Travel medical that actually covers your sport.
Most travel insurance quietly leaves out rock climbing, ice, mountaineering, backcountry skiing and paragliding. I set climbers up with TuGo plus the right sports add-on, and you can buy it yourself in about 10 minutes.
Not sure what to pick? Email [email protected] or text 403-800-9108.
Your provincial plan won't carry you out of the mountains.
Outside your home province, your provincial health plan pays a small share of the bill, often at home-province rates. A helicopter, a surgery and a few nights in hospital in the US can run well into six figures. And most standard travel policies exclude the exact sports you're travelling for.
A typical travel policy
Including many credit card plans
- ✕Excludes or limits rock climbing, ice, mountaineering and backcountry skiing
- ✕"High-risk activities" wording that's decided at claim time
- ✕Often skips paragliding entirely
- ✕Nobody checks your trip before you go
TuGo with the Sports & Activities add-on
Set up through Philip
- ✓Each sport you do is named on your policy
- ✓Climbing, ice, mountaineering and backcountry skiing covered to the full $10M
- ✓Paragliding available (to $500,000)
- ✓A climber reads your trip plan and picks the add-ons
Add every sport you'll do. You only pay for the most expensive one.
If a sport is on the list below, it's excluded unless you add it. If it isn't on the list and isn't excluded elsewhere in the policy, the base medical plan already covers it.
| Activity | Add-on needed? | Medical limit |
|---|---|---|
| Rock climbingSport, trad, multipitch, bouldering, top-rope, canyoning | Yes | Full $10M |
| Ice climbing | Yes | Full $10M |
| Mountaineering up to 6,000 mIncludes ski mountaineering and glacier travel on a mountain. Covers ice climbing done as part of it. | Yes | Full $10M |
| Mountaineering over 6,000 mPick this one instead if your trip goes above 6,000 m. One air ambulance per trip at altitude. | Yes | Full $10M |
| Backcountry skiing or snowboardingUnpatrolled, off-piste, slackcountry and sidecountry | Yes | Full $10M |
| Paragliding or hang gliding | Yes | $500,000* |
| Whitewater, Class VI | Yes | $500,000* |
| Whitewater up to Class V, hiking, scrambling, running, resort skiing | No, base plan | Full $10M |
| Heli and cat skiingNot on the add-on list, so the medical plan covers it. A separate trip-cost add-on exists if you're also insuring the trip price. | No, base plan | Full $10M |
| Climbing gyms and artificial walls | No, base plan | Full $10M |
* Activities with a $500,000 limit share one combined $500,000 limit. Summary of the TuGo Traveller policy wording; the policy itself is what applies.
Single trip or annual?
Single trip
One trip this year, like two weeks in Potrero Chico or a month in Chamonix. Priced on your exact dates.
Annual multi-trip
Two or more trips a year, or regular US weekends. Covers every trip for 365 days, up to the trip length you choose (from 2 up to 60 days each).
What it costs
Example: age 26 from BC, annual worldwide incl. the USA, trips up to 20 days, $300 USD deductible. $156 a year base, $406 with rock, ice and mountaineering, $624 with paragliding too.
Example from the TuGo store, October 2026. Your price depends on age, province, plan and sports.
Four things every climber should know before buying.
Search and rescue is capped
Non-medical evacuation and search and rescue from a remote spot pays up to $6,000. Ambulance and air ambulance to hospital fall under the $10M medical.
Closed areas aren't covered
Climbing, mountaineering or backcountry skiing in areas closed to the public or roped off as off limits is excluded.
Name every sport
A sport that isn't on your policy isn't covered. Add them all, since you're only charged for the highest-priced one.
It's medical, not life
Travel insurance pays medical bills on a trip. It doesn't pay your family if the worst happens. That's what climber life insurance is for.
How to buy in my TuGo store, step by step.
About 10 minutes. My store link carries my advisor code, so I'm on file as your advisor.
- Open my storeGo to shop.tugo.com/store/HYC548. Accept the cookie banner first, or the page won't respond.
- Enter your tripPick your home province, your (first) destination and your dates. On the next screen, annual plans come as Worldwide including the USA or excluding it, so pick the one that matches your year.
- Add yourself as a travellerName, date of birth and email, then answer the two quick questions and press Get quote.
- Choose your planSingle trip Emergency Medical, or Multi Trip Annual. For annual, set the longest trip you'll take and your deductible.
- Add your sportsClick Add sports & activities and add every sport you'll do on any trip: rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering (up to or over 6,000 m), backcountry skiing, paragliding.
- Check outAnswer the remaining questions and pay. Your policy arrives by email. You have 10 days for a full refund if anything's wrong.
Send your trip, get my pick by email.
What climbers ask about travel insurance.
Does my provincial health plan cover me when I travel?
Only a small part. Outside your home province, provincial plans usually pay what the treatment would cost at home, which can be a fraction of a US or overseas bill. Rescue flights, surgery and hospital stays abroad are where travel medical earns its keep.
Am I covered climbing in another Canadian province?
Yes. The medical coverage applies whenever you're travelling outside your home province or territory, so an Albertan climbing in Squamish is covered the same way as in Yosemite, as long as the sport is on the policy.
Do I really need the add-on for climbing?
Yes. Rock climbing, ice climbing, mountaineering, backcountry skiing and paragliding are excluded unless you add them. Add every sport you'll do: you're only charged for the highest-priced one.
Is search and rescue covered?
Partly. Non-medical evacuation and search and rescue from a remote location pays up to $6,000 and has to be pre-approved by TuGo when you can reach them. Ambulance and air ambulance to hospital fall under the $10M emergency medical limit.
What about heli or cat skiing?
They're not on the add-on list, so the base medical plan covers them. If you're also insuring the cost of a heli trip against cancellation, there's a separate Sports & Activities Travel Costs add-on for that.
Isn't my credit card insurance enough?
Check the wording. Many card plans exclude or limit high-risk sports, cap medical well below $10M, or only cover trips paid for with the card. If you can't find your sport named, assume it isn't covered.
Single trip or annual?
If you'll leave your province more than once in a year, including US weekends or work trips, an annual plan is usually cheaper and simpler. Pick the longest single trip you'll take; each trip has to fit inside that length.
I have a medical condition. Can I still buy it?
Usually, but pre-existing conditions have stability rules, and travellers 60 and over answer a medical questionnaire. Read those sections before you buy, or email Philip and he'll walk you through them.
Who do I call if something happens on a trip?
TuGo's emergency assistance line, printed on your policy. Call them first when you can: some benefits, like evacuation and air transport, have to be pre-approved. Then let Philip know and he'll help with the claim.
Does this replace life insurance?
No. Travel medical pays hospital and rescue bills on a trip. Life insurance pays your family if you die, on a trip or at home. Climbers can get up to $2M with no climbing exclusion on the climber plan.
Sort it before you fly.
Buy in my store in 10 minutes, or send me your trip and I'll tell you exactly what to pick.
