These FAQs are designed to provide a better understanding of Bangalore Hikers, our policies, rules & regulations, and our other principles. They provide basic information, sometimes about fairly complex topics, and will often link to more detailed information.
Level of comfort and expectations
- Yes, the level of comfort that you would have expected from might include good rooms with panoramic view in jungles or a waterfall at doorstep. Folk... stay at home :-) if you are actually looking at such niceties. We do not and never intend to provide such comforts. We do have certain expectation from you so as to survive in the wildest of all locations a toughest of all weathers. And promise your expectations will be served and won't go in vain. We always make sure that you get the best of all events - then let it be hiking through the steep slopes or staying on top of the mountains or venturing through thick forest; we always make sure and abide by the safety of each and every individual as well as take care of their stay in tents, religious/spiritual establishments or reasonable homestays.
Disclaimer and Release of Liability
- Bangalore Hikers assumes ABSOLUTELY NO responsibility, including but not limited to injury or loss of any kind/form due to the use of information, or participating in activities found on this group/site. By becoming the member/participant of the Bangalore Hikers, you agree to the terms and conditions of the group.
The member/participant joining any hiking event agrees to take full responsibility on the above and has to sign the printed liability form before the event start. An online copy of the form is available here.
The first Hike
- So it is your first hike and you are worried about how it would be and what are the gears all you need. First we recommend you to start with a single day hiking or a two days easy hiking. We mention the difficulty level of the hike in all event description. Don't choose a moderate or difficult hiking for your first hike, since you don't know your stamina and physical strength.
- Thankfully hiking is a cheap sport to get involved in. Gears all you need to have are a pair of good lightweight hiking shoes, a water bottle, a backpack of size enough to keep a sweater, an extra pair of cloth and some eatable items, side pocket to keep your water bottle, multiple pockets in backpacks help keep your things organised.
- Always follow the leader's instruction and ask for tips. If you feel uneasy or unwell bring to the notice of hiking leader immediately.
A typical day for volunteer.
- This is not easy to describe as there are no typical days. Also in that we believe initiative to be one of the primary qualities in a volunteer. Along with being a Volunteer, you should have quality to lead the group and take your own decisions in case of any emergency or issues related to permissions like entering into forest or restricted areas. DO not get swayed by enthusiastic members. Safety of all members is utmost important in all these events, even at the cost of abandoning the hike/trek and returning back in case of medical emergency. Feedbacks are the best way to improve and especially the negative ones for the troop to enhance its quality in organizing treks/hikes.
- Every volunteer will be required to abide by certain rules and procedures to be a full-fledged part of Bangalore Hikers; which will be shared on in his capacity to lead an event.
- Similarly, we are always looking for social volunteers, who along with treks so as to create awareness among the masses on certain issues related to Green Earth, Rallies, Old age homes, Orphaned children, Hearing Impaired learnings etc.
Cost sharing.
- We are non-profit association and we volunteer non-for-profit. The costs of an event are shared equally by the participants. Since organizers convey his/her own cost to explore/visit the place(s) before they plan any event(s) or he/she has already visited on their own expenses, they are exempted from paying travel and lodging costs and these cost are shared by the participants, however food and any other expenses has to be paid by the event organizer. If the event organizer is going to a place he/she had never visited/explored, in such cases the costs of an event will be shared equally by the participants including the event organizer.
- Similarly, each and every individual participating in the event needs to contribute the required amount within time limit or after the event (depending on the event organizer's permission) so as to go ahead with ticket booking based on the required fund for arranging the logistics and transportation. Kindly take this seriously as we would not like denying anyone from further events due to nonpayment or prolonged payment of event amount.
The Bangalore Hikers fund.
- Friends, a lot of effort is required in organizing and doing the background study before coming up for an event. Since we are also a part of these events we do not charge you for our efforts, as we do it for our hobby. In order to keep organization going, money is vital. There are certain expenses that are, however, required to be paid by the event organizers as well as the participant which are dependent on the logistics/transportation, buying gears, stationeries and related to site maintenance. We would definitely like to entertain more detailed questionnaire on such BH donated funds along with the cost of event, since it's your money. Kindly mail to admin@bangalorehikers.com for more information, mentioning the Event name and Date in the subject line.
Age restrictions.
- Everyone above 18 years.
- 12-18 (youngsters) can participate with parental consent.
- 5-12 (kids) may participate along with parents/guardians only in fun trekking organised for kids or in social events.
Mailing list
- We ask before you "blast" - We understand the important of permission. We never add any member to our mailing list directly; instead we send an invitation to join it.
- We only suggest our members to receive "every new message" in their inbox; however members are free to opt for any available options.
- To set your email preferences or to unsubscribe from mailing list, logon to BH Google Groups page and select your option in pop-up window or "My Settings" menu on the group page.
- All our group email also contains the unsubscribe information, to know how, scroll down to the bottom of the email message.
- Members are free to subscribe or unsubscribe our mailing list anytime.
How to subscribe to mailing list?
- Please note that if you logged on to your Google account on your web browser it will use your gmail address for subscription. To use different email address than gmail, log out from your google account first.
- Browse to BH Google Groups page.
- If you are logged on to your google account and want to use your gmail (gmail address will be automatically selected) for subscription than select Email delivery preference to Notify me for every new message and click on "Apply to join this group" button on the pop-up window.
- If you are not logged on to your Google account than you will be asked for your email address and to verify a captcha. Fill in the form and click on "Subscribe" button.
- We will approve your subscription request once we receive it (its a manual process and may take time). Once your subscription is approved you need to set your email delivery preferences if it is not already set. Follow the instruction Subscribed to mailing list but not getting any updates.
Subscribed to mailing list but not getting any updates
- Logon to BH Google Groups page.
- Click on "My Settings->Membership and email settings" on top-right corner of the page.
- Select "Send me an email for every new message (about 1 per day)" or whichever option you would like to opt.
Cancellation of membership
- We'll be sad to see you go, but if you wish to cancel your membership, please send an email to admin@bangalorehikers.com with subject line "Membership Deactivation Request" and mentioning your Bangalore Hikers membership ID and reason of leaving the group if any in the message. Please send a separate email, do not reply to any existing conversation/thread, if you do so it will be not entertained.
- Once you cancel your membership we will remove you from our members database and from the mailing list as well. If you have subscribed to our mailing list with an email address other than the one we have in our membership database than follow the standard procedure to unsubscribe from mailing list mentioned in FAQ here.
- We are open to have you back any time sooner. If you wish to re-join, follow the standard membership procedure.
If you have any unanswered questions, feel free to contact us and we will do our best to answer them. We are fairly good at returning emails, but bear in mind there are times when all of us are trekking and your inquiry will have to wait a few days (usually this is just on weekends).
