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Booking terms & conditions: mountain safety courses

To take part in one of our mountain skills courses, you must be a member of Mountaineering Scotland, either as an individual member or through membership of one of our affiliated clubs. Course places are not available to members of other clubs, organisations or associations unless otherwise stated.

Your membership allows us to subsidise our mountain skills courses, and continue to offer them at affordable prices compared to most commercial providers.

Some courses and events offer a non-member price which includes membership for your first year. Otherwise you can join or, if your membership has lapsed, renew your membership at the same time as booking a course place.

If a course is fully booked, you have the option to add your details to a waiting list. If spaces become available, we will contact the full waiting list with places available on a first come, first served basis.

Our mountain skills courses are very popular and places are limited. For this reason, we cannot reserve places without full payment of the course fee at the time of booking.

For cancellations less that 7 days prior to the course date - participants are liable for the full course fee.

For cancellations less than four weeks prior to the date of the course – we will contact the waiting list (if there is one) and attempt to fill the vacant space. If unsuccessful, the participant is liable for the full course fee. If we are successful, we will refund the course fee less a £10 admin charge to cover payment processing and admin costs or transfer your booking to another course date if available.

For cancellations more than four weeks before the course date - we will refund the course fee less a £10 admin fee to cover payment processing and admin costs or transfer you to another course, subject to availability.

We endeavour to run all courses as planned, however for operational reasons we may from time to time have to cancel or amend your booking. In the event of any booking cancellation by the Mountaineering Scotland, participants will be offered either a full refund of the course fee or transfer to any other course offered at the same cost, subject to availability.

Some courses require you to provide additional information - this must be provided at the time of booking. We reserve the right to refuse anyone who has not provided relevant information in advance of the course and in such cases we shall be unable to refund course fees.

You must be physically fit for the course you have chosen and tell us about any medical condition, medication or disabilities at the time of booking.

You must ensure that you meet requirements for clothing, footwear, equipment, food and drink, before attending for the course, as specified in the course joining instructions which are attached to your confirmation email.

Whilst we will do our best to accommodate you, we reserve the right to refuse entry to a course to anyone our staff or instructors consider unfit or insufficiently prepared for the course, where their inclusion could impact on others’ safety or ability to benefit from the course. In such cases we will not refund course fees.

We expect all course participants to treat others fairly and with dignity, courtesy and respect at all times. Anyone engaging in unacceptable behaviours including using inappropriate or abusive language, bullying, harassment, discrimination, physical or verbal violence or being under the influence of illegal drugs or alcohol will be refused entry to a course or asked to leave if it has already started and course fees will not be refunded.

Instructors are employed by Mountaineering Scotland on the basis of their experience and appropriate qualifications, and are responsible for the safety of all participants.

All courses we deliver are planned and supervised in a way designed to manage the risk of accident or injury to both students and instructors, while at the same time providing realistic, practical and beneficial training. However, outdoor activities, by their nature, contain a degree of hazard and risk and despite the greatest care accidents may still occur.

All participants on Mountaineering Scotland courses should be aware that their involvement places them at risk of accident and potential injury, possibly serious or even fatal. By making a booking, it is assumed that participants have enrolled on the course of their choice, are aware of and accept the inherent risk associated with the activity.

To facilitate safe practice, participants must follow all instructions provided by your instructor. Failure to do so will result in removal from the course.

In order to manage the risk, all clients are requested to draw to the attention of the instructor(s) if they are unhappy or feel the activity is beyond their ability. 

If you have a complaint about the service you receive at any point during the course, you must notify ourselves or the instructor involved as soon as possible to give us the opportunity to put things right. None of our instructors have authority to promise refunds or compensation on behalf of Mountaineering Scotland. 

To facilitate car sharing among course participants we may circulate details of participants contact email, telephone and home town to others within the group in advance of the course. Please let us know if you do not wish your contact details to be included at time of booking.

We may use photography or video content taken during our courses or activities for promotional purposes on printed materials and digital channels, including our website and social media channels, and will ask for your consent to do so.

We take your privacy seriously and will ensure that your personal data is stored securely in accordance with our privacy policy. We will only share your personal information when necessary, for example with instructors, coaches and event organisers, in order for them to carry out the activities in which you are participating. For full details of our privacy policy, please click here.

Our formal terms and conditions of supply should be read and agreed before booking a course. You can read terms and conditions here.

Please contact us on info@mountaineering.scot or call 01738 493943.

Our mountain safety courses are supported by:



Updated August 2022