs. On our travels we respect the costumes, habits and traditions of other peoples in the same way we would like them to respect ours if they visit us at our home.

7.5 Respect for all companions. On our activities may participate people of different genders, ages, nationalities, races, religions or customs. All clients should be able to meet all sorts of differences.

7.6 Beware of the equipment they use. We provide our customers with personal and collective quality equipment, brand new or with little time of use. Any damage to our equipment through negligence will be penalized by withholding of deposited guarantee fee.

7.7 Special care with our vehicles. Should any part of a car other than the carpets be soiled or damaged, the car will be sent for cleaning or repair, deducting the cost on the clients' guarantee fee.

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8 - Insurance, Claims and Liability

8.1 We recommend that all practitioners of mountain activities have a Personal Accident Insurance valid for sports of this nature. These insurances can be easily obtained through any of the federations that oversee these sports in our country. Lacking self-insurance, each participant may subscribe an insurance through Altitude 2000. In some programs it is allowed the waiver of this insurance, by disclaimer; on other programs such insurance is mandatory and may be included in the program price or available as an extra.

8.2 Personal accident insurances cover only expenses arising from accidents occurring in the practice of the sport. A sudden illness or other situations are not covered by these insurances. For this reason, on trips abroad, we recommend all clients to bear the European Card for Sickness Insurance, which can be requested free of charge (may apply differently outside of Portugal).

8.3 Some of our programs are true adventures, sometimes in inhospitable places. We cannot accept any claims related to high physical exertion, cold, unpleasant weather, exposure to void or any other factor of risk or fear, symptoms of Mountain Sickness (common sickness, not acute), poor sanitary conditions, or other similar aspects inherent to the situation.

8.4 In the case of high altitude activities, clients should be aware that some unpleasant symptoms, consequence of the acclimatization process, are always expected and considered normal, such as mild headache or insomnia.

8.5 If we detect symptoms of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) on a client, we shall take the immediate evacuation measures as we deem appropriate, even if the client expresses a desire to continue.

8.6 Some of our programs involve risks that are not controllable (rock fall, avalanches, crevasses, etc.). We cannot guarantee absence of risk and we take no responsibility for any accident, unless there is neglect on the part of our team.

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