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Trekking and Mountaineering Insurance

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The most un-fun part of an expedition – trying to find the right travel insurance policy to cover trekking and/or mountaineering. Here’s a summary of what to look for and what we found.

If you’re from the UK, Europe or USA there are plenty of options. For Australians, if you so much as think about using a rope then the options dry up fast.

Our focus is on insurance for high altitude and also for the use of mountaineering equipment when needed (helmet, crampons, ice axe, ropes, harness etc).

This article includes general information about travel insurance for all trekkers and mountaineers regardless of where you live. We have a separate article which details options for Aussies. We reviewed over 45 providers encompassing insurance companies, rescue specialists, alpine clubs, climbing clubs, recommendations from expedition companies, aggregator & comparison websites, blogposts, as well as talking to other trekkers and mountaineers. As of 2026 we’re no longer reviewing each provider, but this blogpost will hopefully at least give you some pointers of what to look out for.

Disclaimer: This is general information based on our research. As always, you should read the latest policy fine print and online reviews, and consider your own personal requirements. We are not using affiliate links in the content of this article and therefore do not earn commission from any insurance companies that we mention.

There are new travel and adventure insurance providers popping up all the time. so it’s always worth a quick search to see what’s new. Many are just different brands who use the same underwriters. In these cases the policies are largely the same, with perhaps a few tweaks depending on the pricing or the type of travel that they specialise in.

What to Consider when Searching for Trekking and Mountaineering Insurance

  1. Decide what type of cover you need e.g. evacuation (usually from a known location), medical expenses, general travel insurance (cancellation, trip curtailment, delays, lost luggage etc), Covid, search and rescue (from an unknown location – not offered by all insurers) etc
  2. Create a shortlist of providers based on your minimum requirements e.g. highest altitude, type of activity (trekking, use of mountaineering equipment etc), destination country and travel advisory level (and if it changes – WorldNomads is the only policy we’ve found so far that specifically calls out cover for this … not to say that others exclude it though – you’ll just need to ask them). Length of trip is also important – some policies have a limit of 30 days per trip.
  3. Check other important factors e.g. pre-existing medical conditions, your eligibility (age, country of residence), risk of weather delaying internal flights, risk of natural disasters e.g. avalanches causing injury or landslides causing delays on your drive to/from trailhead, can you get a refund if your trip doesn’t proceed and you don’t need the policy any more? Note: If you’re working in a professional capacity, such as guiding, then you may not be eligible for some policies.
  4. Weigh up cost vs risk
    • Cost of the insurance policy and excess
    • Risk
      • what could happen (“events”) and how likely e.g. injury, illness, bad weather, natural disasters etc
      • what you could lose (“cover” you need) e.g.
        • cost of expedition, flights, gear
        • extra costs you could incur e.g. search, rescue, medical & repatriation, extra accommodation, flight changes
  5. Read the fine print of the policy before you purchase it. If needed, contact the insurer to get clarification (in writing) of what you’ll be covered for. Especially check for
    • General exclusions
    • Definitions of words with special meaning

Trekking and Mountaineering Insurance

There are 3 main sources of insurance for trekking and mountaineering which we’ll cover in this section – remote rescue specialists, alpine clubs and travel insurers. You may need to use a combination to get all the cover you need. We’ve also added some other aspects which are worth being aware of too.

Check with your expedition company first

If you’re going with a trekking or mountaineering expedition company then check their website or ask their advice. They often have requirements and recommendations for insurance. In some cases they may provide a referral – most often to companies like Global Rescue or Ripcord (via Redpoint) for rescue, and IMG Travel Insurance or Cover-More for travel insurance.

Remote Rescue Specialists

These companies specialise in rescue/evacuation, which is a membership service rather than insurance. You can join as a short-term or longer term member. Depending on your circumstances you may be eligible to purchase their optional add-ons of medical expenses and travel insurance. Examples:

What to Check or Be Aware Of

  • Rescue/evacuation service
    • Usually no limit on altitude, and allows for mountaineering
    • Polar regions are usually not covered unless you buy an upgrade
    • Some include Search whereas others will only rescue you from a known location
    • Usually require you to have 2-way sat comms e.g. Garmin inReach .. but check the rules of your destination country in case there are restrictions on these devices.
  • Insurance add-ons – while these memberships don’t include travel insurance, some offer Insurance add-ons to cover medical expenses, cancellation, luggage etc. However you aren’t necessarily eligible.
  • Hospitalisation – check what qualifies as a ‘rescue’ e.g. when we last checked, Global Rescue FAQ says that they’ll rescue you even if you don’t need hospitalisation. However their policy specifically says that they’ll evacuate for injury/illness which is life-threatening and/or requires hospitalisation. Ripcord have the hospitalisation clause too.
  • Travel advisory level (for your destination country) – it’s not very clear as to which advisory levels they include or exclude

Alpine Clubs

Some of the Alpine Clubs around the world offer a limited amount of rescue and medical expenses (not general travel insurance) for their members while participating in mountain-related activities. Other clubs are focussed more on providing access to ski lodges and mountain huts. This is what we found as at 2025:

Of those offering rescue/medical, some only allow membership from within their region e.g.

Others are open to international membership e.g.

  • Austrian Alpine Club (in German) which includes sections for
  • Austrian Alpine Club (UK Branch) – in English
    • Search and Rescue from off-road terrain including medical and repatriation
    • Up to 6000m (with the extension >6000m only available to EU residents)
    • Excludes Polar regions and Greenland
  • American Alpine Club
    • Rescue (not search), medical and repatriation – depending on membership level. Designed for any outdoor activity.
    • No altitude limit (as far as we can see)
    • Excludes Polar regions unless you purchase the Polar Upgrade
    • They have a variety of membership options with different levels of cover.
    • Note that for more comprehensive coverage, they recommend that you buy a full membership with Ripcord, which you can get with a discount if you also buy their travel insurance. (They used to partner with Global Rescue but have switched)
  • New Zealand Alpine Club – offer insurance as follows:
    • New Zealanders travelling anywhere. Polar regions are assessed on a case by case basis. Various activities covered including trekking to 6000m and mountaineering to 7000m depending on the level of cover you choose.
    • Australians travelling to New Zealand

Travel Insurers

These companies provide general travel insurance but are usually limited in the adventure activities and altitudes they cover. You often need to buy the higher level plans or adventure optional add-ons to get the cover you need. They are:

  • Likely to include evacuation, medical expenses, cancellation, delays, lost luggage etc
  • Unlikely to include cover for mountaineering activities
  • Unlikely to include Search and Rescue 

It’s sometimes worth checking with your airline or health insurance fund in case they offer travel insurance through them for a better price.

We’ve done a detailed review of options for Trekking and Mountaineering Insurance for Australians here.

For residents of other countries you’ve probably got many more options which you’ll need to research yourself. Here are some we are aware of:

UK: TrueTraveller, Campbell Irvine, SnowCard, Dogtag, Adventures, SportsCoverDirect

USA: TripAssure, Travel Guard, Squaremouth (aggregator)

Canada: TuGo

International:

For more information here’s another good article about Travel, Rescue and Medical Evacuation Insurance.

Reciprocal Health Care Agreements and NZ ACC

Depending on the country you’re travelling to, you may have access to these health care services. However you’d still need travel insurance to cover all other situations. Examples as at 2025:

Reciprocal Health Care e.g.

  • New Zealand has reciprocal health care agreements with Australia and U.K. For Australians visiting NZ, ensure you take your Medicare card with you.
  • Australia has agreements with 11 different countries
  • United Kingdom also has a list of agreements

NZ Accident Compensation

  • If you’re travelling to New Zealand, there is also the unique ACC no fault scheme which provides health care if you have an accident. You may or may not have to pay part of your treatment costs.

Insurance Aggregators/Comparison Websites

They can be useful as a general overview or they can just be plain annoying if they don’t give you a full set of options because they’re biased by the commissions they’re paid.

Some have useful blogposts such as these (Aussie-based, but still some useful info for everyone)

Online Reviews

All insurance companies seem to have good/bad reviews, and a lot come down to

  • How many questions you need to ask them before deciding to buy the policy and their quality/timeliness of response (we’ve not had issues here, but haven’t needed to ask much)
  • Claiming – depends on how diligent you are in your claim. Again we’ve had good experiences with a few companies which others have complained about.

Post Covid, many insurance companies have staff shortages or other issues which have impacted their customer service (e.g. response time for claims or queries).

Nepal Helicopter Rescue Scams

If trekking or mountaineering in Nepal, be aware of some of the tricky tactics that have been used in the past. Hopefully some of the operators have cleaned up their act since then. In 2018 the trekking world was abuzz with various scams which you can read about here:

Always check the policy fineprint wherever you’re based as things often change e.g. we read that if you’re in the UK/EU and are going trekking in Nepal, that most insurers have a policy excess of £750/€900 if you need to be rescued by helicopter for medical reasons.

Tips for Making a Travel Insurance Claim

  1. Know and follow the rules of the policy (although some can be unreasonable e.g. requiring a Covid PCR test in a remote area) e.g.
    • by knowing the correct insurance emergency number to contact for medevac. Your expedition company usually asks for your policy details so that they can assist with this
    • They may require that you have 2-way comms, such as a sat phone … but check the rules of your destination country in case there are restrictions on these devices.
  2. Make every effort to reduce extra costs and document how you did this in your claim e.g.
    • upfront
      • buy flexible flights
      • getting vaccinations
    • if an event occurs
      • try to move flights and accommodation without penalty
      • or get a refund from airline or expedition company
  3. Get all the supporting documentation if something goes wrong
    • e.g. letter from hospital, expedition company, airline etc
    • note: insurers seem to want increasingly more and more information – so ensure you get all the evidence you can to support your claim
  4. Make your claim easy to read and in the correct format e.g.
    • Submit the claim in the required format e.g. an online or pdf form as specified on the insurer’s website
    • Provide all information they ask for, in a logical order
    • Refer to the specific section/wording in the policy that you’re claiming for
    • Attach all necessary documents
    • Beware – if they have to request more information from you, or the necessary forms etc, then the clock may restart for the claim response time (the promised turnaround time of 10 days, 30 days etc to assess and respond to your claim)
Helicopter Rescue - Trekking and Mountaineering Insurance

High Altitude Trekking Tips

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If you’re trekking to high altitude then here are some useful tips.

You can’t easily acclimatise before you go. However there are certainly steps you can take to improve your chances of success in the mountains.

Descending Cho La Pass

Build Your Knowledge

  • If you’re trekking at altitudes of 2500m+ (8000ft+) then build your knowledge about high altitude. Know what it is, how it can affect you, how to trek at high altitude. Learn as much as you can about Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). Know what it is, how to take precautions, the symptoms and what to do. If you’re on a self-guided trek or trekking alone then this is even more critical to your survival.
  • However don’t let it put you off your trek either. By being armed with the right information and support you can ensure your trek is an enjoyable one. Learn from our experiences of trekking in the Himalayas. 
  • There are many online resources on high altitude trekking tips that are worth reading. For example this post from the Himalayan Rescue Association or this one on Understanding Altitude by Expedition Base.
High Altitude Trekking at Cho Oyu in Tibet, China

Get Advice on High Altitude Trekking

  • If you’re on a guided trek then ensure your trekking company or guide is well experienced and reputable in managing trekkers at high altitude – what information information do they provide you? How many rest/acclimatisation days have they built into the itinerary? What do they recommend to both prevent and also treat symptoms of altitude sickness? What emergency equipment do they have e.g. hyperbaric (Gamow) bags. Ask them for their high altitude trekking tips.

Health

  • Consult your doctor before you go, so that they can recommend anything specific to help your own situation. You should also ask about how you might be impacted by any medications you might take for high altitude while trekking. For example – could you be allergic to any medication? If you’re already on other medication, would it have any impact on that or should you take different medications at different times of day so that they don’t react or impact each other?
  • Be aware of different approaches to medications for high altitude. Some people advocate taking medications like Diamox/Acetazolamide before ascending to altitude to assist in the prevention of AMS. However the other school of thought (which we subscribe to) is not to take it until you are at least showing symptoms of AMS. Otherwise you have very few options left if you do develop symptoms of AMS and they get worse. In that case you’ve either got to descend in altitude or resort to medical evacuation by helicopter. Being diuretics these medications can also cause you to go to the bathroom more often – which can be annoying. Again, consult a professional such as your doctor or trek leader to advise what’s best for you.

Insurance

  • Check your travel insurance with reference to trekking at high altitude. Some companies may not insure you over certain altitudes, or not for certain activities. Most trekking companies will ask that you have insurance to cover medical evacuations. Yes we’ve experienced a medevac – read our post about Mera Peak – when things don’t go to plan.
High Altitude Trekking at Kanchenjunga North Base Camp, Nepal

Prepare Yourself

  • At high altitude, everything is an effort to do – brushing your teeth, packing your bag, getting dressed … requires collecting your energy, real focus and concentration. There are more than enough challenges to contend with, so do yourself a favour and ensure you’re prepared. Physically, mentally and with the right gear.
  • Stock up on medications. Many people get a dry cough, often called the ‘Khumbu cough’ in the Everest region. So consider taking plenty of cough lozenges. Also take plenty of pain killers for altitude headaches though always inform your trek leader if the headache persists

Training

  • Decide your own approach. For example, what extra training you might do to build lung capacity? What medications you might take with you? What you’ll do differently on the trek e.g. drink extra water, walk slowly etc? Don’t overtrain, otherwise once you hit high altitude your immune system doesn’t have much left in reserve to counter any illnesses, which can progress rapidly at the higher elevations.
  • If swimming is your thing then holding your breath while swimming underwater can be useful to build lung capacity.
  • Exercising in an altitude room can be a way to introduce yourself to the feeling of high altitude. These are available in some cities. They may also be able to provide an alti-mask which can simulate you being up to 7000+m. You can’t really acclimatise before you go, as you’ll do that once on the trek. But if nothing else it gets you into the headspace of being in the mountains, Plus, you’ll meet some like-minded people and swap stories on your adventures or even get tips on high altitude trekking from their own experience
View to Dhaulagiri from Kohpra Ridge, Nepal

On The Trail

  • Take it slow and steady – there are no prizes for speed. You’ll only end up being the first one to succumb to altitude sickness
  • Wear a buff over your mouth to create moisture at altitude in the dry air.
  • Follow the maxim of climb high, sleep low – to help with acclimatisation. Your trek itinerary should allow for this.
  • Note that trekking companies often refer to ‘rest days’ for acclimatisation. These aren’t necessarily ‘do nothing’ days (unless you choose to). They usually involve a hike up a nearby hill to get some more elevation before coming back down to your campsite

Eating and Drinking

  • Bank those calories – you never know when they will be called on. And make the most of your appetite at the lower altitudes, knowing that you’ll likely eat less up high. Also your tastebuds will be different at high altitude – so try a variety of food to find something you like. Take a collection of different snacks, in case the ones you like at sea level aren’t so tasty up higher. Salt crackers, Pringles and Snickers are common favourites in the mountains.
  • Don’t ‘try’ to lose weight on your trek by reducing what you eat – you’ll do that naturally anyway. Your body swells a bit from fluid retention the higher you go. It will go back to normal when you descend. So don’t think that the trek is causing you to gain weight – you need all the calories you can get!
  • Stay hydrated by drinking more water than you think you need – at least 3-4 litres a day.

Health

  • As you trek higher, be prepared for various illnesses and loss of appetite. Try and eat something for energy. Even soup is useful to give you both liquid and salt, or plain rice. Practice good hygiene.
  • Headaches are normal going to altitude, so have a plan to deal with them. Consult your doctor prior to travel or your trek leader, as we can’t recommend what is right for you. In our experience we firstly start by drinking lots of water as that can often shake off a headache. We might then take the standard medications for headaches such as aspirin, ibuprofen or paracetamol. If the headache persists after 12-24 hours or is getting worse or you’re nauseous, consult with your trek leader as you may be developing symptoms of AMS. They can determine what to do next. This might include taking medication for altitude or descending to a low altitude (which is really the only cure). Your trek leader should be watching out for you. But in any case you should keep your trek leader informed of anything that’s not right and of any medications you start taking.

After Your Trek

  • Remember to look after yourself after your trek. Your body can take up to a month to recuperate after a long trek, especially one at high altitude.
  • Reflect on how well you coped at high altitude. What worked for you and what would you do differently next time?
High Altitude Trekking - Everest Base Camp
Everest Base Camp Trek

We hope these high altitude trekking tips are useful to you. You might like to read some of our other posts relating to high altitude trekking or listen to the Training for Trekking podcast we’re featured on which discusses high altitude experiences.

Tibet: A journey through the past

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Introduction – Tibet journey

Tashi Dele! “Hello, Welcome!”. Our journey through Tibet had started. In the forgotten kingdom of Tibet, much has changed since China took control in 1950. Fast forward nearly 70 years and Tibet is still changing – very rapidly I might add. For the better? Well, that depends on your perspective in terms of how you perceive change.

Road out of Lhasa
Road out of Lhasa

We visited Tibet to enable us to trek up to Cho Oyu Advance Base Camp with a climbing expedition. Coupled with a visit to Shishapangma Base Camp (North side) plus Everest Base Camp (North).

This was always going to be a ‘trek’ with a difference. Firstly, given the vast distances we had to cover (some 1,400km/869mi), driving was always going to form a large chunk of our trip. As for trekking, well unfortunately this time around it had to play second fiddle. Getting up and over several 5,000m passes certainly helped with the new and improved roads, making for easy access to the interior all of which was a blessing.

Road sign to Everest
Road sign to Everest

The Tibetans are getting on with their lives the best way they can, though are very limited to the type of jobs they can apply for, type of vehicles they can own and are not allowed to travel outside of the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR). We must have encountered some 30 police or other check points along the way for locals and tourists alike. But hey, the Tibetans can still dance and have some fun as we discovered first hand in Lhasa.

Potala Palace
Potala Palace in Lhasa

Lhasa

Flying into Lhasa has a certain charm about it, even at 3,700m / 12139ft. Lhasa still maintains a vibrant culture and the food is great. Having a cup of tea at a local tea house with local Tibetans was a real bonus.

Potala Palace, rebuilt in the 17th century, was the winter palace of the Dalai Lamas from 1649 to 1959 and has been a museum since then. Now a world heritage site, its now a bit of a tourist trap. Most if not all of the historical artefacts have been moved back to Beijing for ‘restoration purposes’. Plus, many of the old rooms have been closed to visitors so you are only permitted to wander around inside as the authorities wish.

Dancing in Lhasa
Locals dancing in Lhasa

With hordes of tourists lining up to go in (and this wasn’t even peak season), we chose to walk around the outside as the local Tibetans do on a daily basis. We recommend this! Find where they are dancing and join in. And for good measure, go and exercise with them. You are guaranteed lots of laughs and enjoyment.

Exercising in Lhasa
Exercising with the locals in Lhasa

Shigatse

From Lhasa we drove to Shigatse, the second-largest city in Tibet. Here, we visited the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, founded in 1447 by the first Dalai Lama. We were very lucky on the day we visited that the monks were celebrating the end of a prayer cycle. They paraded through the monastery grounds with a great fanfare of Tibetan ceremonial horns and crashing cymbals.

Mt Everest (Chomolungma) Base Camp – North Side (5,200m/17,060ft)

Having trekked to Mt Everest on the South side in Nepal, I have to say I was blown away when I saw Chomolungma from the North side. My first reaction was ‘she’s huge’! My second reaction was how beautiful she looked, even from some 19km away. Having had some friends climb her back in the spring season earlier in the year brought it all home. Being totally exposed to the weather on the North side, it would have been one tough climb!

Everest from the North side - a must-do part of your Tibet journey
Mt Everest from the North side

Base camp (5,200m) was marked with a plaque. Obviously some people hadn’t properly acclimatised, judging by the numerous people around us suffering breathing difficulties. So much so, some were sucking air from a small oxygen canister! Is it a tourist trap? Probably. Is it overrun with local tourists just to tick off a bucket list item and take the obligatory photo? Absolutely. A great example of this was that the majority of people were bussed up and back from Tingri, some 6-8 hours return, making for a long return trip. Instead, we stayed up at Rongbuk, and were rewarded the next morning with some great views. Nevertheless it is still worth making this stop on your Tibet journey.

Project Base8000 at EBC North
Project Base8000 at EBC North

Cho Oyu Advance Base Camp (5,800m/19,028ft)

Wow! Not only did we see Cho Oyu (the ‘turquoise goddess’) close up and personal, we also trekked up to ABC with a climbing expedition. Reaching an altitude of some 5,800m, this was definitely not for the faint hearted. Coupled with the weather, the landscape up high was very stark, consisting of a rocky and snowy terrain.

Higher up, the climbers were stopped in their tracks above Camp 1 (around 6,000m). Deep snow hindered their progress and acclimatisation rotations on the mountain. On top of that, we were all informed that everyone had to exit Tibet by 1 October due to China’s 70th anniversary celebrations. This added considerable angst to the climbing party’s summit schedule. The professionalism of sherpas and climbers prevailed, combined with Climbalaya’s excellent logistics and planning. As a result, successful summits were achieved. This included one climber who planned to ski down from the summit!

Nangpa La Glacier near Cho Oyu
The trail to Cho Oyu Advance Base Camp

You can read more about our trek to Cho Oyu Advance Base Camp here which we did as part of our Project Base8000.

Shishapangma Signpost
Shishapangma base camp

Shishapangma (North) Base Camp (5,157m/16,919ft)

We never thought we would make it! The Chinese had officially closed the mountain to all climbers for the season. Plus the reluctance of our Tibetan driver to almost refuse to drive the some 20kms along a very rocky and bumpy gravel road from where the bitumen road ended. We were then chased down by the ‘park custodian’ who cut us off in our tracks, gesturing and demanding some 1,000 Chinese yuan for our right of passage. ‘But it’s normally free to drive to base camp’, we protested – obviously not on this day it wasn’t.

So, after all that, the easy part we discovered was the drive back to the Tibet/Nepal border, overnighting in Kyirong. Crossing over into Nepal the next morning however, was different. We had to navigate some 6 military check posts plus numerous landslides cutting off the road. Reaching Kathmandu some 9 hours later, tasting our first cold beer and experiencing the first hot shower in 2 weeks – all went down very nicely indeed.

You can read more about our trek to Shishapangma Base Camp here which we did as part of our Project Base8000.

Landslide
Landslide on the road back to Kathmandu

Onwards and upwards!

Trevor

Watch the video of our journey through Tibet

Insights

  • Border crossing: The Kyirong Border Crossing is the main crossing between Tibet, China and Nepal. Opening hours are usually 9.30am-2.30pm.
  • The road from the Tibet border to Kathmandu is very rough, with a journey time of 7-8 hours. Much longer during the rainy monsoon season.
  • All foreign travellers must be on an organised tour to visit Tibet.
  • Getting to Tibet is not difficult as long as you use a reputable travel agency.
Local transport
Local transport
  • Any travel agency you use, either in Kathmandu or based in Tibet, will take care of all travel arrangements for you inside Tibet including organising your visa and permit (you need both).
  • As China only has one time zone, Tibet is 2 1/4 hours ahead of Kathmandu. This means the sun rose very late around 7:30am!
  • Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram plus all Google applications are blocked. If you install a VPN on your phone before arriving in Tibet then it’s possible to access these apps. However this only seems only to work if you’re using mobile data, not wifi. You can’t install VPNs once in Tibet.