FAQ

Explore-Share.com is a booking platform that promotes mountain experiences offered by certified mountain guides and leaders all over the world. Close to 5000 trips offered by 1000+ guides are currently on offer on the platform.

Everybody behind the project — from employees to shareholders — is passionate about mountain and outdoor activities. Together, they hope to promote these activities and encourage people to enjoy valuable experiences in the mountains.

To learn more about the team behind Explore-Share.com, please refer to our About Us page.

1. Go to explore-share.com and search for an activity, location or a combination of both.

2. The search engine will display a list of results. You’ll get to browse through the list, compare and choose the best program for you and your group.

3. Request to book it straight from the platform. Enter your details (including name, skill level and goals for the trip) and we’ll send the guide a request.

4. Once the guide confirms availability, we will charge your credit card and you’ll be all set!

Only certified mountain guides and leaders are registered on Explore-Share.com. Most of them are IFMGA-certified, the most rigorous international certification, and others are UIMLA-certified, the most respected certification for mountain leaders. A third group has local/country certifications — this is especially the case for countries where IFMGA is not available.

However, it is your responsibility to verify that the mountain guide you are booking has the necessary qualifications and expertise to guide you. Please refer to our Why hire a mountain guide? page to learn more about mountain guides’ qualifications and certificates.

We offer many different options to pay for your trip, you can choose the most suitable for you:

• Credit Card: we use Stripe, a widely reputed payment processor, to guarantee that your payment will be secure.

• Bank Transfers: we have different accounts in different currencies depending on the transfer that you need to do. We use Wise for USD and GBP transfers and BNP Paribas for EUR transfers.

On the other hand, you can either pay 100% of your trip at once, or pay a 25% deposit and then cancel the difference before the departure date. You can start paying with a credit card and finish with a bank transfer, or vice versa. Also, we offer the option of paying in installments.

If you book your Tour more than 30 days in advance, you will have a 48-hour span after booking to cancel and receive a full refund without any deductions.

After that period of time, if you decide to cancel the Tour, you will have the possibility to do so in accordance with the following indemnity scheme (refunded or to be paid depending on whether the payment was made and received):

• 100% refunded (or 0% paid) if the cancellation is notified in writing by email to the Guide up to 60 days before the first day of the Tour (minus 3% of the amount paid at booking as an administration fee, and the eventual non-reimbursable expenses the Guide paid to organize the Tour);

• 75% refunded (or 25% paid) if the cancellation is notified in writing by email to the Guide between 59 and 30 days before the first day of the Tour (minus 3% of the amount paid at booking as an administration fee, and the eventual non-reimbursable expenses the Guide paid to organize the Tour);

• 50% refunded (or 50% paid) if the cancellation is notified in writing by email to the Guide between 29 and 21 days before the first day of the Tour (minus 3% of the amount paid at booking as an administration fee, and the eventual non-reimbursable expenses the Guide paid to organize the Tour);

• 0% refunded (or 100% paid) if the cancellation is notified in writing by email to the Guide less than 21 days before the first day of the Tour

Non-refundable fees that will be discounted from the refund include:

• Administration fee: 3% of the total price of the Tour.

• Service fee: 5% of the total price of the Tour.

• The eventual non-reimbursable expenses the Guide paid to organize the Tour  (accommodation, administration expenses, salaries, porters, food, etc.), to be defined by the guide at the moment of the client’s request for cancellation.

• Credit Card fee: approximately 2.3% of the amount paid by credit card.

• Any other fee that had been clearly mentioned to the client as non-refundable before the client booked.

If bad weather or unsuitable conditions force the guide to cancel the trip, he or she will: a) propose a similar activity at a different place where conditions are better, or b) propose to postpone the activity until a later date, or c) cancel. If you refuse option a), the cancellation policy will apply. Please note, however, that the call to cancel a trip due to bad weather can only be made by the guide (not the client). Under exceptional circumstances, the guide could, however, decide at his sole discretion to refund the client (minus the transaction fee).

The 5% customer service fee paid at the moment of the booking is non-refundable. It is advisable to have an insurance policy that covers cancellations.

Take into account, however, that if accommodation, flights or transfers were included in the trip you booked, then a different policy may apply as the guide will be bound by the provider’s cancellation policy.

The standard Explore-Share cancellation policy will apply to all bookings made from October 2022 onwards unless otherwise stated. 

If bad weather or unsuitable conditions force the guide to cancel the trip, he or she will: a) propose a similar activity at a different place where conditions are better, or b) propose to postpone the activity until a later date, or c) cancel. If you refuse option a), our cancellation policy will apply. Please note, however, that the call to cancel a trip due to bad weather can only be made by the guide (not the client).

If the guide cancels for reason of injury or other, you will get a 100% refund on your trip.

Yes. If you are looking for a specific program but can’t find it on Explore-Share.com, write to our mountain guide coordinators and we’ll do our best to contact you with a local certified guide who can provide the tour you want.

Yes. After you request to book a trip, you’ll have the chance to ask your guide any questions you may have before we charge your credit card.

Guides can sometimes adapt their programs to satisfy their client’s wishes. Request to book the trip you are interested in and you’ll have the chance to discuss the changes once you are in contact with the guide.

Some guides offer group departures that you can join, others don’t. This information is usually available in the trip’s description but, if it isn’t, you can always ask our mountain guide coordinators.