Participant Terms and Conditions

1. Definitions and Scope

1.1 In these terms, "we", "us" and "our" means Hike Yorkshire Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 16828978. "You" and "your" means the person making the booking and every participant in their party.

1.2 "Activity" means any guided walking tour, day hike, outdoor skills course or other experience provided by us.

1.3 These terms apply to all Activities, whether booked directly with us or through a third-party booking platform.

1.4 Where you book through a third-party platform, that platform's terms govern the booking transaction and payment. These terms govern your participation in the Activity itself. In the event of conflict, these terms govern all matters relating to safety, conduct and participation.

1.5 The person making the booking is responsible for ensuring that every member of their party has read and accepted these terms before the Activity begins.

2. Your Responsibility for Your Own Safety

2.1 Our guides lead, instruct, advise and supervise. They do not, and cannot, exercise physical control over your movements or make decisions on your behalf about your own body.

2.2 You remain responsible at all times for your own personal safety and for the consequences of your own acts, omissions and decisions during an Activity.

2.3 You are responsible in particular for:

• Crossing roads safely, and only when and where directed by your guide
• Keeping a safe distance from rivers, becks, waterfalls, tarns, reservoirs, cliff edges, quarry faces, crags and any other water or drop hazard
• Not entering water at any point during an Activity unless expressly instructed to do so by your guide
• Placing your feet with care on uneven, wet, rocky or unstable ground
• Remaining with the group at all times
• Assessing your own capability honestly and communicating openly if you are struggling

2.4 Where you sustain injury, loss or damage as a result of your own act or omission, we shall have no liability. This includes but is not limited to departing from the group, disregarding a guide's instruction, crossing a road other than as directed, entering or approaching water, straying from the route, attempting terrain beyond your stated capability, or failing to disclose a relevant medical condition.

2.5 Nothing in this section reduces our own obligation to take reasonable care in the planning, risk assessment and delivery of every Activity, which we take seriously and discharge in full.

3. Health, Fitness and Medical Disclosure

3.1 You are responsible for assessing your own fitness to participate. Each Activity listing states the duration, distance, ascent and terrain involved. You must read this information and make an honest assessment of your own capability before booking.

3.2 You must inform us, before the Activity begins, of any medical condition, injury, disability, allergy, medication or other circumstance which could affect your safety or the safety of others. This includes but is not limited to:

• Heart or cardiovascular conditions
• Asthma or any other respiratory condition
• Diabetes or any condition affecting blood sugar
• Epilepsy or any condition causing seizures or loss of consciousness
• Current injuries, joint problems or mobility limitations
• Surgery or significant illness within the previous twelve months
• Severe allergies, including anaphylaxis
• Mental health conditions which may be affected by remote or exposed environments
• Pregnancy

3.3 Completion of our health declaration form is a condition of participation in day hikes and skills courses. For shorter walking tours, disclosure may be made in writing at the time of booking or verbally to your guide before departure.

3.4 Disclosing a condition does not usually prevent participation. It allows us to plan appropriately and respond correctly in an emergency. Where we consider an Activity genuinely unsuitable for you, we will tell you and offer a suitable alternative or a refund.

3.5 You are responsible for carrying and administering any personal medication you require, including inhalers, adrenaline auto-injectors, glyceryl trinitrate spray and prescribed medicines. Our guides cannot administer prescription medication on your behalf.

3.6 If your health or physical condition changes between booking and the Activity, you must inform your guide before setting off.

3.7 We can only take account of risks which have been disclosed to us or which are reasonably apparent. Where you sustain injury, loss or damage arising from or contributed to by a medical condition, injury or limitation which you did not disclose to us, we shall have no liability in respect of it.

4. Clothing and Equipment

4.1 Appropriate clothing and footwear are a mandatory safety requirement, not a recommendation. Yorkshire weather changes rapidly and the ground is frequently wet, uneven and exposed.

4.2 For all Activities on open ground you must bring, as a minimum:

• Walking boots or sturdy walking shoes with a substantial tread and ankle support. Trainers, plimsolls, sandals, canvas shoes and smooth-soled footwear are not acceptable
• A waterproof jacket
• A warm layer, irrespective of the forecast
• Water, being a minimum of one litre for short Activities and two litres for full-day Activities
• Any personal medication you require

4.3 For full-day hikes you must additionally bring waterproof over-trousers, hat and gloves, sufficient food for the day, and a rucksack in which to carry it.

4.4 Cotton is not suitable as a base layer. It retains moisture and loses its insulating properties when wet, which materially increases the risk of hypothermia in exposed conditions.

4.5 The specific kit requirement for each Activity is stated at the point of booking and repeated in your booking confirmation. It is your responsibility to read it.

4.6 We reserve the absolute right to refuse participation to any person who arrives without appropriate clothing, footwear or equipment. This is a safety decision and it is not negotiable at the meeting point. No refund will be given where participation is refused on these grounds. If you are unsure whether your equipment is adequate, contact us before the day of the Activity and we will tell you plainly.

4.7 Where you participate in an Activity having been advised that your equipment is inadequate, you do so at your own risk and accept responsibility for any consequence arising from that inadequacy.

5. Acknowledgement and Acceptance of Risk

5.1 Outdoor activities in upland, moorland, woodland, riverside and coastal environments carry inherent risks which cannot be wholly eliminated, however carefully an Activity is planned and led.

5.2 You acknowledge that these risks include, without limitation:

• Uneven, rocky, slippery, boggy or unstable ground, and the risk of slips, trips and falls
• Rapidly changing weather, including wind, rain, low temperature, heat and reduced visibility
• Physical exertion, fatigue, dehydration, hypothermia and heat illness
• Remote locations where access to emergency medical services may be delayed
• Rivers, becks, waterfalls, tarns and other water hazards
• Cliff edges, crags, quarry faces and steep ground
• Roads, road crossings, vehicles and traffic, including on rural roads without pavements
• Livestock, wildlife, ticks, insect stings and adders
• Other members of the public and their dogs
• Minor injuries including blisters, bruising, sprains and strains

5.3 You confirm that you are participating voluntarily, with full awareness of the risks described above, and that you accept those risks insofar as they arise otherwise than through our negligence.

6. Roads, Water and Specific Hazards

6.1 Certain Activities include sections on or alongside public roads, including rural roads without pavements or verges. Where this is the case:

• You must follow your guide's instructions on where and when to cross
• You must not cross a road independently of the group
• You remain responsible for looking, listening and judging your own crossing, notwithstanding any instruction given
• Parents and accompanying adults remain responsible for children in their care at all times

6.2 Certain Activities pass alongside or close to water. You must not enter, wade, swim, paddle or jump into any body of water during an Activity unless expressly instructed to do so by your guide as part of the Activity itself.

6.3 Riverbanks and rocks adjacent to water are frequently slippery and undercut. Water depth and current are routinely deceptive. You must maintain a safe distance at all times.

6.4 Where a participant sustains injury, loss or damage as a result of entering water contrary to instruction, or of crossing a road other than as directed, that injury arises from that participant's own act and we shall have no liability in respect of it.

7. Conduct and Instructions

7.1 You must follow all reasonable instructions given by your guide. Your guide's decisions on route, pace, timing, rest and safety are final and are made in the interests of the whole group.

7.2 You must not leave the group without the express permission of your guide.

7.3 You must inform your guide immediately if you feel unwell, are injured, or are finding the Activity difficult. There is no expectation that you continue in silence, and doing so makes the situation materially more dangerous for everyone.

7.4 We may exclude any participant from an Activity at any point where, in the reasonable judgement of the guide, that person's behaviour, conduct or physical condition presents a risk to themselves or to others. This includes any person who appears to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. No refund will be given where a participant is excluded on these grounds.

7.5 You must comply with the Countryside Code, all local bylaws, and any access restrictions, fire risk warnings or seasonal moorland restrictions in force.

8. Fitness and Failure to Complete

8.1 Each Activity listing states its duration, distance, ascent and difficulty accurately and in good faith. It is your responsibility to select an Activity appropriate to your fitness and experience.

8.2 Where you are unable to complete an Activity for reasons of fitness, fatigue, injury or capability, no refund, part refund or credit is due.

8.3 Where you are unable to continue, your guide will take reasonable steps to ensure your safe return, which may include escorting you to a suitable point of departure, arranging for you to wait in a safe location, or where necessary abandoning the Activity for the whole group. The safety of the group as a whole will determine the course taken.

8.4 You are responsible for any transport or other costs arising from your early departure from an Activity.

8.5 Where you sustain injury arising from undertaking an Activity beyond your physical capability, having been given accurate information about its demands, we shall have no liability in respect of it.

9. Cancellation by You

9.1 Where you booked through a third-party platform, that platform's cancellation policy applies.

9.2 For direct bookings, cancellations notified more than 24 hours before the Activity start time will receive a full refund. Cancellations notified within 24 hours are non-refundable, as the place cannot realistically be resold at that notice.

9.3 Failure to arrive at the stated meeting point at the stated time is treated as a cancellation without notice and no refund is due. We cannot delay departure, alter the route or shorten the Activity to accommodate late arrivals.

9.4 The statutory fourteen-day cancellation right applicable to certain distance contracts does not apply to leisure activities booked for a specific date, in accordance with the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

10. Cancellation or Alteration by Us

10.1 Your safety takes precedence over completion of an itinerary.

10.2 We may cancel, shorten, alter, reroute or abandon an Activity where weather, ground conditions, visibility, access restrictions, wildfire risk, participant welfare or any other safety consideration makes that the appropriate course.

10.3 Where we cancel an Activity in full before it begins, you will receive a full refund or the option to rebook.

10.4 Where we shorten, alter or abandon an Activity after it has begun, for safety reasons, no refund is due. That decision is taken in the interests of the group and forms part of the professional judgement you are engaging us to exercise.

10.5 Certain Activities require a minimum number of participants. Where that number is not reached we will notify you at least 48 hours in advance and offer a full refund or an alternative date.

10.6 Minor adjustments to route, order or schedule made on the day do not constitute cancellation or alteration for the purposes of these terms.

11. Injury and Medical Emergency

11.1 Our guides hold current first aid qualifications and carry a first aid kit on every Activity.

11.2 In the event of a minor injury, your guide will provide appropriate first aid and, where it is safe and practicable to do so, the Activity will continue for the remainder of the group.

11.3 In the event of serious injury or medical emergency, we will summon the emergency services immediately and provide such support as we reasonably can until professional help arrives. Your guide may pause or end the Activity entirely at their discretion. No refund is due in these circumstances.

11.4 You are responsible for arranging your own travel and personal accident insurance and for any medical, repatriation, mountain rescue contribution or associated costs arising. We strongly recommend that all participants hold appropriate insurance cover.

11.5 Where an incident occurs, we will record the circumstances and may ask you to provide a written account. This is standard practice and assists all parties.

12. Liability

12.1 We will exercise reasonable care and skill in the planning, risk assessment and delivery of every Activity. We carry public liability insurance appropriate to our operations.

12.2 Nothing in these terms excludes or limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability which cannot lawfully be excluded or limited. Your statutory rights as a consumer are not affected.

12.3 Subject to clause 12.2, our total liability to you in respect of any Activity shall not exceed the total sum paid by you for that Activity.

12.4 Subject to clause 12.2, we shall have no liability for:

• Loss of or damage to personal property brought to an Activity
• Loss, injury or damage arising from your failure to disclose a relevant medical condition, injury or limitation
• Loss, injury or damage arising from your failure to follow your guide's instructions
• Loss, injury or damage arising from your arriving without appropriate clothing, footwear or equipment
• Loss, injury or damage arising from your own act or omission, including departing from the group, crossing a road other than as directed, or entering water
• Indirect or consequential loss, including travel costs, accommodation or loss of enjoyment

12.5 Where your own act, omission or failure to disclose has caused or contributed to any injury, loss or damage, any liability on our part shall be reduced accordingly, in accordance with the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945.

12.6 We shall have no liability for the acts or omissions of third parties, including other members of the public, landowners, drivers of vehicles, or providers of transport, accommodation or refreshment.

13. Children and Young People

13.1 Participants under the age of eighteen must be accompanied throughout the Activity by a parent or guardian, unless otherwise agreed by us in writing in advance.

13.2 The accompanying adult is responsible at all times for the supervision, conduct and safety of the young person in their care, including near roads and water.

13.3 Minimum ages for individual Activities are stated at the point of booking and will be enforced.

14. Dogs

14.1 Dogs are permitted on selected Activities only. This is stated clearly at the point of booking. Please do not bring a dog to an Activity which is not listed as dog-friendly.

14.2 Where dogs are permitted, they must be kept on a lead near livestock at all times, in accordance with legislation on livestock worrying, and on a lead of no more than two metres on moorland during the ground-nesting bird season.

14.3 You are fully responsible for your dog's behaviour, for any injury or damage it causes, and for clearing up after it.

15. Photography and Media

15.1 We may take photographs or video footage during Activities for use in our marketing and social media materials.

15.2 If you do not wish to appear in published images, please tell your guide at the start of the Activity and we will accommodate that without difficulty.

16. Your Personal Information

16.1 We collect and process personal and medical information solely for the purpose of planning and delivering your Activity safely.

16.2 Information is held securely and processed in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

16.3 Medical information is treated as special category data and is accessed only by those directly involved in delivering the Activity.

16.4 We do not share your information with third parties except where required by law, or where necessary in a medical emergency.

16.5 Where you booked through a third-party platform, that platform processes your data as a separate and independent data controller under its own privacy policy.

16.6 Full details are set out in our Privacy Policy.

17. Complaints

17.1 If something goes wrong, please raise it with your guide at the time wherever possible, so that we have the opportunity to put it right.

17.2 Written complaints should be sent to us within fourteen days of the Activity. We will acknowledge within five working days and respond substantively within twenty-eight days.

18. General

18.1 If any provision of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue in full force.

18.2 We may update these terms from time to time. The version in force at the date of your booking applies to that booking.

18.3 These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales and are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.