If you’ve spent any considerable amount of time in the mountains, you’ve experienced that moment. All of a sudden, you are facing the potential of a really bad fall, the kind that makes you wonder if your life, or the life of your family and friends, will be dramatically changed. And you ask yourself, why wasn’t I better prepared?

That’s why, here at the AAC, we’re so psyched about Buddy, the insurance company for adventurers. Buddy and the AAC have teamed up to offer our members a special deal on Accidental Death & Dismemberment Insurance.

For AAC members, this policy starts at $48 annually for $100,000 in coverage, with opportunities to scale up that coverage for even more peace of mind. 

We sat down with Jay Paul to talk about the inspiration for Buddy, and why it’s so necessary for climbers and every kind of adventurer. 

Jay Paul and his buddy Pat Riley had hiked the arduous three miles to Old Rag Mountain, looking to get on a casual three pitches of 5.8. The pair swapped leads for the first two pitches, and Jay started up the third pitch from the belay ledge. Everything was there. He was placing some solid cams and nuts—flowing. But soon, he was 25 ft above his last piece, facing down a daunting mantle onto a small ledge with a blank vertical wall behind it. There would be barely enough room to maneuver and tip his weight over. His arms were shot. He was 25 ft above his last piece, with a potential deck on the belay ledge. 

He sat there for 5 minutes with his arms and elbows hooked as far as he could get them onto the ledge, his feet dangling, fighting the pump in his forearms, unable to commit. 

He called back to Pat: ‘I could fall back any moment now.’

His buddy just laughed at him. 

Jay said: “I could fall right on top of you!”

Pat looked at him and laughed some more. “I know.”

Jay, still stalling in this funky position, arms blazing, told Pat he had to jump back and take in slack if Jay were to fall. It would be the only way not to deck—if his gear held.

Jay’s arms and breathing were straining. He was feeling desperate.

“Jay,” Pat said, “if you come off, you know I’m going to jump.” And at that moment, Jay had complete confidence in his friend. If the worst happened–if he fell–his buddy was going to do his best to help him out. After a few more minutes, Jay worked himself up to making the mantle—and was able to get in a piece of gear and clip it. 

As Jay tells it, “that wouldn’t have just been a whipper. It would have been a crater.”

Jay’s anecdote is very familiar to a lot of us. We have each gotten ourselves in a situation where we all of a sudden have to face the possibility of consequences in this inherently risky sport. But as we come back to the mountains again and again, we take the appropriate precautions to be prepared. We bring along our inReach, our rain jacket, our helmets, and our headlamps. Many AAC members come prepared with rescue insurance. But frequently, that’s where our preparation stops. We're prepared for an accident, but can't let our minds wander to the very worst possibilities—and what we leave behind if we're gone.

In 1995, Michael Kennedy, long time editor of Climbing Magazine, wrote an article about a climbing accident he survived. Since the accident, he had been unable to find life insurance. All life insurance agencies he could find wouldn’t insure climbing activities, or the prices were astronomical. 

Jay Paul, an insurance guy by trade and a long-time climber, wrote Kennedy a note, and included the names of three insurance companies that didn’t ask the climbing question. 

Jay still has the card that Kennedy gleefully wrote back to him 27 years ago. Kennedy thanked him profusely for the tip, and lamented once again how difficult or expensive it was for climbers to get life insurance. 

This brief exchange would ultimately put Jay on a course, two decades in the making, to help climbers find life insurance. And when he couldn’t find the best options? He made it. 

Just last year, Jay made good on that spark of inspiration from his conversation with Michael Kennedy, and created an insurance product that covered all of the traditionally excluded activities: not only climbing, but white-water rafting and kayaking, backcountry skiing, and more. 

The reality of the need for this kind of peace of mind is all too personal for Jay. In the last year, the outdoor community lost Jay’s dear friend and great belayer, Pat Riley, to a kayak accident. Pat died doing what he loved, but his loss is felt deeply. In an outdoor accident like this, the emotional loss is hard enough—and that’s why this insurance product is so important for all adventurers.

As Jay puts it, “At 24, you feel invincible.” Especially as a climber. But the inevitable responsibilities of age creep up on us, and you don’t want to leave your loved ones floundering without support if the worst should happen. For AAC members, this AD&D policy starts at $48 annually for $100,000 in coverage—an easy price for peace of mind. 

Additionally, this insurance covers significant impairments and injuries. For climbers who make their living off of being outdoors, like guides, this AD&D insurance is sure to create peace of mind in case you were to suffer a limb-altering accident. 

You can learn more about the AAC and Buddy’s partnership, and your options as an AAC member, here.

About:

Jay Paul began climbing in 1978 in granite quarries near Richmond. He quickly graduated to the bolted bridge abutments of the Manchester Wall in Richmond, heading off to Seneca Rocks, the New River Gorge, and Old Rag on the weekends. Throughout his life, as he got more into mountaineering, he’s climbed in the Tetons and Cascades, traveled to the Alps, and climbed Kilimanjaro and Cotopaxi. Jay Paul is also an avid Xterra racer, paddler, hiker, and cyclist when not climbing. After 30 years in the insurance business, he teamed up with a bunch of young guns with a lot of experience in tech—including David Vogeleer and Charles Merritt—to create Buddy. Buddy’s mission is simple, to help people fearlessly enjoy an active and outdoor life. You can learn more about Buddy here.