Blog

Meet Jessica Umayam, a Foothills Hike and Scramble Leader and 2023 Super Volunteer with fond memories doing yoga in the evening light at Seward Park during the Yoga for Hikers, Backpackers, and Trail Runners Course. Jessica is working on the Smoot’s List and loves helping people explore new places. Read more…

Each week we bring you a personal story from one of our members. For our member profile this week we talked to... Read more…

In 2019, I joined a Global Adventures trip – first to Torres del Paine in Chile and then to the Fitz Roy Massif in Argentina. I was 76 and rather long in the tooth for a backpack classified as “very strenuous.” But Fitz Roy was a mountain I’d wanted to see since my late teens. This was my first chance. Jump! Read more…

Summoning my life’s longest, most formative journey, I sometimes put the maps of my arctic traverse end to end. When I do, all the wilderness I could ever want spreads across my living room floor, a smorgasbord of possibilities. “You must walk like a camel,” Thoreau counseled, “which is said to be the only beast which ruminates when walking.” And I did. Read more…

Everyone knows that adventures are more fun with friends. This golden rule applies to adventures with our furry besties as well. These four-legged adventurers earn just as many miles - if not more! - than their two-legged counterparts, and it’s high time we recognized their service to outdoor exploration with a badge. That’s why we’re thrilled to finally introduce the Four-Legged Hike Leader badge! Read more…

It's officially spring, and as such, it feels fitting to share this perfectly packaged collection of trip reports wrapped in sunshine and reminiscent of the good old days. Read on, dear friends, for our tried and true bestie, the occasional need to crawl, skiing hot pow, and this thing we call snow.  Read more…

Nearly thirteen years ago, The Mountaineers made a strategic investment in Youth Programs to offer more programming for our younger members. Since then, we’ve expanded youth programming in all branches and outdoor centers. With the help of volunteers, families, and staff, we now have opportunities for youth to explore the Pacific Northwest throughout the year. This year, we’ll have offered over 100,000 total youth experiences since the inception of these programs. Read more…

Each week we bring you a personal story from one of our members. For our member profile this week we talked to... Read more…

Lou Whittaker, a world-renowned mountaineer, legendary mountain guide, and local entrepreneur, passed away at his home near Mt. Rainier on March 24, 2024 surrounded by family and loved ones. ’Big Lou’ or ‘Rainier Lou’ was 95. Read more…

Dreaming of your next big adventure? Enjoy this look at a few of the auction items available at the 2024 Mountaineers Gala: Adventure with Purpose! The Gala, taking place on April 6, 2024 at Fremont Studios, is our biggest fundraiser of the year. The live and silent auction are big parts of the Gala that help us reach our Gala fundraising goal of $620,000. Bid on the ultimate getaway, experience or gear package and feel great knowing that your donation will help elevate the way our community transforms lives through outdoor education and conservation.  Read more…

Squinting against the morning sun, I stab my pole into the steep east face of Wild Goat Peak and break loose a small snowball that quickly grows to the size of a man’s torso. Gaining speed as it travels downhill, the snowball finally topples where the mountain’s pitch shallows out. The test confirms my suspicions: this face is ripe for a wet avalanche. Read more…

Caring for our public lands, waterways, and outdoor spaces through stewardship is a central component of The Mountaineers ethic. Many Mountaineers courses require completion of the Stewardship Credit badge to graduate, and our membership gives thousands of volunteer hours toward stewardship each year.  Read more…

Cuba’s inherent joie de vivre awaits Mountaineers in the upcoming Global Adventures Day Hiking and Naturalist trip (Nov 19 – Dec 4, 2024). The past six decades of Cuba’s political landscape has shaped a people who are generous, gracious, confident, and unreserved, and a landscape that has escaped heavy tourism impacts. Read more…

I wasn’t born into a family of hikers or a lineage of outdoorspeople. I was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut — a largely industrial, multi-ethnic city on Long Island Sound in the greater New York City Metropolitan Area. My neighborhood consisted of two and three family homes in the city’s Little Italy north end. Bridgeport, which had once attracted waves of immigrants, began its decline in the late 60s, prompting thousands to leave for the suburbs. We would eventually leave too, and to a place less disconnected from nature; but living in a dense metropolis didn’t stop me from discovering my love for wild places. Read more…

Each week we bring you a personal story from one of our members. For our member profile this week we talked to... Read more…

As organizations grow and evolve, it’s common to redesign roles and org structures to better support the communities they serve. With the development of our new strategic plan, Adventure With Purpose, we feel that now is the right time to realign our staff organizational structure.  Read more…

Winter is mostly gone. The ground is thawing. You watch as sunshine comes, then goes and dark clouds rumble in the distance. As the clouds move closer, the air changes and you smell the earth. The scent is sweet and almost savory, like honeysuckle flavored olive oil or carrot flavored cake. Breathe it in. Remember, as a child, playing in the rain? Breathe it out. It didn’t matter how wet you were, you kept playing as the earth reminded you it was spring with that delicate, thick, familiar scent: petrichor. Read more…

You don’t have to be a skilled lobbyist or an expert advocate to make a difference for the lands you love. As someone who cares deeply about the outdoors, you’re well positioned to be an effective advocate - it just takes a little time and training. That’s where our recently-launched Advocacy 101 eLearning course comes in. Through Advocacy 101, you’ll learn the basics of advocacy and best practices for advocating for important conservation and recreation initiatives by engaging with lawmakers and land managers.
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The Foothills Backpacking Committee has an amazing community of leaders whose passion is to share their love of the outdoors and build community at the same time. In an effort to answer the call for more relaxed paced trips, our committee has launched an initiative for members who are looking for just these kinds of trips. Read more…

Each week we bring you a personal story from one of our members. For our member profile this week we talked to... Read more…

State-managed public lands like Blanchard Mountain, Mount Si, and Tieton’s Royal Columns connect us to nature through the recreational activities we enjoy in all seasons. With Mountaineers programs and activities frequently occurring on state lands, each legislative session we advocate for priority bills and funding requests that improve conservation and recreation at the state level.
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The Camino Frances is the most popular and well-traveled route of the Camino de Santiago passing through variety of terrains, including mountainous regions, rolling hills, and flat plains, as well as urban and rural settings, historic towns, and charming villages.  Read more…

About a year ago, we unveiled our recently-updated strategic plan, Adventure with Purpose. We have shared the implementation plan details and progress toward our goals with our community in various ways, including at our Annual Meeting, at the State of the Organization presentation, and through blog posts. We’ve also been doing Adventure with Purpose updates at each of our board meetings, highlighting one of our three strategic priorities: Lead Innovation in Outdoor Education, Engage a Vibrant Community of Outdoor Enthusiasts, and Advocate on Behalf of the Natural World. Read more…

Each week we bring you a personal story from one of our members. For our member profile this week we talked to... Read more…

In a continued pursuit of a safe, welcoming, and inclusive culture, the Board of Directors launched a new Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault (SHSA) Prevention Advisory Committee in December 2023. This is an ad hoc advisory committee chartered to develop recommended near-term and long-term improvements to our bylaws, behavior policies, and operational procedures to address the risk of sexual harassment and/or sexual assault of our members. The committee is charged with defining and understanding the risks of sexual harassment & sexual assault within The Mountaineers, identifying ways to prevent these behaviors, and identifying ways to respond to these behaviors. Read more…

On the morning of January 15, Mingma G, Mingma David, Mingma Tenzi, and Sona began fixing lines up toward Camp 4. Read more…

ELearning plays a critical role in our community's efforts to teach and learn outdoor skills and build a shared culture of conservation. Three conservation-focused offerings on our eLearning management system, Coassemble, are some of the many ways we educate Mountaineers about conservation and cultivate stewards and advocates for the places we cherish.
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Enjoy access to our quarterly Mountaineer magazine, keeping you up-to-date with everything our organization and community have been up to. Hear from regular contributors on topics from training exercises to trail tips, and read features from our members sharing stories from the outdoors. We encourage you to access all of our updates, stories, tips, and more in the tree free online magazine today. Read more…

A collection of trip reports that gives us much more than we bargained for. Read on, dear friends, for a tale of two trips, professional pizza chomping, a handsomely warm ascent, and a skosh too little snow.   Read more…

I’ve always been a physically active person. I love hiking and camping, and can withstand extreme heat and cold rain. Snow sports, on the other hand, were an entirely different game. I had friends who skied, but often tuned out when they talked about skiing because I didn’t understand the jargon. Read more…