Tess Wendel
Mountaineers members and leaders are amazing planners and researchers. We know that we not only need to check the weather before we go - we need to read recent route conditions, double check if any fires are nearby, and verify current land manager regulations. For sea and backcountry travel, we talk to friends and scour the web for GPX tracks and more detailed map resources. (I once read through three years of WTA trip reports for a remote location to see if someone mentioned a flat camping spot before packing my tent.)
This detailed research ensures our trips go smoothly and that everyone is happy and well-resourced. This research also keeps us safe. But safety is not just the responsibility of trip leaders. We are a community-led organization, and our leaders are our peers. We all need to do our part to contribute to trip safety, whether we're on a bird-watching walk with the Naturalists or scaling rock faces with our climbing programs.
Make Updates to our Route and Place Database
The information on our routes/places webpage is only as good as what our members provide. Please consider making updates to our online database if you notice:
- Something incorrect
- Lack of specificity in the required gear section
- Missing parking information
- Missing beta on the route's seasonality, especially if trip reports consistently show that the route is no longer “in” by a certain month
- Limited to no resources listed for the location (GPX, photos, etc.)
How to update a route/place
Updating a route/place is easy! Simply go to the route/place listing, and click on the link below the image for the listing that says “Send us updates, images, or resources.”
Or use this direct link:
Want to add a new route/place? Or learn more about how routes/places are set up on the website? Read How to Request New or Updated Routes & Places.
Improve Safety by writing Trip Reports
Did you know trip reports can be filed for official Mountaineers activities and non-Mountaineers-affiliated trips? Consider filling out a trip report if you:
- Had an incident on your activity. Mountaineers leaders are great at writing up incident reports, but many incidents are conditions-related and folks are so busy following up on the incident that a trip report doesn’t get filed outlining the poor conditions. If we see enough trip reports outlining bad conditions or incidents, we can update the route/place listing to emphasize this safety information.
- Encountered a full parking lot at the trailhead that required you to pivot to a different location.
- Found the route was in poor condition during a scouting trip. Your trip report doesn’t have to be long. A photo and explanatory sentence can be super helpful for other leaders.
Fryingpan glacier on Whitman Crest, from a scouting mission to determine if the route was in. photo by Mark Scheffer, September 14, 2025.
Share your safety knowledge
Interested in improving safety among our community and sharing your knowledge? Write a blog! Please reach out to The Safety Committee at safety@mountaineers.org with your proposed topic. Topics related to all activity types (hiking, kayaking, snowshoeing, canyoning, etc.) are strongly encouraged, along with stories and best practices related to emotional safety and group dynamic scenarios.
