Rock and Mountain Climbing Insurance

Mountain climbing is about challenge and perseverance--putting hands and feet on rocks, ice, and snow, and finally reaching a summit. High above the rest of the world, the climber pauses and looks out over a world ruled by nature and her raw beauty. It's not only climbing mountains the hard way with cams, crampons, an ice axe and rope. It's also difficult hiking up steep rocky slopes, talus fields, and airy ridges in the high mountains.

Many people enjoy climbing or hiking up mountains throughout the United States, finding their challenges on Colorado’s Fourteeners or 14,000-foot peaks, Washington’s Mount Rainier, California’s Mt. Whitney, the 4,000-foot peaks of New York’s Adirondack Mountains, or Old Rag Mountain in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park. Outside of the U.S. there are fairly easily climbed peaks like Mount Kosciuszko, the highest point in Australia, and Mount Kilimanjaro, the summit of Africa.

Other climbers aspire to stand on top of ice-bound peaks in the world’s highest mountain ranges—the Himalayas, the Andes, the French Alps, Denali, the Canadian Rockies, and the remote ranges of Antarctica. These climbers risk life and limb to thin air, frostbite, bone-chilling cold, hypothermia, avalanche, and high wind to reach some of the world’s highest summits like the 14 mountains in Asia that rise above 8,000 meters. To climb these mountains, mountaineers must be competent in both rock and ice climbing techniques; able to understand snow, glacier travel, and forecast weather; and above all, they must have good judgment and common sense to stay not only safe but alive.

Ryan became intrigued with mountain climbing a few years ago after meeting an experienced climber and listening to some of his fascinating stories. Ryan’s love for nature and mastering a challenge compelled him to try it. Warned early on of its inherent dangers, his first few climbs were with an experienced guide.

Ryan learned from his guides that mountain climbing is a risky activity not to be taken lightly no matter how easy the peak may seem. Mountain weather can change in a hurry, and storms can bring heavy rainfall, lightning, whipping winds, blizzards and plummeting temperatures. Greater solar radiation at high altitudes and snow reflection can lead to nasty sunburn.

Staying alert is important while climbing and high altitude can deprive you of oxygen and scramble your brain or make you very sick. There can be avalanches, falling rocks and ice, and deep crevasses. In addition to nature, mountains that are overcrowded with climbers can cause you to fall. The inability to control your environment and the sheer amount of deadly forces that you’ll deal with make mountain climbing a dangerous activity.

That’s why Ryan came to Good Neighbor – to protect himself in the event of a climbing accident or illness.

If we look at the statistics surrounding the nearly 300 known climbers who have died while climbing Mount Everest, we’ll see that the most common causes were from an avalanche (23%) and from a fall (23%). Another 9% of those climbers died from exposure and 7% from altitude sickness (the remaining had lower percentages or were unknown).

Mountain climbing insurance plans can protect you in the event of accident or illness. In addition to ensuring you have proper medical coverage, good plans offer medical evacuation and other specialized care that may be needed while you are climbing.

Ryan fully appreciated the value of good insurance during his last climb on Mount Rainier. Weather conditions deteriorated rapidly, the lead climber on his team fell and Ryan suffered a broken leg in the fall. The evacuation service from Ryan’s policy rescued him and transported him to a nearby hospital where he received proper medical treatment that was covered by his policy.

Ryan was successfully rescued and treated, and he avoided a major financial burden. Be like Ryan and protect yourself with a mountain climbing insurance plan today. Get started by selecting one of the featured plans below or by getting a quote now.

• 8 days of travel up to 30 days – No additional for adventure sports! (included)
• No health questions, deductibles or claim forms are required
• Air medical transport services only require that you be hospitalized as an inpatient and need hospitalization upon reaching your destination (medevac).
• No dollar limit.
• You can have the extra benefits of the Medjet Evacuation plan or buy one of our overseas trip insurance plans that cover international medical insurance.
• This plan is “evacuation-only” (medical transportation including air and land transport), not medical or travel insurance. (All of our adventure sports travel insurance plans include emergency evacuation as a benefit.) Please make sure your sport is covered in a medical emergency and that you have adequate medical insurance before purchasing a stand-alone medical transportation-only plan.

• Covers most sports (see below) and is an affordable international sports event insurance plan when traveling
• Covers you from 5 days up to one year with an option to renew for another year (you choose the amount of time)
• Up to $1,000,000 US dollars of medical coverage that includes medical evacuation and medical transportation coverage
• Saves non-U.S. citizens money by excluding the U.S.A. if they are not traveling to the US
• Such as an Indonesian traveling to Singapore
• Such as an Australian traveling to Hong Kong
• Such as a U.S. citizen that lives in Singapore traveling to Australia
• See more medical benefit details below!
• Professional sports are not covered
• Racing of any kind is excluded