Blog

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

Next time you shed your jacket or turn on the tap at the Tacoma Program Center (TPC), take a moment to bask in our all-electric heat and hot water. We are proud to report that Phase II of our Net-Zero Energy Project is complete - a milestone in our quest to go 100 percent carbon-neutral at the TPC! Read more…

Over 116 years, The Mountaineers has undergone many changes. In 2011, we made the transformational decision to become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, thereby allowing tax-deductible contributions in support of our mission. This strategic shift better aligned us with the founding spirit of The Mountaineers and cast a broader vision for our role in the community. Today, we field questions from old friends and new members alike: Isn’t The Mountaineers just a club for outdoor enthusiasts? Why does it need donations? Members pay membership dues, course fees, buy books, or volunteer… isn’t that enough?  Read more…

Getting outside during the winter poses a special set of challenges, and checking road and trail conditions becomes even more important as snow and ice cover many of our destinations. Conditions in early January were especially dicey, with record-setting snowfall closing all four nearby mountain passes, high avalanche risk predicted in the Cascades and Olympics, and flood warnings in place across much of Western Washington. Read more…

Every two years, we invited our current, past, and future members and volunteers to participate in a community survey. We use your responses to help understand the needs of our community and to learn where we need to allocate more resources. Based on your feedback, we’ve launched Alpine Ambassadors, the Leadership Development Series, and our Equity & Inclusion work in the last five years.  Read more…

Let’s be honest: if our national parks and forests had a Yelp rating, it wouldn’t be five stars. Many of us encounter potholed roads, decrepit restrooms, and eroded trails all too often on our outdoor adventures. That’s why The Mountaineers has been fighting for years for better funding for our parks and public lands. Read more…

No one sets out on their outdoor adventure thinking that they will experience a medical emergency or an unplanned night out. Everyone thinks that it won’t happen to them. I’m here to share my story that it can happen, and it is our duty to be as prepared as we can be. Read more…

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Brynne Koscianski, a volunteer leader with the Seattle Branch who serves on the Finance Committee and as a Director At Large on The Mountaineers Board.  Read more…

This past year, as always, our volunteers have remained at the core of our operations. Thank you to the 2,887 members who volunteered their time during fiscal year 2021 (October 2020-September 2021), and to the many others who supported from afar! Each of you has made a difference. Read more…

As far as blind dates go, meeting at 9,500 feet on Wy’East (Mt. Hood) is about as good as it gets. Our mutual friend Johnny invited Theresa Sippel and I to attempt a summit ski in July of 2013. Going into the weekend, I was hopeful that the team would be successful, but I had no idea I was about to meet my future “skilationship” life-partner. Read more…

As we're offering more vaccine-required programs, many Mountaineers leaders have requested support with tracking vaccination status. After several months of brainstorming and collaboration, we're pleased to launch an optional COVID-19 Vaccine badge for tracking member vaccination status on the website. Thank you to the many members of our community who contributed feedback along the way! 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…

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the United States’ largest wildlife refuge, a place of tremendous ecological importance, where birds from all 50 states migrate to each year. But in January 2021, the future of the Arctic Refuge looked uncertain.
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Sea Kayaking is fun! It offers camaraderie, calm, easy paddles, kayak surfing, marine life viewing on rocks and in caves, camping on islands, and playing in currents. Kayaking is anything you want it to be, and its great fun to paddle with friends. The Tacoma Mountaineers Basic Sea Kayaking Course is coming up soon. You want in? Read more…

Following the climbing death of a close friend on a non-Mountaineers climb in 2018, Katjarina (Katja) Hurt and a group of climbers came together to uncover the thinking errors that culminated in their friend’s death. Their work led Katja to create Breaking the Halo: Empowering Students in Outdoor Education, a course in understanding how leaders’ decisions often go unquestioned due to their expert status, also referred to as the “halo effect.” Read more…

Katie Ives is editor in chief at Alpinist magazine and a well-known figure in mountain literature. Her debut book, Imaginary Peaks: The Riesenstein Hoax and Other Mountain Dreams (Mountaineers Books, October 2021), is a true tale of mountain adventure and mystery that uses an infamous deception about a fake mountain range as a lens to explore the fascination with wild places and the lure of supposedly blank spaces on the map. 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…

It was the evergreen conifer trees synonymous with the Pacific Northwest that gave Washington State its nickname, “the Evergreen State.” Washington offers the opportunity to experience and appreciate these majestic trees in all seasons, from big cities to the wilderness. These tall sentinels shade our campsites and trails, cleanse the air, and play an integral role in the iconic mountain vistas we love. They’re more than a symbol - they’re deeply rooted and connected to our communities, public health, and culture in the Pacific Northwest. Read more…

At 21 years old, Nathan Longhurst has accomplished what most would consider an impossible feat – climbing Washington’s 100 highest mountains in just 94 days, a group of peaks also known as the Bulger List. Now the youngest finisher (and only the 82^nd finisher since the list’s inception in 1980), Nathan undertook many of these climbs with Jason Hardrath, the recent holder of the Bulger List’s Fastest Known Time (FKT). Read more…

Are you a Seattle or Foothills parent interested in getting outside more with your kids? Join us for a family backpacking course! Backpacking with your kids in the backcountry can be a rewarding adventure for children and parents alike. Unplug, expose your kids to the joys of being outdoors, be together as a family, and watch your children mature into outdoor enthusiasts. Read more…

It was a cold February night in 2018. Snowflakes pummeled the windshield as we drove down the empty highway, the darkness pierced only by our headlights. We were both silent on our way to Alpental at Snoqualmie Pass. Feelings of dread, horror, and hope flashed through my mind at lightning speed. I ran through every possible scenario as I tried to make sense of what might lie ahead. Read more…

Go to any online hiker forum and after unleashed dogs, playing music, and toting a gun on the trail, the topic of hiking solo is sure to conjure up some strong opinions. What’s particularly interesting is that so many of the folks who are adamantly against solo hiking insist that others shouldn’t hike alone, either. And while an unleashed dog, music on the trail, or an irresponsible gun owner may certainly have a negative impact on others, a solo hiker is not having an effect on anyone’s experience except their own. So why the passionate pleas for solo hikers to partner up? Read more…

The Mountaineers is an incredible community of adventurers, students, instructors, advocates, and leaders. We’re proud of our community for persevering through another demanding year, prioritizing safety, and fostering connections to the outdoors. As we close the door on 2021 and look ahead to 2022, we reflect on our core values and how they’ve guided us through this past year.  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…

I am blown away by the generosity of our community. Read more…

Volunteers are the heart and soul of The Mountaineers. To acknowledge their immense service to our organization,  we are hosting an hour-long virtual Volunteer Appreciation Night this year on Friday, January 21. Registration is open to volunteers from all branches. Read more…

Photos have the power to transport us to a feeling. Often, we are brought back to a specific time, place, and emotion. Like the sunrise shot that reminds you of the pride, gratitude, and exhaustion of an early morning alpine scramble. Or the snapshot of frosted evergreens that takes you back to skiing on a crisp bluebird day. Sharing photos with others also gives them access to these small moments of magic we find in the outdoors. It can offer inspiration to the experienced outdoorsperson to take on a new feat, or reassurance to the novice that they can tackle it, too. Read more…

The Mountaineers is a community united by a passion for adventure and driven by a deep sense of purpose. For more than 114 years we have redefined limits, set new standards in outdoor education through volunteer-led courses and award-winning books, and fiercely defended the outdoor experience. Read more…

Winter is officially here. We've got snow in the mountains and trip reports are full of stoke for fresh powder, headlamp hiking, and those rare sunny days that give us the summit views of our dreams.  Read more…

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Joel Guay, a volunteer leader with the Seattle Branch. He is a Sea Kayak leader whose volunteer leadership evolved from solely showing up for activities to helping out. Read more…