Joan Chambers/Nancy Barlow
Trekking the Haute Route: Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn
SUMMARY OF TRIP INFORMATION
Trekking the Haute Route: Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn
Leader Joan Chambers
Co-leader Nancy Barlow
Chamonix, France to Zermatt, Switzerland (Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn)
8/23/2015 through 9/8/2015
Total # of days 17
Backpacking
Bicycling-Mountain
Bicycling-Road
Title of trip
Leadership
Location(s)
Dates
Type of trip
check all that apply
Primary type of trip
Number of participants
(excluding leaders)
Advertised cost
Airfare range if not included
When should the trip notice be
published in AMC Outdoors?
Do you wish to have your trip
listed online before it is
published in AMC Outdoors?
Smaller trips and leader
subsidization
Camping
Cultural
Family
Hiking
Paddling-Canoeing
Paddling-Sea-Kayaking
Skiing-CrossSkiing-Downhill
Snorkeling
Country (Nordic)
(Alpine)
Trekking (e.g., hutWalking
Other – please describe
to-hut)
Trekking (e.g., hut-to-hut)
Select one of those checked above.
Minimum 8
Maximum 10
$ 2650
Does it include airfare? Yes
No
$ 1600
Will leaders assist participants with flights? Yes
No
First Appearance: Month January
Year 2015
Last Appearance: Month September
Year 2015
Note: AMC Outdoors is only published in Jan., March, May, July, Sept., Nov.
Yes
No If yes, please list the approximate month and year when it should
be posted on line. ASAP
Is this proposal for a small group trip – i.e., less than 14 participants and 2
leaders or 7 participants and 1 leader? Yes
No
If yes, why is a small group proposed? Small groups are better and safer in back
country adventures.
If a participant fee increase of more than 15% is proposed, please explain why?
This remote setting trek is a technical trip, justifying 20% leader subsidization rate.
LEADER AND CO-LEADER INFORMATION
Leader name
Leader address
Leader email
Leader phone
Wilderness first aid
training
CPR training
Prior leading experience
Trip one
Trip two
Trip three
Form Revised February 2014
Joan Chambers
16 Harcourt St., #5H, Boston, MA 02116
wu.chambers@gmail.com
Home
Work
WFA
AWFA
WFR
Expiration: 12/2016
Cell 617-680-6717
CPR
BLS
Expiration: 12/2016
If this is your first Adventure Travel trip as a Leader you must be present at the AMCATC meeting at which the trip proposal is considered.
Please list the last three longer (5+ day) trips you have led for the AMC including
destination, type of trip, dates and number of participants. Feel free to list additional
trips you have led, particularly if they demonstrate experience related to the trip you are
proposing.
2014 02/22 to 03/9 Patagonia day hikes and Backpack : Leader
2011 07/15 to 07/30 Tour du Mont Blanc Backpack : Leader
2011 02/05 to 02/21 New Zealand Backpack : Leader
Adventure Travel Trip Proposal Form, page 1 of 5
Joan Chambers/Nancy Barlow
Trekking the Haute Route: Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn
Other related trip
experience
Co-leader name
Co-leader address
Co-leader email
Co-leader phone
Wilderness first aid training
CPR training*
Prior leading experience
Trip one
Trip two
Trip three
Nancy Barlow
5 Louise Avenue, East Providence, RI 02916
nb_backpacker@Hotmail.com
Home n/a
Work n/a
Cell 401-330-0007
WFA
AWFA
WFR
Expiration: 12/2016
CPR
BLS
Expiration: Scheduled to take CPR class in January 2015
If you are a new co-leader you must submit an application to be an Adventure Travel
leader or co-leader prior to submitting this application. Also, it is strongly
recommended that you be present at the AMC-ATC meeting at which the trip proposal
is considered.
Please list the last three longer (5+ day) trips you have led for the AMC including
destination, type of trip, dates and number of participants. Please indicate if you were
the leader or co-leader.
AMC NH Chapter Trip, Mahoosuc Backpack - Sunday, June 29 – Wed, July 2, 2014
(4 days): Leader. Attached find the list of participants.
AMC NH Chapter Trip, 100 Mile Wilderness Backpack -- Mon, Aug 18 – Thu, Aug
28, 2014 (11 days). Leader. Attached find the list of participants.
Scheduling a four day, 3 night trip from Zealand Falls to Mt Lafayette for the third
weekend of June 2015.
Other related trip experience
Scouting
Have either of you led this trip
before or traveled to this area?
Languages
Does either the co-leader or
leader speak the local language?
Couples
Do the leader and co-leader
have a significant personal
relationship?
Private trips Do either of you
lead trips that are private - not
sponsored by the AMC?
Yes
No
If yes, please describe below:
Co-leader: Yes
No
Leader: Yes
No
Not applicable:
Yes
No
If yes, please list who has agreed to be your back-up in case one or
both of you need to drop out. This is required for approval!
Yes
No
If yes, please note that you cannot advertise AMC and private
trips together unless there is a clear distinction between the two in any materials
you send out.
LOGISTICAL DETAILS OF TRIP
Summary
Please provide a description
of the trip and the activities
planned. If available, please
include or attach an itinerary.
Accommodations
Please describe your plans for
accommodation(s)
Form Revised February 2014
This trek will follow the routes laid out in the guidebook “Chamonix to Zermatt; The
Classic Walker’s Haute Route” by Kev Reynolds. Aside from the days of arrival,
departure and a sightseeing half day in Chamonix, there will be hiking every day with an
average altitude gain of ~823 m (2700 ft.)/day and distance covered ~13 km (8 mi.)/day.
Aside from the days of arrival and departure, all accommodations will be either
mountain huts or small mountain hotels.
Our plan is to make hut and hotel reservations 4-6 months in advance. From experience
of myself and others (TMB, Haute Route, Dolomites), when reservations are made well
in advance, there is no problem booking the huts. In addition, we have the advantage for
the proposed hike of going at the end of the hiking season in the Alps so overall demand
will be less. There is always the possibility that a hut cannot be booked. In some cases,
we can substitute a nearby hut and hike a little longer one day and a title shorter the next.
Depending upon where the booking difficulty occurs, we could alternatively stay in one
of the mountain towns we pass.
Adventure Travel Trip Proposal Form, page 2 of 5
Trekking the Haute Route: Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn
Meals: Please describe your
plans for providing meals. If
the budget includes any funds
for leader meals not shared
with the group please justify.
Local Transportation
Please describe your plans for
local transportation
Will leaders or participants be
drivers of motor vehicles?
Permits or permissions
Does the trip require special
permits or permissions?
(required on many U.S.
federal lands and national
parks)
Joan Chambers/Nancy Barlow
Starting August 24, 2015, all breakfasts and dinners will be provided. Lunches can be
purchased at the huts. Alternatively, lunch supplies can be bought at local markets.
Leaders will also purchase lunches - this will be a budgeted expense since it is an out-ofpocket travel cost for the leaders.
None
Will leaders be drivers?
Will volunteer participants be drivers?
If so, MVR checks will be needed. See Appendix S1.
Yes
No
If yes, please describe below what you will need to do to obtain them:
If no, please describe the process you went through to find out that they were not
required:
Reviewed the guidebook “Chamonix to Zermatt; The Classic Walker’s Haute Route” by
Kev Reynolds.
Yes
No
If yes, please describe below what type of equipment and how you
will ensure that people know how to use it:
Special equipment
Does the trip require special
equipment?
Special experience
Yes
No
If yes, please describe below what type of experience? Also describe
Does the trip require special
how you will ensure that the participant has this experience?
skills on the part of the
Participants will need to be strong hikers. We will screen for this by telephone and
participant?
through references.
Pre-trip activities
Yes
No
If yes, please describe below what you will do:
Do you plan to get your group We will have one pre-trip outdoor activity to get to know one another. Ideally, this would
together before the trip for an
consist of two relatively strenuous day hikes over the course of a weekend
activity or social event?
This trip will encompass two weeks of mountain travel, witnessing the greatest
Conservation, education and
collection of 4000m peaks in all the Alps and visit spectacular valleys, delightful
recreation
How will this AMC-AT trip meet the
villages, remote alp hamlets, flower meadows, and fragrant forests. We will
mission of the AMC?
interact with locals throughout the trip, learning about their customs, natural
www.outdoors.org/about/mission.cfm
resource management and environmental stewardship. In addition, we will have a
walking tour of Chamonix as a group, including a visit to a museum or place of
interest, learning about the history and culture of the area.
TOUR OPERATOR AND GUIDE SERVICE INFORMATION
This section should be completed if the trip will be using a tour operator, outfitter, guide service, travel agency or
other such company or person(s) for a significant part of the trip or for the entire trip. Any person(s) or companies
that are handling a significant portion of trip funds or arrangements need to be vetted. If there is more than one
tour operator please provide this information about each such entity.
Will this trip require a tour
Yes
No
operator or guide service
Please describe their services. If you are using a tour operator for the entire trip,
during part of or for the
please describe why you will be using them rather than doing this trip on your own:
entire trip?
Name of tour operator/guide
service
Tour operator website
Safety record
Please provide information
about their safety record.
Insurance
Liability? Yes
No
Maximum amt: $
Form Revised February 2014
Adventure Travel Trip Proposal Form, page 3 of 5
Joan Chambers/Nancy Barlow
Trekking the Haute Route: Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn
Do they have liability
insurance?
Emergency response
Please describe the outfitters’
response plan in the case of an
emergency.
Are they willing to list AMC as an
additional insured?
Yes
No
RISK ASSESSMENT
Please assess the risks and hazards of your trip. Carefully consider each area of risk and how it may affect your trip.
Devise a plan to prevent each hazard and to respond to it if it becomes necessary. Please be very specific for each section
if applicable.
Trail conditions, river crossings, weather, wildlife (bears, snakes, etc.)
Climate/terrain
Potential hazards
Rugged trails, unpredictable mountain weather, altitude
Response
We will travel as a group and assess conditions as we meet them. There are lodging
options along the route if the itinerary needs to be changed due to unsafe conditions. The
route follows standard, well-marked trails .
Political concerns, crime, language translation, terrorism
Foreign Country
Potential hazards
None
Response
France and Switzerland are economically and socially stable countries.
Road conditions, drivers, insurance
Transportation
Potential hazards
N/A
Response
N/A
Level of fitness, screening concerns, experience with equipment or activity
Participants
Potential hazards
Experience level, health, social interactions
Response
A full screening process will eliminate many potential problems. Those that arise will be
dealt with on an individual basis. Both leaders have extensive group leadership
experience and are practiced at handling uncomfortable situations. Potential health risks
will be aired during the screening process so leaders will be aware of participants’ health
situation. We will look for people with backcountry experience, tolerance for rustic
conditions and experience in foreign countries
Conditions unique to this type of trip
Other
Potential hazards
None
Response
None
EMERGENCY ACTION PLAN
Please describe your plans for dealing with emergencies. Give as much detail as possible and list any special
communications equipment you may need to ensure the safety of your participants. DO NOT LEAVE THIS BLANK
Mountain huts all have wardens that have communication abilities (e.g. radios,
Emergency communication
Phone contacts, language,
telephones, etc.). The hiking trails we will be on have significant traffic in August and
documentation, distance from
the beginning of Sept. English is widely understood in the mountain huts and villages.
emergency services
We will be carrying first aid kits. Steve will be carrying an international cell phone.
Emergency equipment
What sort of emergency first
aid or communication
equipment (satellite phone,
two-way radios) do you plan
to use, if any?
As this is a popular trek and many people travel it, mountain safety is taken very
Evacuation
Please describe your plan for
seriously and there are numerous rescue options including helicopter rescue.
evacuation from the
backcountry location if
applicable?
France and Switzerland have excellent medical facilities. This area has mountain safety
Medical care
Please describe the medical
and rescue capabilities #144 for assistance and #1414 for helicopter rescue.
Form Revised February 2014
Adventure Travel Trip Proposal Form, page 4 of 5
Trekking the Haute Route: Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn
Joan Chambers/Nancy Barlow
care available in the area(s)
where you will be traveling
and list names and telephone
numbers for these facilities.
COST AND BUDGET DETAILS
The currency used is the Swiss franc (1 CHF = $1.14 US); the budget is
Foreign currencies
For int’l trips list each foreign currency, the
figured at $1.25/CHF. Except for leader airfare and minor
current $US dollar exchange rate and what
administrative expenses paid in dollars here, everything will be paid in
contingencies you have if that rate changes. If
CHF there.
a tour operator or agent is being used, what
currency is the agent to be paid in?
Non-refundable airline tickets for the leaders will have to be purchased in advance, but
Group Trip Deposits
What deposits will be required
not until it is clear that the trip will go (The cost of refundable tickets is prohibitive).
from you by airlines, hotels, tour Other reservations do not require deposits or are refundable on short notice.
operators, etc., and when?
Group trip deposits fully refundable until 90 days in advance of trip date.
Group Trip Refunds
What is the latest date you can
cancel and still receive a full
refund of any deposits?
Initial deposit of $1000 is due with application. Second payment of $1650 due June
Participant deposits
What are the initial deposit and
2015. Deposit checks from wait listed applicants will not be cashed unless and until we
your schedule of payments by
accept them AND they confirm continued interest.
participants to you?
Cancellation by an accepted participant will not be allowed to raise the cost to the
Cancellation policy
What will be your cancellation
other participants or to the leaders. Published minimum penalty: $200 after the trip is
policy for the participants?
declared a go. If actual costs are higher, they will be included in the assessment. We
reserve the right to reduce cancellation penalties if costs incurred can be passed to a
replacement participant.
Minimum numbers
Yes
No
If yes, please describe conditions:
Will you still run the trip if you
do not get the minimum number?
Reference web links:
AMC-ATC Home Page:
Forms:
Deadlines:
E-Mail Addresses:
Club House:
AMC-ATC Chair:
Form Revised February 2014
http://snebulos.mit.edu/orgs/amc/
http://snebulos.mit.edu/orgs/amc/application/
http://snebulos.mit.edu/orgs/amc/committee/proposals/
nholland@outdoors.org
mikebarry657@mac.com
Adventure Travel Trip Proposal Form, page 5 of 5