WoN Program Participation Terms and Conditions

Introduction

These terms and conditions govern your use of this website and participation in a Way of Nature program; by agreeing to this document, you accept these terms and conditions in full. If you disagree with these terms and conditions or any part of these terms and conditions, your application to participate in this Way of Nature program will be denied.
You must be at least 18 years of age to participate in a Way of Nature program without parental or a legal guardian’s consent. By applying for this program and agreeing to these terms and conditions, you warrant and represent that you are at least 18 years of age.

Program Agreement, Release of Liability and Assumption of Risk

Many Way of Nature programs include significant time spent alone in nature, and as such, certain terms and conditions must be made clear and agreed to prior to the start of the program. In order to optimize your experience in this Way of Nature program, the following form clearly states the risks of participating and identifies your specific areas of responsibility. By registering for an event and agreeing to this document, you are legally bound to the terms and conditions of this document, and agree that you have read and fully understand all information outlined below.
  • PARTIES INCLUDED I understand that this Agreement, Release of Liability and Assumption of Risk includes the Way of Nature and Sacred Passage founder, John P. Milton, his Senior Guides, Howard E. “Bud” Wilson, Jennifer Menke, Brad Kahland, Michele Blackburn, Douglas Canterbury-Counts, and it’s agents, associated entities, officers, shareholders, employees, and the owners of any and all land used for The Way of Nature/Sacred Passage, and anyone working for or with John P. Milton and/or his Senior Guides, hereinafter collectively referred to in this Agreement, Release of Liability and Assumption of Risk as John P. Milton.
  • RISK CONTEMPLATED This Agreement is made in contemplation of all “Way of Nature/Sacred Passage activities,” including but not limited to the risks encountered on a normal camping trip of insect bites to stings, snakebite and animal bites, the hazards of traveling in mountainous or desert terrain, high altitude, undeveloped areas, or the forces of Nature and any act or illness in remote regions without means of rapid evacuations or availability of medical supplies and facilities. By agreeing to this document, I agree not to travel more than 100 yards from my campsite during the solo portion of my retreat.
  • RELEASE OF LIABILITY I hereby release and discharge John P. Milton from any and all liability claims, demands or causes of action that I may hereafter have for injuries or damages arising out of my participation in Sacred Passage / Way of Nature, activities even if caused by negligence or other fault of John P. Milton.
  • COVENANT NOT TO SUE I further agree that I WILL NOT SUE OR MAKE A CLAIM against John P. Milton for damages or other losses sustained as a result of my participation in Way of Nature / Sacred Passage activities.
  • INDEMNIFICATION AND HOLD HARMLESS I also agree to INDEMNIFY and HOLD John P. Milton HARMLESS from all claims, judgments and costs, including but not limited to attorney’s fees, and to reimburse John P. Milton for any expenses whatsoever incurred in connection with any action brought as a result of my participation in Way of Nature / Sacred Passage activities.
  • I acknowledge that the enjoyment and excitement of Way of Nature / Sacred Passage is substantially derived from the inherent risks that may be involved in travel outside my life at home and that, in fact, existence of these risks contributes to my pleasure and enjoyment of this “rite of passage” experience, and constitute a substantive reason for my participation.
  • I am also aware and clearly understand that Way of Nature / Sacred Passage, and its agents and operators, will have no liability regarding the adequacy of any medical care and evacuation plan or equipment and/or supplies that may or may not be provided by Way of Nature / Sacred Passage.
  • I am voluntarily participating in this Way of Nature / Sacred Passage program with full knowledge of the dangers and risks involved, and agree to assume all risks, including injury and death. If this registration is for the participation of a minor (under the age of 18) in a Way of Nature program, I fully understand and accept this assumption of risk for the minor involved as his/her legal guardian.
  • In consideration of the right to participate in Way of Nature / Sacred Passage activities, and the services arranged by Sacred Passage and it’s agents and representatives, I do hereby assume all risks of bodily injury, death, emotional trauma, property damage and/or theft, resulting from negligence or any other acts, however caused, including those mentioned above as a result of my participation, and I release John P. Milton and his agents and representatives, including Howard E. “Bud” Wilson, Jennifer Menke, Brad Kahland, Michele Blackburn, and Douglas Canterbury-Counts from any and all liability, actions, causes of actions, suits, debts, and/or demands that I may have for bodily injury, death or property damage, loss of income, claims of every sort and nature whatsoever which have or may arise out or in connection with my participation in a Way of Nature / Sacred Passage activity.

Way of Nature program participation

  • I understand that I am completely responsible for providing my own shelter. I know that the water from streams and springs and ponds is not necessarily safe to drink, and I will purify this water (by effective means other than boiling) before drinking it.
  • I understand that unless specifically noted as an exception to the norm, I am responsible for providing my own food during the Awareness Training and solo portions of the program.
  • I understand that the solo portion of my Way of Nature/Sacred Passage experience is intended to take place in complete solitude, but that there is a “buddy system” by which I and my companions will check on each other daily without actually seeing or speaking to each other.
  • In the event that an emergency (however slight the actual risk) does occur, I understand that I will bring a whistle with which to summon help from my companions.
  • I understand that fees for Way of Nature / Sacred Passage programs cover all educational and informative aspects of the awareness training portion of the program, excluding my time in solo camp.  Although John P. Milton or his assigns may choose to visit my checkpoint while I am on solo, I understand that he is voluntarily donating his time for such activities free of charge.
LACK OF INSURANCE I have been advised and recognize that while engaging in Way of Nature / Sacred Passage activities, I am not covered by an accident or general liability insurance policy issued by John P. Milton.

Cancellation / Return Policy

  • After receipt of deposit securing your participation in this Way of Nature program, that deposit may be non-refundable at any time.
  • After receipt of full payment for this Way of Nature program, you will receive a 50% refund upon any cancellation made within 4-8 weeks of the start of the program.
  • For cancellations within 4 weeks of the start of the program, no refund is available
  • In the case of a cancellation due to a health related emergency, the deposit and/or full payment may be transferred to another program upon approval by John P. Milton or senior WoN Guide.
  • We will provide a full refund if we cancel the program.

License to use website and material learned in Way of Nature program

Unless otherwise stated, Way of Nature and/or its licensors own the intellectual property rights in the website, content on the website, and material you will learn through your participation in a Way of Nature program. Subject to the license below, all these intellectual property rights are reserved.
You may view, download for caching purposes only, and print material from the website for your own personal use, subject to the restrictions set out below and elsewhere in these terms and conditions.
You must not:
  • Republish material from this website and/or program (including republication on another website) without written consent directly from Way of Nature founder John P. Milton;
  • Sell, rent or sub-license material from the website or program;
  • Reproduce, duplicate, copy or otherwise exploit material on this website, or material learned in a Way of Nature program, for a commercial purpose;
  • Edit or otherwise modify any material on the website or learned in a Way of Nature program; or
  • Redistribute material from this website or program [except for content specifically and expressly made available for redistribution].
Acceptable use:
You must not use this website in any way that causes, or may cause, damage to the website or impairment of the availability or accessibility of the website; or in any way which is unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful, or in connection with any unlawful, illegal, fraudulent or harmful purpose or activity.
You must not use this website to copy, store, host, transmit, send, use, publish or distribute any material which consists of (or is linked to) any spyware, computer virus, Trojan horse, worm, keystroke logger, rootkit or other malicious computer software.
You must not conduct any systematic or automated data collection activities (including without limitation scraping, data mining, data extraction and data harvesting) on or in relation to this website without John P. Milton’s express written consent.
You must not use this website to transmit or send unsolicited commercial communications.
You must not use this website for any purposes related to marketing without John P. Milton’s express written consent.
No warranties:
This website is provided “as is” without any representations or warranties, express or implied. John P. Milton makes no representations or warranties in relation to this website or the information and materials provided on this website.
Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing paragraph, John P. Milton does not warrant that:
  • this website will be constantly available, or available at all; or
  • the information on this website is complete, true, accurate or non-misleading.
Nothing on this website constitutes, or is meant to constitute, advice of any kind. [If you require advice in relation to any legal, financial or medical matter you should consult an appropriate professional.
Reasonableness:
By using this website and registering to participate in a Way of Nature program, you agree that the exclusions and limitations of liability set out in this disclaimer are reasonable.
If you do not think they are reasonable, you must not use this website or participate in a Way of Nature program.
Breaches of these terms and conditions:
Without prejudice to John P. Milton’s other rights under these terms and conditions, if you breach these terms and conditions in any way, John P. Milton may take such action as he deems appropriate to deal with the breach, including refusing your participation in this and future Way of Nature programs, prohibiting you from accessing the Sacred Land Sanctuary and other properties used for Way of Nature programs, as well as limiting access to the material learned within those programs and on the website. Furthermore, upon a breach of contract, John P. Milton may block computers using your IP address from accessing the website, contact your internet service provider to request that they block your access to the website, and/or bring court proceedings against you.
Variation:
John P. Milton may revise these terms and conditions from time-to-time. Revised terms and conditions will apply to the use of this website and participation in Way of Nature programs from the date of the publication of the revised terms and conditions on this website. Please check this page regularly to ensure you are familiar with the current version.
Assignment:
John P. Milton may transfer, sub-contract or otherwise deal with John P. Milton’s rights and/or obligations under these terms and conditions without notifying you or obtaining your consent.
You may not transfer, sub-contract or otherwise deal with your rights and/or obligations under these terms and conditions.
Severability:
If a provision of these terms and conditions is determined by any court or other competent authority to be unlawful and/or unenforceable, the other provisions will continue in effect. If any unlawful and/or unenforceable provision would be lawful or enforceable if part of it were deleted, that part will be deemed to be deleted, and the rest of the provision will continue in effect.
Entire agreement:
For participation in Sacred Passage, Nature Quest, Vision Quest and/or all programs that include solo time in nature, further documents will be provided (and agreement required) for the completion of your application process, including a health evaluation and in-depth liability release. In the spirit of our work, we would prefer that the in-depth liability release be entirely unnecessary, however, our current societal norms require that all of the information in the liability release be acknowledged by you, and signed in the presence of a legally authorized witness (Notary Public). You will receive these documents by email after you have registered and before the start of the program.
The terms and conditions outlined above, together with additional documents that you will receive after registration, constitute the entire agreement between you and Way of Nature / John P. Milton in relation to your use of this website and participation in Way of Nature programs, and supersede all previous agreements in respect of your use of this website and participation in Way of Nature programs.
Way of Nature and John P. Milton reserve the right to refuse the applicant's registration if we feel that they do not meet the requirements needed to safely participate.
PARTIES BOUND BY THIS AGREEMENT It is my understanding and intention that this Agreement, Release of Liability and Assumption of Risk be binding not only on myself, but on anyone or any entity, including my estate, my relatives and heirs. It is further my understanding and agreement that this release is intended to, and does in fact, release John P. Milton from any and all claims and obligations whatsoever arising in any way from my participation in a Way of Nature / Sacred passage program.
ENFORCEABILITY I agree that If any provision of thisAgreement, Release of Liability and Assumption of Risk is, or is found to be, unenforceable under applicable law or against public policy, that will not affect the enforceability of the other provisions of this disclaimer, and furthermore, I specifically waive any unenforceability or any public policy argument that I may make or that may be made on my behalf by my estate, relatives, or by anyone who would sue because of my injury or death.
In the unlikely event a legal dispute should arise involving any subject matter whatsoever, I agree that the dispute shall be settled by binding arbitration through the American Arbitration Association of Colorado. Should the arbitration provision prove to be unenforceable, I agree that any legal action shall be brought before the appropriate Court in Saguache County, Colorado, or Federal Court in Colorado, and that such legal action will not exceed $500.00. I further agree that the plaintiff hereby agrees to pay all reasonable attorney fees for the defendant in the dispute.
 

 

UNDERSTANDING OF THIS AGREEMENT:  I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT I HAVE CAREFULLY READ THIS ENTIRE RELEASE OF LIABILITY AND ASSUMPTION OF ALL RISKS, AND UNDERSTAND THE CONTENTS OF THIS DOCUMENT AND I CHOOSE TO BE BOUND BY IT'S TERMS.