UKC

Hello,
I am planning on climbing peak Lenin and Khan Tengri this summer and I am struggling to find insurance that covers peaks over 7000 metres. Does anyone know of any that are not too expensive?

Unfortunately I cannot use the BMC because I do not live in the UK (I am also not british)

thank you for your help,
mateo

In reply to mateocaramessaddler:

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=327951

In reply to Mountain Llama:

That's a bit out of date. IHI are no longer an option, unfortunately. In the last 5 years or so it's just got harder and harder to get insurance for these things. But there are still options.

Look at the optional add-ons to policies from the Austrian Alpine Club (UK) and the American Alpine Club. Lenin and KT could involved helicopter rescue so the costs might add up, beyond any basic coverage. Having been on Lenin, I would not hold much hope of getting a helo rescue above BC/ABC(C1).

Google 'Travelguard' or variations on that (depending on your country) as they do provide expedition insurance for the higher end stuff, but it varies significantly depending where you are from.

Not much use to the OP, but for the record, and not mentioned(?) before, is: http://www.pjhayman.com/travel-insurance/adventures/

In reply to Damo:

thank you for the responses.

unfortunately, the austrian alpine club does not cover for peaks over 6000 metres and the american one (which is linked to travelguard) doesn't cover people living in Spain, like me.

I am checking out the French alpine club, I will write here if I get anywhere.

cheers anyway

In reply to mateocaramessaddler:

Plenty of people are using GR, if only for the serious helo evac bit: https://www.globalrescue.com/signup/signup.xhtml

You'll still need a regular type travel insurance for the regular travel stuff, so just be careful if you have to claim on it, not to admit you were there mountaineering.

In reply to Damo:

wow, GR are amazing! I've just been checking their website out and they claim to straight out rescue you from anywhere!
thank you very much Damo!!

In reply to mateocaramessaddler:

Try dogtag insurance- I used them for a 6000er in kyrgystan.

In reply to mateocaramessaddler:

They mostly coordinate some suitable people to come get you, treat you and bring you out. How well they can do that depends where you are and what resources are available for them to make use of.

KT (and Lenin, to some extent) is unusual, compared to Himalayan or Karakoram peaks, in that there are helicopter flights going in and out all the time, so if they can get you off the mountain, then a helo flight back to a hospital is not such a big thing - like it would be in Pakistan. There was a helo sitting at BC most of the time I was on Lenin, but I only saw it fly once.

Whereas in Nepal, if you have an accident on a big mountain and call a rescue, there is a chance that a helicopter will come and rescue you from ON the mountain, even above 6000m, and take you straight back to hospital. This will not happen on KhanTengri or Lenin as those big Russian Mi-8 helicopters won't fly up onto the mountain like the rescue helos in Nepal.

In reply to mateocaramessaddler:

AAC UK now does an optional add-on to its policy that allows for use on 7000+m peaks (you have to pay extra for this on top of your membership), or at least it was certainly new last year. I used it on Khan Tengri last summer - can't remember how much it costed, but it was definitely a fair bit cheaper than the BMC. Send them an email and I'm sure they will let you know the deal. Make sure the rescue costs are higher than €10,000 because that's the cost of helicopter repatriation - and people need them horrendously often each year!

I hope you are trying Khan Tengri from the North - from the South is an absolute death trap! If you want any more info on either Peak Lenin or Khan Tengri send me a message at will.kernick@gmail.com, I've done both (and they are both great!).

Cheers,
Will

In reply to mateocaramessaddler:

Hi Mateo! My 2 cents; on peak Lenin you can have whatever insurance, but nobody will come to rescue you. No rescue service, no helicopter...probably no doctors even at Achik Tash.
2 years ago one russian guy felt very very bad at camp 2 (5.300 metres). It was a small group, they bought a small package from an important agency, so they contacted them via radio. The reply was: no helicopter, no rescue. We took him down through the crevasses. Fortunately he woke up a few hundred metres down
Christian

In reply to mateocaramessaddler:

You want International Rescue, they are the cat's pyjamas:

http://tinyurl.com/zbnqff9