FAQ's
All the stuff you need to know about what to bring, what we bring, what to expect, cancellation policies, and more! We have done our best to answer the primary questions you might have. If you don't find what you are looking for, send us a message in the contact form at the bottom! If you send us a question that is listed here, we will re-direct you back to this page just to be passive aggressive.
WHAT TO BRING:
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Each activity on our services page includes a list, but here is a general list as well:
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Comfortable and stretchy athletic wear. Little to no jewelry is preferred, especially rings. Layers for Fall through Spring months, Sun Shirt or coverup for Summer. Grippy shoes appropriate for light hiking. For Canyoneering you can expect to do some technical butt scooching so be prepared for wear and tear on the seat of your pants. Some Canyons involve getting wet, so read the descriptions carefully on the services page.
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Individuals with long hair will be asked to tie their hair up to prevent it getting caught while rappelling, lowering, etc.
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WATER. For ½ day trips a minimum 2 liters per person, and min. 3 liters June through August) ideally in a reusable water bottle. 4 liters for full day trips May-September. Dehydration is a real issue in the desert where the lack of humidity and heat can sneak up on you!
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Snacks for ½ day trips and an additional lunch on full day trips.
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Sunscreen, a brimmed hat, sunglasses, chapstick.
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A 20 liter or larger backpack to carry your personal belongings and the harness, helmet and gloves (etc.) we provide. If you do not own a small day pack or backpack please contact us prior to your reservation as we have a few for clients to borrow if necessary.
CANCELLATION POLICY? REFUNDS?
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We are sorry you are reading this section!
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Cancellations made 72 hours or less from booking will not receive a refund. When we receive a booking, we block that part of our schedule to other clients, and unfortunately 3 days is not enough time to fill those spaces. We appreciate your understanding.
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Cancellations made between 3-14 days of the reservations date will receive a refund minus 30% of the total trip cost in order to cover our payment processing fees and administrative labor.
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Cancellations made over 2 weeks from reservation date will receive a full refund.
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Cancellations due to adverse weather will receive a full refund–however only Elevate Outdoors can cancel a trip due to weather. If a customer cancels due to their own feelings about the weather, the above policies apply. Elevate Outdoors will never risk client safety and care in order to make a trip happen, but we do reserve the right to make the final call when it comes to adverse weather such as wind, rain or snow.
Can Disabled People Do it?
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In many cases, yes! Please email us with details and we will figure out a way to bring this experience to you, adapted to suit your disability. We aim to be a guide service that is able to guide ALL people, regardless of ability. It might involve some extra steps and planning, but we are very open and willing to try and make it happen.
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Elevate Outdoors has huge aspirations to specialize in working with disabled individuals in the future. We are just starting out, so it might take some time, but if you are interested or have connections and knowledge for us, send us a message, we would love to hear from you!
PAYMENT POLICY
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Payment is due in full at time of booking.
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As a small business, we rely on the integrity of our clients to stay in operation, and upfront payments simplifies our administrative process and allows us to dedicate our full energy to planning the trip, without worrying about no-shows or changed minds.
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See our cancellation and refund policy for more information if you have a change of plans.
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If you are unsure about your schedule, you can always wait to book us! While you run the risk of our schedule filling up, we understand that life is not always predictable. We do our best to accommodate our guests while upholding our own healthy business boundaries!
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We accept all major credit cards, debit cards, venmo and cash with a (credit card deposit).
LARGE GROUPS?
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In most cases, yes! We do need as much notice as possible to line up additional guides, however if for whatever reason we cannot accommodate your group we are happy to recommend our favorite other guiding businesses in town.
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Some of our permits have group-size limits, so in certain cases we would need to divide your group into two.
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Please contact us directly if you have a group over 8 people.
WHAT WE PROVIDE:
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All ropes, technical and safety equipment needed for activity for guide and guests, i.e. harness, climbing shoes, helmet, rappel/belay device, chalk bag, personal anchor system, carabiners, etc. You may use your own harness, helmet and shoes if we give it a look over first.
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First Aid Kit and Satellite Phone
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Wag Bag for emergency poop situations–we hope this remains just a precaution!
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Excellent conversation, local restaurant recommendations, and solid instruction.
WILL I BE SAFE?
We believe safety is upheld when guests follow the instructors directives and guidelines. According to the waiver; climbing, highlining, canyoneering, rappelling and hiking are all inherently dangerous. That being said, we aim to keep our clients as safe as possible via high quality and regularly inspected equipment, a guide/instructor who is Wilderness First Responder Certified and AMGA certified, who is equipped with a first aid kit and a satellite phone. Many people are guided safely every day, and it’s important to remember that these activities are mostly safe, but they carry high consequences if something does go wrong. Considering we all jump in our cars and drive with thousands of other speeding 1-ton bullets on the freeway daily, we would hope that you would overcome any worries you have about safety enough to come try these amazing activities with us!
WHAT IS THE WEATHER LIKE?
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Weather in Moab varies from season to season. It can be cold, snowy, icy or windy between Fall and Spring. It can be dangerously hot in the summer. The best time to visit is whenever you have time to do so, but Spring and Fall are definitely the most popular. In Summer we start our trips early or later to beat as much of the heat as possible.
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The rock around Moab is primarily sandstone, and when it rains it is forbidden to climb on the wet, fragile rock, as it can break. Your guide might cancel a trip due to adverse weather conditions, and in this case you will receive a full refund.
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Be aware that only Elevate Outdoors can make the call to cancel due to weather resulting in a refund. If a guest cancels due to weather after the cancellation window, they forfeit their payment. Safety is our number one priority, second is comfort (we don’t expect you to go climbing in -10 degrees while it snows, don’t worry) so we will make conservative decisions about canceling due to weather. That being said, your hangover and a hot day are not valid reasons for us to cancel.
SHOULD I HAVE EXPERIENCE?
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Many of our activities are designed for people with NO EXPERIENCE. We love introducing people to these wonderful outdoor sports, teaching them the basics, empowering them to try something new and come away with a sense of accomplishment and gratification. Sharing our expertise and knowledge of these activities is literally why we started this business!
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A few of our offerings require some climbing experience. The activities on our services page have those requirements listed if there are any. Some of our classes can be tailored to where you are at in your skill level, so don’t hesitate to tell us any and all experience you have!
General Moab q's
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We highly recommend having a look at Discover Moab's FAQ page, which has a lot of great answers to frequently asked questions about Moab in general! You can find it here.
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When you choose to book a trip with us, you can be sure we will answer all of the Moab questions you have that we are able to. We love recommending things to do, places to eat, places to not eat, and must-do hikes!
HOW FIT SHOULD I BE?
- All of the activities we offer are physical, and almost all of them involve some hiking. There is no bench-press weight requirement, though we expect our clients to be comfortable walking at least 2 miles on varied, rocky terrain.
-Rappelling and Highlining themselves are not extremely physically demanding, however approaching these activities is usually where a baseline of fitness is required. If you have any questions about your fitness, feel free to contact us! We strive to make these activities as accessible as possible.
AGE OR WEIGHT LIMIT?
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Yes, for all Highlining trips participants must be 8 years of age or older. For Slacklining, it is any age as long as the individual has learned to walk.
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For Climbing the age limit is 5, though some Multi Pitches have an age minimum of 12.
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For Canyoneering the age limit is weight-based at a minimum of 80 pounds, however generally that age limit is 6 years old.
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All participants under 13 must be accompanied by their parents on trips.
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We have no maximum age limit.
TIP MY GUIDE?
Please Do! While we wish guiding was not considered a service industry job, and hope to help influence the guiding industry away from tipping as a means of making a living wage, currently guides rely on tips for at least a third of their incomes. Until that change in the industry occurs, giving a tip of 15-20% to your guide is an excellent way to show your appreciation, though it is not mandatory. If adding a tip makes the experience cost prohibitive, we still want your business! We would never want tipping to prevent you from accessing these activities.
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We like to say "Tip your guide, they literally kept you alive."
ARE TRIPS PRIVATE?
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The short answer yes, mostly. Groups rarely overlap booking times/dates, but if they do we will contact you to let you know. We will aim to separate the groups by scheduling them in different time slots. If you do end up being guided with strangers, it might be a family that’s weirder than yours and you’ll leave feeling better about your own clan!
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We maintain certain ratios of guide to client for safety and quality of experience, so we will never stack clients beyond what we deem safe and quality. Those ratios are maximum 6:1 for climbing and canyoneering, and 10:1 for Highlining.