Courses & Activities

Courses & Activities

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Seattle Alpine Scramble Course

The 2015  Seattle Alpine Scramble Course is about to kick off with two workshops. March 2nd in Seattle and March 10th in Redmond. This excellent Mountaineering Course will prepare you for pretty much everything. Read more…

Kayaking the Aleutians – March 3

 Hear award winning filmmaker  and expedition sea kayaker Justine Curgenven (of "This is the Sea" ) talk about the highlights and challenges of her world first kayaking journey. She traveled along the Aleutian islands and Alaskan peninsula, described as "the greatest technical sea kayak expedition in the world". Read more…

Avy Awareness Lecture - Feb 5

Not sure if you're heading into potential avalanche territory? Want to know more about the causes of avalanches, pre-trip indicators, and backcountry hazards? Come join us and find out more from an expert in the field. Read more…

Capturing Stars - photographing the wild sky

The Spider Meadows - Buck Creek Pass Loop, in the Glacier Peak Wilderness, is one of those trips that I had on the list of must-do for years. I love reading trail guides and imagining the terrain and views from the descriptions. No matter who I spoke to, this loop was described in hushed tones of awe and majesty. I scheduled the trip at the last part of August, during the New Moon. My goal, besides just having an awesome time, was to get an image of Glacier Peak, capped with the Milky Way. Read more…

Grizzlies in the North Cascades

Like my first love, I’ll never forget my first grizzly bear encounter. It was highly emotional and intense. Short-lived too, but forever etched into my mind. But unlike my first love, I wish to continue my relationship with grizzly bears into the future. Read more…

Take a Photo Tour of the San Juans and Gulf Islands with Craig Romano

Foothills Branch brings you another fascinating photo journey with prolific traveler and guidebook author Craig Romano! Read more…

Peak Performance: Snow Prep with Triple-Rep Squats

With winter here, and snow in the mountains, your land-based training for the should include strengthening exercises for the quadriceps, particularly if your plans call for snow fun like skiing, snowboarding, or snowshoeing. Read more…

Optimize your conditioning for a successful season of hiking and backpacking!

Sheri Goodwin, a certified personal trainer and veteran of trekking adventures all around the Northwest and overseas, now runs a business focusing on helping others succeed in similar life-changing hiking and trekking journeys.     Read more…

Photo Contest: Tell us what the Pacific Northwest means to you and win a prize pack fit for adventure

The Mountaineers have been part of the Pacific Northwest since we were founded in 1906. We are pioneers and adventurers. 

Young and old, new and seasoned, passionate teachers and eager learners – the outdoors bring us together. The Pacific Northwest is our home. Read more…

Be a part of the Friction Slabs Project

fric·tion
/'frikSH(e)n/
The resistance that one surface or object encounters when moving over another

slab
/slab/
A large, thick, flat piece of stone, concrete, or wood Read more…

Website Workshop for Activity and Course Leaders - Jan 15

This free evening workshop offers participants individualized hands-on learning for activity leaders about how to use the Mountaineers website to list activities and courses, manage rosters, and communicate with activity/course participants, and any other website skills that participants wish to learn about. Bring your laptop or tablet if you have one (you can also share someone else's or follow along with demonstrations on the screen). Read more…

How To: Extended Rappel and Updated Belay Techniques

On a scholarship from the Seattle Climbing Committee, two volunteer Mountaineers leaders attended an American Mountain Guide Association (AMGA) single pitch instructor training course. As a result, they returned with techniques and methods that were presented and adopted by the Seattle Climbing Committee: (1) the extended rappel and (2) the pull, break, under, slide belay technique. Want to learn about these techniques? Read what Abby Hunt and Stef Schiller learned.... Read more…

What’s It Like to Hike the Pacific Crest Trail?

“I didn't know how living outdoors and sleeping on the ground in a tent each night and walking alone through the wilderness all day almost every day had come to feel like my normal life, but it had. It was the idea of not doing it that scared me.” Read more…

Celebrate Winter Trails in the Methow

Picture yourself tromping through a winter wonderland with your friends, family and favorite Mountaineers trip leaders. The Mountaineers will be celebrating Winter Trails Day in the Methow Valley this January. And, instead of just one day, we will be there the whole weekend! The Mountaineers will be leading snowshoe and cross-country ski trips for members and the public of all ages and abilities. Read more…

Explore Maui's Haleakala National Park!

Join long-time Mountaineers trip leader Royce Poetter for a five-day getaway in Maui's Haleakala National Park next March. Read more…

Mystery of the 120-year-old biscuit

Some of you may have seen a little fruit cake tin in the Mountaineer Archives which contains a very old cookie or biscuit. I've seen this before and have always set it aside for another time (after scratching my head over why it was even there). Read more…

Switzerland's Via Alpina Trek

Guten Morgen family and friends,

I just completed leading The Mountaineers club Switzerland Via Alpina trek. It was outstanding, fabulous, perfect - one of the best ever. Everyone loved it! Read more…

LAST CALL: Ski or Walk this winter in the Austrian and French Alps

Join trip leader and long-time world traveler Patti Polinsky for a potpourri of life-list experiences! This trip promises lots of sun and spectacular scenery with few tourists. Read more…

A Wilderness Trail Day

Reposted with permission from Mike & Amanda - the Access Fund Conservation Team

The Pacific Northwest is an adventurous climber’s dream. Long hikes into remote peaks and crags challenge climbers’ fitness and resolve, while towering granite peaks and spires inspire one to explore. So we were pretty psyched when we learned that we’d be heading to Darrington, Washington to work at a crag known as 3 O’clock Rock in the Boulder River Wilderness. Read more…

Ski and Snowshoe in Maine Wilderness!

Escape to the tranquility of mountain lakes, flowing rivers, and spectacular waterfalls in lovely untouched Maine wilderness on this Mountaineers Global Adventure over winter break (Feb 15-21, 2015) with Patti Polinsky, veteran leader of decades of fun and successful domestic and international adventures! Read more…

New Hike/Backpack Leader Seminar

Join us October  16 at the Newport Way Library at 6pm for our new  Hike and Backpack Leader Seminar. Read more…

Trek or Climb in the Glorious Khumbu of Nepal

Craig Miller, veteran of decades leading fun and successful private and Mountaineers adventures in the Himalaya, still has room on two upcoming Global Adventures in the Everest region of Nepal! Don't miss out on this opportunity to see the world's tallest peak and experience the visual and cultural richness of this part of Nepal, with someone who really knows the area. Read more…

Info Night: Ski-Snowshoe in Maine, Ski or Winter-Walk in Austria and France

Long-time winter sports expert and Global Adventure leader Patti Polinsky will be holding an info night on Sept. 29 to talk about a lodge-to-lodge ski-snowshoe adventure in Maine and a skiing-walking adventure in French and Austrian resorts that she's leading in 2015. Read more…

Tacoma Hiking/ Backpacking Committee Fall Potluck – Sunday, November 2

Join us for the Tacoma Hiking & Backpacking Committee Fall Potluck! Read more…

Scandinavian Dancing with Tacoma Mountaineers - September 27

Our monthly 4th Saturday Scandinavian Dance with the Tacoma Mountaineers will be Saturday, September 27, 7 – 10:30 p.m. at the Sons of Norway Normanna Hall. $10 for adults. $5 for students and non-dancers.  Read more…

Local Mountaineer Is New PCT Speed Record Holder - See Him Speak September 8

On August 10, 2014, Mountaineer Joe "String Bean" McConaughy reached the Canadian border and completed a historic effort: thru-hiking the full 2,600 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexican border to the Canadian border in just 53 days and six hours. He averaged 51 miles a day on the PCT. He broke the "assisted hike" PCT speed record, set just one year earlier, by an astonishing six days and two hours. As recently as 2011, the PCT speed-hike record was 64 days. Read more…

Expert Team Assesses Fixed Anchors on Forbidden Peak

Written by Joe Sambataro, Northwest Regional Director for The Access Fund Read more…