Alpine Ambassadors Membership

Alpine Ambassadors Membership

Alpine Ambassadors is a community of volunteers who are climbing hard, pursuing difficult climbing objectives, and give a lot of their time to advancing Mountaineers programming.

As this is first and foremost an investment in our top volunteers, there is no fee to be a part of this program. An application is required, and most Alpine Ambassadors join through a Gateway Trip. Learn more about the application process below.

Membership

MEMBER BENEFITS

  • Access to a community of skilled climbers in The Mountaineers pursuing bold objectives
  • Access to opportunities for personal climbing advancement through mentor-style educational opportunities with top climbers and guides in the community
  • Access to funding opportunities for remote or logistically challenging climbing objectives
  • Access to free clinics at special climbing events like Index Climbing Festival and Arc'teryx Climbing Academy
  • Ongoing opportunities to climb hard with friends who climb harder

MEMBER REQUIREMENTS

  • Confidence leading either 5.9 trad rock climbs or WI3 ice climbs
  • Mountaineers membership is current
  • Contribution, at least once annually, to the Alpine Ambassadors community
  • Regular volunteer leadership for your branch’s climbing program

MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Work to achieve the mission and goals of The Mountaineers organization
  • Develop a diverse, open and inclusive population of Ambassadors
  • Host intermediate to advanced mentored climbing opportunities for Mountaineers leaders
  • Each Ambassador is responsible for pursuing personal climbing growth opportunities as individuals and together with other Ambassadors
  • Each Ambassador is responsible to provide benefit to their home branch. This could be in the form of leading a course, providing leadership development for other leaders within the branch, mentoring aspiring climb leaders, or taking a leadership role in the branch’s Climbing Committee
  • Ambassadors are responsible for sharing stories of Alpine Ambassadors achievements, including writing blogs and magazine articles

Joining Alpine Ambassadors

Alpine Ambassadors has both Water Ice and Rock Gateway Trips, which are the most common way to join. These week-long trips help new members quickly become a part of the community and build connections with a motivated group of future climbing partners.

Our Gateway Trips have an application which is reviewed by the Alpine Ambassadors Leadership Team. The review team uses the following criteria to evaluate applicants:

  • Minimum leading ability of 5.9 rock or WI3 
  • Strong recent history of volunteerism in The Mountaineers
  • We strive to accept 50% returning Ambassadors, and 50% aspiring Ambassadors. This ratio is critical to building and growing a strong community
  • We strive for diversity in branch representation
  • We strongly encourage women climbers, climbers of color, and LGBTQ climbers to apply, and we strive to grow a diverse community of motivated climbers

Maintaining your membership

In order to preserve the mission and objectives of the Alpine Ambassadors community, members are expected to submit a written statement of their commitment to the member responsibilities and minimum requirements. These written statements are reviewed and filed by the Alpine Ambassadors Leadership Committee.

New members

Ambassadors who complete a gateway trip have a one-year "membership" to Alpine Ambassadors. During this year, members are encouraged to participate in the community as much as they can, as an opportunity to see if this program is a good fit for them. After the first year, Ambassadors must submit a written statement of intent, which will complement the application they submitted for the gateway trip.

Submit a first-year statement of intent

Ongoing members

Ambassadors are expected to submit a written statement of intent every three years in order to remain current. This  written statement outlines how they have met the minimum requirements and member responsibilities over the previous 3 years, and how they intend to continue meeting these requirements and responsibilities in the future.

Submit an ongoing statement of intent