When the activity level is too high

I've only done 2 RS trips. One was listed as challenging and the hikes offered were less than what was described. The other was perfectly described. Each subcontractor writes their itineraries and sets the levels, so there really isn't a strict standard among all of the trips. However, you don't want to negatively impact the other participants, so I would not try to overachieve. You may hurt yourself and make it difficult for the group.

I've only done 2 RS trips. One was listed as challenging and the hikes offered were less than what was described. The other was perfectly described. Each subcontractor writes their itineraries and sets the levels, so there really isn't a strict standard among all of the trips. However, you don't want to negatively impact the other participants, so I would not try to overachieve. You may hurt yourself and make it difficult for the group.

I have had two RS trips totally ruined by the inability of the participants to meet the requirements -- and the trips were "only" Active (now "Keep the Pace.") If you can't walk up and down 300 uneven stone steps with no hand railings over the course of a whole hour, don't spoil it for those of us who read the descriptions and honestly evaluated our capabilities! Unlike several comments above, our local guides did not make alternate arrangements for those who did not meet the physical requirements, instead they dumbed-down the whole program to meet the lowest ability. I did not get the programs as described and that I paid for.

May I ask which trip you took?

My spouse and I and four friends had a similar experience on the "Best of Iceland" trip in October. The trip was described as Moderate activity level. There were 30 persons on the bus, about half of whom were very capable of moderate activites or more. The other half included several persons who could not walk more than 1-2 blocks or stand for more than a few minutes, and who had significant difficulty getting on and off the bus. Consequently our departure times were delayed every day due to time spent loading/offloading at each stop. Some activities were curtailed as several people waited on the bus, while the rest of us were disappointed at being rushed through important sites where we wanted to spend more time. All six of us have contacted RS, who said they would get back to us (still waiting). There has been no effort on the part of RS to provide compensation in any way for failing to deliver the trip as described.