TERMS AND CONDITIONS
PAYMENT & CANCELLATION POLICY
Full payment for day trips is due at time of booking.
• Cancellations 30 or more days in advance of the trip start date will receive a full refund, minus the booking platform fee and credit card processing fee.
• Cancellations 7 to 29 days in advance will receive a 50% refund, minus the booking platform fee and credit card processing fee.
• Cancellations 6 days or less in advance of the trip start date will receive no refund.
We never cancel a trip due to weather, however we will do our best to alter or reroute the trip into one that you will enjoy no matter the weather!
“Cancel for Any Reason” travel insurance is highly recommended.
Trail/Park Closures, Weather, and Natural Disasters
Despite thoughtful planning, nature can sometimes create unsafe weather or trail conditions at any time of the year. It is very uncommon, although possible, that your trip will need to be re-routed or postponed due to dangerous trails, high snow levels, impassable roads, forest fires, disease outbreaks and park closures. If a trip is unable to operate, or if The Lamplighters deems a trip unsafe due to circumstances out of our control, there will be no refund given.
Instead of issuing a refund, we will devise an alternative itinerary as close as possible to the original trip planned. Although we will try as hard as we can to create an alternative trip similar to the original, it may be possible that very little, or none, of your original trip will be accessible when using our alternative itinerary. Sometimes an alternative itinerary may require driving further, with no public transportation, to reach the starting point. Sometimes an alternative itinerary will be on a different day than your original trip date.
Although it has never come to this, if we are unable to offer an alternative trip of any kind, instead of a refund, you will be issued a full credit for use on a future trip.
Half Dome Day Trip Stipulation
Although your guide will make every effort to get you to the top of Half Dome, reaching the summit is not guaranteed.
Half Dome is a steep, strenuous, and long day of hiking. If the guide deems that a client is unfit or unsafe to continue, the guide may refuse to take the client further. The client can stay put and wait for the guide on the return hike. There will be no refund given in such cases.
If a client cannot continue the hike, or does not want to hike up the Half Dome cables, the client can stay put and wait for the guide on the return hike. There will be no refund given to clients who do not make it to the top of Half Dome for any reason.
In cases when the park service puts the Half Dome cables up late in the season or takes them down early, and our trip date now takes place while the cables are down, our trip date will remain in place. Guides will either take clients to the base of Half Dome and turn around without reaching the summit, or to an alternate destination in the park. We will not hike to the summit of Half Dome during times when the cables are down. There will be no refunds in such cases.
The Half Dome cable climb is unsafe in rainy weather or lightning storms. When rain is forecasted, or when the guide predicts incoming rain or lightning by looking at the sky, clients and guides will not climb the Half Dome cables to the summit. In these cases, the trip date will remain the same, but we may reroute the hike to an alternate destination. No refund will be given.
It is at the sole discretion of the guide to predict unsafe weather and to decide the fitness of a client. If the guide calls off the summit for any reason, regardless of what the weather ends up being, no refund will be given.
EARLY DEPARTURES AND EVACUATIONS
Whether voluntarily, or due to emergency or safety concerns, it is possible that a client may need to evacuate a trip.
We will help you arrange your evacuation and see to your safety and comfort. Shuttles, lodges, helicopter and medical transportation, medical care, meals, shipping and many other factors can all play a role in getting you out safely and expeditiously. There will be costs associated with your evacuation, and all costs will be solely your responsibility.
We strongly recommend you purchase a travel insurance plan that covers medical and other expenses incurred during an evacuation.
TRAVEL INSURANCE
It is imperative that you purchase travel insurance. Sometimes a traveler, or loved one, will get sick or injured and need to cancel a trip too late to receive a partial refund. Insurance may also cover cancelled trips and costs associated with cancelled flights, rental car damage, delays, reroutes, natural disasters and medical evacuations.
It is recommended that you purchase travel insurance which includes evacuation costs and the “cancel for any reason” add-on. We recommend starting your search at SquareMouth and also comparing with IMGlobal.
MINIMUM PARTICIPANTS
Most day trips are private, which means there is no minimum number of participants. For the day hike to Half Dome, the minimum participants required is three clients.
The Lamplighters reserves the right to cancel any Half Dome day trip which has not met the minimum number of participants and is not economically viable.
Last minute sign-ups are quite frequent, and due to this, we will not cancel a trip until 30 days before trip departure. If we do need to cancel a trip due to low participation, you will receive a full refund. We will also work with you to find a solution, which could include joining a different trip, using your funds on a future trip, or splitting the surcharge among all participants and keeping the same trip available.
It is your own responsibility to pay for any costs incurred, such as pre-paid travel expenses, due to a canceled trip with too few participants. Please purchase travel insurance which will protect you in such cases.