Get Peace of Mind During Your Alpine Activities
Whether you’re trekking abroad, mountaineering across the border or backcountry skiing in the next province, your provincial healthcare plan won’t travel with you. That means, if you have an accident or medical emergency on or off the mountain, you’ll have to arrange for care and pay for most of it out of your own pocket.
For the travelling adventurer, the ACC sells TuGo® Travel Insurance, personal insurance which covers the types of activities our members do.
Policies are available for:
From hospital treatment to emergency air transportation, body repatriation to emergency dental work, this insurance will cover you should the unthinkable happen.
Unlike many other providers, Adventure Sports Optional Coverage is available to cover rock climbing, mountaineering, backcountry skiing and ice climbing. Policies are affordable, starting at just $15 per day.
Travelling more than twice in a year?
Consider the Multi Trip Annual policy option which will provide:
Savings – it is more economical to travel with an annual plan than multiple single trip plans
Convenience – leave anytime and go anywhere without re-applying for coverage
Flexibility – family plans allow individuals to travel together or separately and always be covered
If you require medical attention while you’re travelling outside of your home province, your provincial health care plan will not cover important things such as:
In addition, a range of hospital costs such as emergency room fees and X-rays are only partially covered by provincial health care plans.
These costs are particularly pertinent for those engaging in backcountry activities. For example, an air ambulance medical evacuation in the backcountry of BC will cost residents of that province a “nominal fee”, but non-BC residents will be charged about $2,800 per hour of helicopter time plus other ground ambulance fees. TuGo Travel Insurance, sold by the ACC, can cover these expenses. For more detail and real life examples click here.
Those coming to Canada to engage in activities such as climbing, mountaineering, skiing and hiking should understand that they are not covered by our country’s medical system. Visitors are responsible for all costs associated with hospital visits as well as emergency medical evacuations by helicopter or ambulance. Together, these can run into the tens of thousands of dollars.
The ACC sells TuGo Visitors to Canada Emergency Medical Insurance to cover your back if an accident happens on or off the mountain. These policies can be customized to cover your alpine activities and will cover costs such as:
For more information and real life examples click here.
Canadians who suffer a medical emergency outside of Canada are covered for less than 10% of their medical expenses by their provincial health care plans. Climbing, skiing or hiking abroad carries with it inherent risks and services like emergency room visits, ambulance journeys, air evacuations and prescription drugs are all at the liability of the individual without adequate travel insurance.
These costs can be substantial, especially in the US and developing countries as the following example shows.
ACC member Bridget Milsom caught a crampon and fractured her ankle and wrist descending from Parchermo (6,200m) in Nepal. Luckily, TuGo Travel Insurance, sold to Bridget by the ACC covered $16,819 of expenses. You can read her happy ending story on the TuGo blog.
For more details and real-life examples click here.
Traveling can be expensive: airline tickets, accommodation, tour operators and other pre-paid travel arrangements add up. If you have to cancel or interrupt your trip due to an emergency this money would be lost.
With trip cancellation & interruption insurance you can protect your investment; it reimburses you for non-refundable, prepaid travel costs, in the case of:
We highly recommend trip cancellation insurance to those booking ACC huts or Adventures as well as personal trips. In the event that you are forced to cancel your trip due to an emergency this would cover you for the cost of hut cancellation fees or the non-refundable deposits on camps and courses, as well as the accompanying travel arrangements.
For more information about Tugo’s trip cancellation and interruption insurance, click here.
We have put together some answers to questions we frequently receive here at the National Office about TuGo Travel Insurance. If your question is not listed here, please feel free to call us at the numbers on the top of this page.
Buy your insurance using the “Online Quote” link or phone numbers at the top of this page. If you end up finalizing your purchase with TuGo directly please reference ALP762.
Not currently, but there could be with your help! TuGo won’t currently give us preferable pricing for members. But if we get enough sales through the ALP762 code, this can be negotiated.
Typically none. Unless your activity is specifically listed under the Contact, Adventure or Extreme Sports & Activities Optional Coverage, it is covered under the base policy.
Anyone participating in rock climbing is required to purchase the Rock Climbing add on under Adventure Sports Optional Coverage in order to have coverage while climbing.
Pitched rock climbing using traditional protection is typically treated in the same way as sport climbing i.e. the Rock Climbing Add on under Adventure Sports Optional Coverage is needed. However, if you are crossing snow/ice to access your climbs or require the use of crampons or an ice axe, you are considered to be mountaineering and would require the coverage described below.
You will need the Adventure Sport Optional Coverage. Click “customize” under the Emergency Medical Plan. And check the Mountaineering box.
You will need the Mountaineering add on under Extreme Sport Optional Coverage. Click “customize” under the Emergency Medical medical plan. And check the Mountaineering box.
TuGo define mountaineering as “the act of climbing or descending a mountain using specialized equipment including but not limited to pickaxes, ice axes, anchors, bolts, crampons, carabineers and lead or top rope anchoring equipment.” Three components of this distinguish mountaineering from rock climbing: i. you are aiming to reach the summits of mountains ii. there is a possibility of travelling over snow or ice on your climb or on the approach to your climb iii. you are carrying ice tools, an ice axe or crampons. If some or all of these things apply to you, you should ensure you have the correct optional coverage: the Mountaineering add on under Extreme Sport Optional Coverage.
TuGo is a third-party administrator (TPA) of travel insurance products and services. They develop and administer a variety of travel insurance plans for Canadian business and leisure travelers, visitors to Canada and international students studying in Canada. Their plans can be found in automobile associations, insurance brokerages, banks, credit unions, travel agencies, tour operators and airlines across Canada. TuGo has protected Canadian travelers for over 50 years. To find out more about other insurance options, visit the TuGo website at TuGo.com or call them direct at 1-855-929-TuGo (1-855-929-8846). Please quote Reference #ALP762, as the ACC benefits whenever this code is used.
Visit TuGo.com or call TuGo’s Customer Service at 1-855-929-8846, and reference Alpine Club (ALP762)
To some extent, yes. In Canadian national parks, your purchased park pass will cover the cost of emergency air evacuation if valid. However, this is not the case for provincial parks or if you are outside park boundaries. Once evacuated from the park, you could still be on the hook for ground ambulance fees, hospital fees etc. and so we typically recommend purchasing emergency medical insurance even if you are intending to recreate in a national park.
If you have the correct optional coverage for your activity, the policy will cover emergency air evacuation up to $6,000 if this is required for a medical emergency. Please note, this would not apply if you were simply lost in the mountains.
TuGo medical insurance is only available to travellers leaving their home province as your home province plan should cover you in most cases. For trip cancellation and interruption anyone may purchase this plan even if the trip is in their home province.
SPEAK TO A LICENSED ACC STAFF MEMBER:
Tara McConnery
(403) 678-3200 ext. 218
Monday to Friday (9am-5pm)
You can also speak to TuGo on
1-855-929-8846
Please reference the ACC code: ALP762
Ensure you select the Adventure Sports Optional Coverage if you are rock climbing, backcountry skiing, ice climbing or mountaineering
WHY DO WE SELL AFFINITY LIFE INSURANCE?
TuGo’s emergency medical policy can cover activities things like rock climbing, trekking, backcountry skiing, ice climbing and mountaineering.
TuGo policies represent the great value for our members and the mountain community, with emergency medical policies starting from just $15 per day.
If buying through TuGo directly, please use one of the ACC codes – ALP762 (phone), ALP000 (web) – each sale sees the Club receive a small commission which helps us provide services to our members and the wider community.
Our licensed Alpine Club staff members understand alpine activities and can give informed advice on insuring your mountain adventures.
Life Insurance
Looking for Life Insurance? We have partnered with Affinity Life to provide our community with life insurance that covers mountain enthusiasts. Click here to learn more or to book an appointment.
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