Impact Stories

We are halfway through Giving Tuesday and have already raised $34,976 for our scholarship fund! In a surprise twist, several long-time supporters of the Mountaineers Access Program have created a matching challenge to double every donation between now and 6pm, up to $10,000. If you are thinking about donating to our scholarship fund today, your gift right now will have double the impact! Read more…

Sade never dreamed she’d participate in something like the Alpine Scrambling course.  Read more…

Abigail is an active kid with a “goofy personality” who loves being outdoors and making new friends. Her mother, Rachel, works hard to provide for her, parenting alone because her family is back home overseas. Thanks to Mountaineers donors, Abigail was able to use a scholarship to attend overnight camp at Stevens Lodge this summer. Read more…

At The Mountaineers, our values of practicing low impact principles extend beyond the trails and into our daily, digital lives. This past summer, The Mountaineers partnered with a local nonprofit to responsibly rehome our old laptops. Read more…

The Mountaineers just wrapped up another fiscal year, and we’re excited to share about the impact we achieved together through the Mountaineers Access Program (MAP) scholarship fund. Read more…

As the Seattle Youth Clubs manager, it’s not often that I have a free window of time to jump in and help our other youth programs. I am usually in the thick of planning and leading trips, coordinating with campground hosts, and supporting our team of instructors and volunteers. But when I was asked by my colleague Lauren (who oversees Partner Programs) to help belay a small class of students at the Seattle Program Center, I thought, Why not? My morning was open, and being outside beats sitting in front of a computer! Read more…

The Mountaineers is an extraordinary community of givers who selflessly and passionately support our mission to connect
people to the natural world and each other. Read more…

I was 17 years old when I went on my first hike. It was miserable, painful, and downright humbling. A heavy pack, an environment of unknowns, and 43 miles to go, I thought what any naive teenager would: why am I here? By the end of that hike, I felt completely rebuilt by the mountains. Read more…

As a child, I had a lot of adverse experiences exploring the outdoors. I was taught that outdoor spaces were not for people with my skin-tone, religious beliefs, and dietary traditions. It wasn’t until I found an informal BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) group of hikers and climbers in my early 20s that I felt finally able to grow my love for getting out into nature. Since moving to Seattle, I’ve fostered my outdoor pursuits through The Mountaineers – first through backpacking, then climbing and cross-country skiing, before finally finding my true passion: canyoning. Read more…

When I started out in the bicycle industry, I was full of enthusiasm, excitement, and passion. With my head in the clouds and my heart with the stars, I didn’t know where my feet were supposed to be planted. I needed a mentor – someone who could redirect my tractor beam aspirations into a plan with a focused goal, process, and outcome. Read more…

The Mountaineers relies on technology to stay connected and support our mission. From using laptops to register for courses to using cell phone apps for backcountry navigation, technology plays an essential role in our daily operations. But while tech can make our lives more efficient, it also comes with environmental costs.  Read more…

We’re thrilled to share our annual impact report for fiscal year 2024 (October 1, 2023-September 30, 2024), a celebration of all that our community of outdoor enthusiasts made possible. Read more…

Risk is inherent in all that we do as outdoor enthusiasts, and it can take various forms in different situations. Risk is also not limited to physical danger - Mountaineers activities can involve psychological and emotional risk as well as environmental risk. Read more…

Since its founding in 2018, The Mountaineers Equity & Inclusion Committee has played an important advisory role in helping the organization identify barriers to participation and explore ways to make our community more welcoming and accessible. This group of volunteers and staff partners has guided our organization in identifying and addressing barriers to participation, offering tools for inclusive leadership, and supporting efforts that make our community more welcoming. As our understanding of equity has grown, so too has our language, and with it, a renewed commitment to fostering true belonging. Read more…

Before you grab your Discover Pass and head to your favorite Washington state park or recreation area this spring, read on for a post-legislative session update to learn more about the critical funding that makes our adventures on state lands possible. (Spoiler alert: it’s a mixed bag.)
Read more…

As federal land managers like the Forest Service and the Park Service continue to sustain deep cuts that will jeopardize their ability to steward public lands and manage outdoor access, members of Congress and the recreation community are coming together to support the landscapes and outdoor experiences they cherish. The Mountaineers continues to stand up for our public lands, including by sharing how ongoing agency workforce reductions are affecting Washington’s federally managed parks and forests - the landscapes that host 60% of our organization's courses and trips. Read more…

At The Mountaineers, we believe adventure means more than simply reaching a summit objective or snapping a photo at the perfect viewpoint. It’s about how we show up with curiosity, care, and a sense of responsibility—about connecting more deeply with nature, with one another, and with something bigger than ourselves.  Read more…

The Mountaineers advocacy to protect public lands and the outdoor experience transcends the places where we recreate and the courses we lead here in the Pacific Northwest. This work doesn’t happen alone; partnerships lie at the heart of our advocacy story. About nine years ago, The Mountaineers joined Outdoor Alliance (OA) - a national coalition of human-powered recreation organizations. Over the years, we’ve deepened our involvement because our community is a unique catalyst for conservation and advocacy work on a national scale. Read more…

Women have been summiting mountains and taking the lead at The Mountaineers since the beginning. Of the 151 charter members of The Mountaineers in 1906, 77 were women. With such a strong legacy of women in leadership, we want to celebrate the stories of resilience and honor the challenges that some of our current Mountaineers leaders experience. Read more…

Maintaining access to Washington’s cherished landscapes and the recreational opportunities they support frequently requires partnership between the State and federal land managers. Drastic reductions to the federal workforce and a looming state budget deficit underscore the need for creative solutions to safe and sustainable access to Washington’s lands and waters this year and beyond. Read more…

Making a difference for conservation and recreation through advocacy can take several years. A campaign can consist of thousands of individual actions by grassroots advocates and policy experts alike who call or email lawmakers, meet with members of Congress, and testify on behalf of legislation. All these collective advocacy efforts add up to create a lasting impact through policy. Read more…

The Mountaineers is a vibrant community, encompassing everyone from skilled alpinists summiting the world’s highest peaks to adults learning new skills to youth discovering the natural world’s wonders for the very first time. This vibrancy is made possible through our commitment to fostering a culture of equity and belonging, which drives us to reduce barriers and create welcoming spaces for all regardless of age, background, ability, or interest. We envision a future where every individual who wants to find inspiration, community, and a sense of belonging in the outdoors can have that opportunity at The Mountaineers. Read more…

As an organization that cares deeply about a healthy future for our lands, waters, and communities, we have an obligation to respond to the climate crisis by aggressively reducing our impact on the environment. The Mountaineers is committed to reducing our organizational carbon footprint, toward the ambitious goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions for our facilities and operations. Read more…

Mountaineers staff and volunteers have been aware of gaps in our member and leadership training related to emotional safety for a number of years. Between 2020 and 2024, staff-sponsored Leadership Development Series hosted a number of evening seminars that touched on this topic. In 2023, staff in partnership with the Equity & Inclusion Committee introduced the Emotional Safety in the Outdoors eLearning course that connects the core values of The Mountaineers to these five themes:  Read more…

A year into our strategic plan, Adventure with Purpose, we’re making significant strides to continue improving support for our mission. To better address the needs of our volunteers who run and operate our three lodges, we are expanding resources and making dedicated financial investments. Of the many improvements taking place this season, I’m excited about a new opportunity to accelerate infrastructure improvements to revitalize Baker, Meany, and Stevens Lodges. Read more…

At The Mountaineers, we believe all people should feel belonging in the outdoors and everyone should have opportunities, knowledge, resources, and access to connect with nature. This work stems from our core belief that a diverse and inclusive outdoors inspires unity, respect, and passion for the places we love. Since our last Equity & Inclusion (E&I) Committee update, we’ve been focusing efforts and resources on continuing to lower barriers to get outdoors, providing ongoing training to our leaders, investing in the emotional safety of our participants and community, and more.  Read more…

With the recent release of our annual impact report, we're celebrating all that donors and volunteers made possible through The Mountaineers in 2023.  Read more…

With the recent release of our annual impact report, we're celebrating all that donors and volunteers made possible through The Mountaineers in 2023.  Read more…

With the recent release of our annual impact report, we're celebrating all that donors and volunteers made possible through The Mountaineers in 2023.  Read more…

Growing up in Seattle, I wasn't fully aware of the human-caused impacts on our environment, nor did I understand our responsibility to give back to our shared home until an elementary school field trip taught me about the impact our stormwater systems have on local salmon populations. Picking up trash with my classmates and spray-painting stencils of salmon near storm drains around our local watershed remains imprinted in my mind, reminding me of the interconnectedness of nature and our charge to steward it. Read more…