Questions, answered plainly.

Most applications move from submission to a decision within two to three weeks: a few days for medical review, then scheduling an interview. Routes with a longer waitlist or a stricter medical screen can take longer — we will tell you where you stand rather than leave you guessing.

You will get a specific reason, not a form rejection. Some declines are about a single route's fitness prerequisite rather than about you generally, and we will say so — and suggest a better-matched route when one exists.

Yes. Each application is reviewed on that route's own medical and fitness bar, so approval for one route does not carry over to another.

For routes marked this way, your disclosed medical history is reviewed against that specific route's isolation level and evacuation window before you can be approved — not a generic travel-insurance checkbox. See the Safety page for how isolation levels are defined route by route.

Our field leads time a route in person wherever possible — see the Journal for an example from the Kamchatka route — and where a route has not yet had that reconnaissance trip, its page says so under provenance.

No. Every route's inclusions and exclusions list states this explicitly, and application review includes confirming you have adequate coverage for that specific route's isolation level before approval.

Only after you are approved. No route on this site accepts a deposit or any payment before an application has cleared medical review and interview.

Deposits are refundable up to 90 days before departure, minus processing costs already incurred (permits, non-refundable logistics bookings). Inside 90 days, refundability depends on whether your place can be reassigned from a waitlist — we will tell you the specific terms for your route before you pay anything.

Shared and safety-critical gear — satellite communication, crevasse rescue kit, medical oxygen where applicable — is listed under each route's inclusions. Personal technical gear (boots, your own layering system) is listed under exclusions and is your responsibility.

Tell us in your application. We would rather help you train toward a route over several months, or point you at a less demanding one now, than approve someone who is not ready for the terrain.

If we cancel a departure — for safety, permitting or insufficient group size — your deposit is refunded in full, and we will help you transfer to another departure or route if you would rather do that.