Covid-19

Covid-19 Policies and Procedures

Early Summer, 2020

Covid-19 has had a big impact on most of our lives. The intent of this page is to bring clarity to how Alpenflo trips will be affected. The safety of our community is my paramount concern.

Public lands in Oregon and Washington are beginning to open. With no Covid-19 vaccine available and limited contact tracing and testing, we are facing the reality of returning to outdoor recreation with some risk of Covid-19 present. I’m planning to operate trips this summer while doing my utmost to reduce the risk that Covid-19 poses to clients and local communities.

After reviewing State and Federal Guidelines, I’ve developed a set of Covid-19 mitigation procedures to be used during the 2020 trip season.

These procedures have three goals:

  1. Mitigate Risk of Covid-19 Spread

  2. Prevent undue burden to local hospital systems

  3. Protect Local Communities

This mitigation plan will be updated as new information and recommendations become available. Thanks for your understanding as I find ways to bring you wilderness experiences with this new reality.

Alpenflo Covid-19 Mitigation Procedures

Covid-19 presents a risk to clients and the communities we interact with on Alpenflo Trips. The intent of this document is to define procedures to mitigate those risks as much as possible.

Policies and Procedures

Alpenflo trips will utilize the following procedures:

  • Maintain a log of all customers, including at a minimum: first name, last name, physical address and telephone number.
  • Restroom procedure: Guides will provide sanitation wipes and instruct clients in the sanitation of door handles, toilet seats, and other contact surfaces while using the restroom. *Regularly sanitize frequently touched surfaces Shared equipment will be sanitized between each use
  • Each client will be instructed to bring and use hand sanitizer
  • Each client will be instructed to bring a cloth face mask or face covering (Buff) and use it whenever the group is inside or in close proximity to each other.
  • Clients will be instructed to maintain a distance of 6 feet between each other whenever possible
  • Group size will be limited to a maximum of 15 total people
  • Online payments and reservations system will be used to limit interactions, and restrict payments to credit cards only to eliminate the handling of cash
  • Clients are required to cancel if they have a fever, cough, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle aches, or new loss of taste or smell. Clients can reschedule with no penalty when they are feeling better.
  • Backpacking: clients from different households must use their own tents

These policies and procedures are subject to change pending new information guidance from Federal and State governments.

References

Oregon Coronavirus Page:

https://govstatus.egov.com/or-covid-19/

Washington Coronavirus page:

https://coronavirus.wa.gov

Centers for Disease Control Covid-19 Recommendations:

https://www.cdc.gov

Notes on Trip Cancellations:

If you book a trip that is cancelled due to Federal or Local Order, you will receive a credit equal to your full payment. This credit can be applied to Alpenflo trips within one year. For full details, see the Alpenflo policies page.

I hope that you’re staying healthy through this and making the best of a challenging situation. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me via the contact page.

Thanks for being a part of Alpenflo,
-JT