Blog

 Welcome back! During the spring, The Mountaineers youth team shared ideas and activities for kids of all ages to stay engaged while also staying home and safe. As we prepare for winter and once again find ourselves spending lots of time stuck inside, we wanted to share more activities that can keep your brain and body active! Read more…

At The Mountaineers, we experienced dramatic changes to the ways we deliver courses, trips,  youth programs, events, and more. Smaller group sizes, virtual gatherings, online education - we pivoted our resources to ensure continued programming while keeping our community safe. Read more…

For years, REI has closed its stores on Black Friday, paying their employees to #OptOutside instead. At The Mountaineers, we couldn't love the idea more. Our employees have always enjoyed the day after Thanksgiving as a vacation day, and two paid stewardship days each year to take care of their favorite places to play. We believe going outside is not just good for your health - but good for your soul.  Read more…

Did you know that our national forests issue permits each year to harvest your own Christmas tree? In years past, permits were issued at ranger stations but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you will now be able to purchase your Christmas tree permit online at recreation.gov. Search by state or browse the list of national forests to find the most convenient location for you. Read more…

The outdoors have always been a source of unity. In an often divisive world, the outdoors brings us together to explore, share, and ultimately protect the experiences they provide. Indeed, even with a divided Congress the last two years, we’ve achieved significant conservation wins with the recent passage of the Dingell Act and the Great American Outdoors Act. These bills passed with overwhelming bipartisan votes, showing that protecting public lands and waters has strong support from across the political spectrum. Read more…

When Justin and Amy invited me to join on Bacon/Canadian Bacon Peaks, my first thought was, “Isn’t that way back the heck back there?” My second was, “I better do this so I don’t gain the covid-20." Read more…

In May 2014, we launched a new version of our website, mountaineers.org 2.0. Over the last six years, we have worked to make improvements and add features, considering the needs and experiences of our volunteers and members first. Here we pull back the curtain and give you insights into how our technology projects and resources are managed and prioritized. Read more…

Chunks of rough rock covered our trail in the dry, scrubby foothills of the Taurus Mountains. The Mediterranean Sea glittered below us as we climbed, 85 miles into our 115-mile, 14-day journey. Read more…

Scholarships do so much more than offer someone a single course. These outdoor experiences foster community, create future volunteers, and serve as an important bridge between recreation and conservation. Inspiring new conservationists to become advocates - especially those who may not have built those connections otherwise - is immeasurably valuable for our public lands. Read more…

Every year, the Olympia Branch holds a banquet to celebrate committed leaders, volunteers, accomplishments, and actions that made a difference in the community. For 2020, the banquet was reimagined as a "zoomquet" so the celebrations could continue.  Read more…

As Mountaineers, we are committed to learning from our experiences. We examine every incident that happens on a Mountaineers trip for opportunities to improve the ways we explore and teach. Our volunteer safety committee reviews every incident report and picks a few each month to share as examples of ‘Lessons Learned’. The trip report below describes what happened on this trip, in the leader’s own words, and outlines the lessons the leader has identified. In some cases, we offer additional key learnings from the incident. Read more…

It was a bitterly cold day in early November, and our small group of four canyoneers had just donned our wetsuits on the hillside above the canyon. The cold weather meant water levels in the glacier-fed river were at their lowest for the year, a key consideration when descending a deep, narrow slot canyon that has never been explored before. Read more…

As a white person, my own education on Native history and culture is ongoing and largely self-directed, and I want to share a few things I've learned in the hopes that it will be helpful to others like me. Read more…

Zion is a national treasure that begs to be explored. It is not only famous for its many hiking trails, including the most dangerous, Angels Landing, but for the milky green Virgin River that shapes what we see today. Read more…

Now more than ever, our small businesses need your support. They’re the ones who help keep your bag dry on rainy nights, your spork full, and your puffies stuffed. If you’re doing any shopping, please consider going local and supporting one of our partners: Read more…

The Pacific Northwest, especially the Puget Sound Area, is famous for its natural beauty and abundance of opportunities for outdoor recreation. Our combination of mountains, ocean, islands, rivers, and forests is unique, and has given rise over the decades to a vibrant outdoor scene that includes not just an enthusiastic community of individual adventurers, but a rich ecosystem of outdoor clubs, gear manufactures and shops, outfitters, guiding services, authors, publishers, WTA, NWAC, and of course The Mountaineers. Among the most amazing, yet least understood, contributors are the region's all volunteer Search and Rescue organizations. Read more…

The Mountaineers made a commitment to reduce our organization’s carbon footprint as part of Vision 2022. In the Carbon Footprint Reduction Committee’s last blog post, we discussed the carbon footprint of food and what we can all do to make a difference. This month we’re excited to talk about another area where The Mountaineers, and most of us, can reduce our carbon footprint: transportation. Read more…

School is now in full swing, and many are looking for ways to get their kids outside safely while we navigate our new normal. We have good news - there are a few spots left in our Pathfinders (ages 6-7) and Nomads (ages 8-9) youth clubs! Don't miss out on the chance to sign your family up for a year of adventure. Read more…

For most of us, putting 2020 in the rearview mirror is something we’re looking forward to. As I’ve shared before, the COVID-19 crisis has created significant challenges for organizations such as The Mountaineers. The biggest headwind we faced this year was the dramatic reduction of program revenue as we largely shut down. At the beginning of the crisis, we literally wondered if we’d have enough cash in the bank to get us through the summer because the courses, camps, lodges, and books retailers that traditionally support our organization had nearly ground to a halt. In what felt like the blink of an eye, we were facing a more than 25% revenue gap for the year. To successfully survive this COVID-induced storm, we’ve had to adapt to significant changes and redouble our commitment to our mission and core values. Read more…

Join Jennifer Hull, author of Shook: An Earthquake, a Legendary Mountain Guide, and Everest's Deadliest Day, and mountain guide Dave Hahn for a virtual event to benefit the Juniper Fund, Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation, and The Mountaineers. Read more…

Thomas O’Keefe is a conservationist who is equally comfortable paddling a Class IV river as he is testifying before Congress (wearing his trademark bow tie). The longtime Pacific Northwest Stewardship Director for American Whitewater, Tom has dedicated his life to protecting whitewater rivers. Tom works closely with The Mountaineers to advocate for our wild places and provides strategic advice as a member of the Advisory Council. Here, we get to know Tom and learn what sparked his passion for protecting and stewarding public lands. Plus, we learn a great trick for recruiting Mountaineers members! Read more…

As Mountaineers, we’re intimately connected with wild places. Some of us were introduced to the outdoors through The Mountaineers: a scrambling trip sparked a lifelong love for the North Cascades or a guidebook from Mountaineers Books introduced us to our first hike. Some of us join to deepen our love for the outdoors through new friendships and adventures. Regardless of what brought us here, we're united by our fierce love for the places we explore and our strong desire to protect them. Read more…

As we wrap up this year’s election of at-large Board directors, we wanted to share more with members about the role of The Mountaineers Board of Directors, highlighting some of the things we’ll be focusing on in the coming year. This spring we shared a post about what the Board of Directors at The Mountaineers does. Today, we'll share more detail about the Board’s important responsibility of governance, which is the set of procedures, structures, and policies that define the way we operate as a nonprofit. Governance has such an important role in the Board of Directors that we have a dedicated Governance Committee, chaired by the Vice President of the Board.  Read more…

In Journeys North, legendary trail angel and thru-hiker Barney Scout Mann spins a compelling tale of six hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail on their trek from Mexico to Canada. This ensemble story unfolds as these half-dozen hikers — including Barney and his wife, Sandy (Frodo) — trod north, facing a once-in-a-generation drought and early severe winter storms that test their will. In fact, only a third of all hikers who set out on the trail that year would finish. Read more…

We're pleased to present you with the outcome of the 2020 Board & Branch elections, and we're grateful to everyone who participated by voting and accepting a nomination. Your participation shows a deep commitment to the organization, and this year, we saw a +24% increase in member voting with 1,871 votes.   Read more…

In an effort to better recognize our club leadership, we’re excited to announce a new trio of badges to celebrate branch chairs, activity committee chairs, and branch officers! Read more…

Thanksgiving may be a little different this year, but it's still an opportunity to recognize the positive in your life, express appreciation for family and friends, and of course cook up a meal that will live on in memory for years to come! Read more…

In the past several years, climbing El Capitan in Yosemite National Park has blown up in the mainstream consciousness. With Free Solo winning an Oscar and the Dawn Wall ascent getting publicized in The New York Times, it seems as if everyone has a clear picture of what climbing El Cap is like. It is easy to imagine being up on the side of the wall when you see it on a high definition movie theater screen. But is it as easy as people make it look?  Read more…

The Mountaineers was honored to host legendary alpinist and environmental activist Conrad Anker for two recent events on the climate crisis. Conrad joined us on September 24, 2020, to share stories of adventures around the world and how wild places have been negatively impacted by the global climate crisis. The following evening, our Peak Society donors enjoyed a special discussion with Conrad and several other esteemed panelists. Read more…

The Mountaineers Ten Essentials™ dates back to our climbing courses of the 1930s. This widely respected safety and packing system was formalized in the third edition of Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, released in 1974. Each of the nine editions of Freedom, as it is affectionately known, was written entirely by volunteers and reflects the collective wisdom of hundreds of outdoor skills instructors. The list has always sought to answer two basic questions: Read more…