Mission statement

The impacts of human activity on the mountain environments in which we work are increasingly evident. We recognise our own contribution to this and our need to act as responsibly as possible, and to use our platform to bring about change. We are committed to reducing our environmental impact and continually improving our environmental performance as an integral part of our business strategy and operating methods, with regular review points. We will encourage those we work with to do the same.

Policy aims

We endeavour to:

• Incorporate environmental considerations into our business decisions
• Continually improve and monitor our own environmental performance
• Promote environmental awareness among our customers and suppliers

Our Environmental Management System

We have developed an Environmental Policy & Environmental Action Plan to ensure we meet our commitments. Together, our  Environmental Policy & Environmental Action Plan comprises our Environmental Management System (EMS). Our EMS is independently certified by Green Small Business. Our certification is maintained through an annual audit carried out independently by Green Small Business. We will update this policy at least annually.

What actions are we taking?

In our home office

We'll replace all blulbs with LED, we use a 100% renewable electricity tariff, we ensure all equipment is switched off overnight, we source our paper from sustainable sources & use 100% post consumer waste recycled paper, and we continue to recycle all office paper waste, and we recycle all printer cartridges.

On our UK Challenge Events

We've removed single-use plastic waste from our events and offer waste separation & recycling on our UK mountain events where transport is provided the event. We discourage use of single-use plastics by clients and publicise the availability of water-filling opportunities and the use of Water-to-Go filter water bottles.

Travel to meetings, events and expeditions

We'll reduce our UK travel for talks by promoting webinars for meetings, workshops and presentations. We'll promote public transport and cycling opportunities for clients joining our events. We'll continue to offset our own carbon emissions through our partnership with Forest Carbon and encourage business partners and clients to offset their own transport carbon emissions when they book.

Education and awareness raising

As passionate Mountain Leaders we take our responsibility to expand our clients’ knowledge and understanding of the mountain environment & their impact on it very seriously. We are developing new website content for each overseas expedition to highlight local environmental changes and to promote education & awareness in how we can mitigate this.

Corporate decision-making

We will avoid entering any corporate partnerships with companies directly involved in fossil fuel extraction. We'll investigate switching to new suppliers with ethical/environmental concerns as a focus for website hosting, banking & insurance arrangements.

Responsible Tourism

We recognise that travel and tourism has a significant impact on the environment. As tour operators we share a responsibility for minimising any adverse impact on the world’s diverse cultural and natural habitats whilst benefiting and empowering local communities.

Therefore, we will ensure our activities add value to, and benefit, the economies, societies and communities we visit, whilst minimising the negative side effects of our visits to both the destination and the global environment.   

Through our Responsible Tourism Policy we aim to develop high quality itineraries which:

• Maximise the positive and minimise the negative economic, environmental, and social impact of our trips
• Generate greater economic benefits for local communities by involving local people in our activities
• Provide our clients with a greater understanding of local cultural, social and environmental issues
• Use resources sustainably, reduce waste and avoid over-consumption
• Help create better places for people to live in and for people to visit
• Support the conservation of natural and cultural heritage