Hi

One of my friends will be doing the Haute Route from Chamonix-Zermatt next week and we talked about whether you need a special insurance to get aid in case of snowstorm and alike or whether mountain rescue will pick you up free up charge. My impression is the latter, unless you have acted really stupid/irresponsible.

cheers Jesper

Please don't assume you will get free mountain rescue in Europe Jesper!

As I understand it, it is essential your insurance covers the activity you are undertaking and also includes a significant amount for Search and Rescue. From my UK home I was the central point of information etc, (including running a web site), for a friend who spent most of 2007 walking high up in the French Alps. Getting proper insurance for Search and Rescue etc was something she took very seriously, and she has a home in France so I guess she knew she needed it!

Others on SP should be able to help more than me, but I do feel your starting point should be that Search and Rescue Insurance is essential, along with full medical cover for all your planned activities.

For my mountain walking and snow shoeing in Bavaria, (Germany), my own policy includes circa 50,000 Euros worth of Search and Rescue cover.

check here for der Schweiz
http://www.rega.ch/en/goenner/start_goenner.aspx

I heard in the past that SAR in some Scandinavian countries (ie Norway) is free and sort of a public service (maybe somebody on this forum who is from Norway or has experience there could confirm this).

Maybe there can be some confusion there?

Indeed for Switzerland REGA is a very good and cheap solution. For France of course membership of REGA won't cover (I think). Membership of a good alpine club is another and more 'international' solution then.

Personally I'm a member of the Austrian Alpine Club which offers good insurance in my opinion.

Cheers

SAR is free throughout the UK. Operated by volunteer mountain rescue teams with support from the Royal Air Force and their old but still wonderful Sea King Helicopters.

Here's one lifting someone who got cragfast on the rocks just above me as I walked up Snowdon in Wales in March. Amazing how quickly the helicopter and it's crew worked.

Jeff Moore wrote:check here for der Schweiz
http://www.rega.ch/en/goenner/start_goenner.aspx

I am a member. If you are not Swiss (I am not), then this will not cover you outside of Switzerland. But if you are in Switzerland, you will be covered for transport to a hospital.

Leabrook wrote:If you are a member of the American Alpine Club, you can pay for a 'hut stamp' that is supposed to provide reciprocity - and you are covered by the American Alpine Club rescue service. Has anyone gotten a hut stamp and used it? What was your experience?

I used this some years ago on the Berliner Höhenweg in Zillertal, Austria when I was not yet a member of an Alpine organisation with reciprocity (I was member of INF without reciprocity). We got the discount on the fee for our bed in all eight huts where we stayed.

It worked although not al wardens seemed to know about it or even had a hut stamp. It looked like I was just lucky enough that the warden from the first hut where I stayed had them and knew about it (I got it there).

In my experience many wardens (in Austria and Switzerland) don't really seem to care whether your membership/reciprocity is ok. Maybe because the discount is mainly on the fee for your bed which offers no income to them (as far as I understand). Then again others are very strict.

But, back in 2004, it worked for me. I guess correct information can be obtained with the Alpine Club that owns the hut(s) where you are planning to stay or use the hut stamp. Isn't reciprocity automatic when your Alpine Club is connected to UIAA?

Insurance is a very very good idea.