Outdoor Leadership

As an organization, The Mountaineers just reached a huge milestone. Our members - through their collective trips - just reached the 100,000 mile mark for the year - the weekend before Christmas (our members registered about 800 miles on Mountaineers.org on 12/19 and 12/20)! That’s a lot of human-powered adventuring in 2015!  This includes 30 MILLION feet of elevation gain over all of our different activities.   Read more…

At The Mountaineers, we know the power of nature to restore our souls and inspire our spirits. Read more…

You may have gotten a little confused lately browsing for Navigation courses on our website. The traditional "Basic Navigation" course has recently been renamed "Wilderness Navigation" by our Seattle and Tacoma branches. If you're a student or instructor trying to satisfy a Basic Navigation requirement, HAVE NO FEAR: you will still receive the same badge by taking the newly named Wilderness Navigation course. Read more…

Each year, Mountaineers kayakers come together to attend the advanced clinics sponsored by the Seattle Kayaking Committee at Deception Pass. Staying at the Environmental Learning Center at Cornet Bay, Mountaineers paddlers attend two full days of clinics that teach skills such as advanced paddle strokes, incident management, on-the-water navigation, introduction to moving and dynamic waters, and more! Being so close to the waters of Deception Pass for an entire weekend allows time for paddlers to spend more time learning skills and to connect with each other.  Read more…

Leave No Trace isn't just for orange peels or poop. It applies to all facets of our outdoor explorations. Climbing is unique because it is one of the few outdoor sports where you often must leave gear or webbing behind to descend safely. Consequently, the climbing community must work as a team to limit our collective impact, especially on our popular climbing routes.   Read more…

Mountaineers members are active people, and we have the numbers to show it! Simply by looking at the trips our leaders have posted online, our membership has done some serious human-powered travel so far in 2015 - over 72k miles and 22 MILLION feet of elevation gain (and we've got plenty of time for more)!  Read more…

Every Mountaineer is well-meaning. Every volunteer cares about the experiences of their students and participants. But let's look at some statements that women occasionally hear while out on the trails: Read more…

As a Mountaineers member, you can choose to have your membership renewed each year automatically. This feature ensures your membership will continue uninterrupted, and saves on time and resources - helping us (your staff and volunteers) give more people meaningful outdoor experiences. Read more…

That's a wrap! After more than two months of website development, we're happy to announce the launch of several new and improved features. We added to or improved something in nearly every part our website! Read more…

Sharing your travel adventures with others in a Trip Report is helpful in many ways. Trip reports can be a useful tool to share current trail conditions or noteworthy changes to a route/place, and they're a fun and creative way to share your unique experiences in the wilderness!  Read more…

Navigation and other committee leaders from Everett, Foothills, Seattle and Tacoma proposed development of a coherent “navigation curriculum ladder” across all branches. The 21 navigators, climbers, scramblers, hiker/backpackers, authors, and back country ski and snowshoe  instructor/leaders met June 19/20 at Meany Lodge to chart a course for 2016 and beyond. Read more…

The art of teaching and instruction is a skill honed over a lifetime, and we all have a lot to learn ... about learning . Here are a few resources to start you off: Read more…

REI was hoping to spread the word about some full-time opportunities with their Outdoor Programs in Portland and Seattle. There are Senior Instructor positions open in each city. The role is a bit unique in the industry because it is full-time with great benefits, allows someone to come home every night and has a good balance of field and office time.  Read more…

The Mountaineers puts a large emphasis on the importance of leadership, and we encourage our members to become an activity leader and join our vibrant volunteer community. But what does it really mean to be a leader for The Mountaineers, and what is expected of these individuals? Read more…

We are looking for a talented graphic design intern proficient in Adobe Illustrator and InDesign. We have a creative illustration project that will add value and variety to any design portfolio. Read more…

These changes now apply to all Sea Kayaking activities at every branch.  Read more…

The Mountaineers depends on a steady stream of new volunteers to bring fresh energy, ideas, and innovation to what we do. Therefore it's critical we remember to help these new volunteers be successful and feel rewarded by their roles.  Read more…

We emailed all of the volunteers that we could identify with our rosters and available information. This included people who volunteer with us as leaders, course instructors, committee members/branch administration, event support, help for our youth programs, the lodges, stewardship volunteers, Mountaineers Players and on the Board or Advisory Council. We received feedback from 482 people.  Read more…

Giving and receiving feedback is an integral part of our organizational culture at The Mountaineers. From staff, to volunteers, to members, we strive to create a healthy loop of feedback that allows us the opportunity to continually evaluate, assess, and improve our programs! Read more…

Sometimes this works - we have amazing volunteers - but it can be a recipe for increased burnout. For us to be effective in the long run, everyone must create the change they would like to see and not pressure others to do things they may not have time for. Read more…

The Mountaineers offers a wide range of outdoor experiences through our courses and activities. Our outdoor experiences are organized and led by volunteers across seven branches. Our volunteer structure, and the fact that some of our activities can only be done seasonally, means our courses generally happen on a seasonal basis as well. Read more…

On December 5, 2015, The Mountaineers will offer another one-day conference to provide professional development for our current and future activity leaders. Last year's event was a tremendous success, with leaders and committee's revitalizing efforts to coordinate their efforts across the organization (you can watch last year's speaker's here). We are looking for people who can help us make this year's program just as rewarding. Read more…

You've probably noticed a few changes for The Mountaineers lately. This year we brought on additional staff and launched a new website, enabling us to get more people outside than ever before. We've also updated our email service provider, and defined the frequency and types of emails we're going to send you. Read more…

Everything accomplished by The Mountaineers as an organization can be credited to the efforts of our volunteers. Our courses, trips, youth programs, and advocacy efforts are fueled by the passion of people who are engaged because they want to be, not because they receive financial motivation. Each year we host a Volunteer Appreciation Dinner to recognize these tireless individuals. Find out which volunteers were honored this year with the Branch Service awards and the organization-wide Leader of the Year and Mountaineers Service Award (there are other awards at the branch level that are not highlighted here but which show how our community can embrace those that contribute to it - at the bottom of this blog, we'd love to hear how different committees and branches choose to thank and recognize their other volunteers).  Read more…

With our new technology investments, we are able to better identify two of our most common types of volunteerism* and wanted to give credit to our most active trip leaders and course instructors. Thank you all!  Read more…

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…

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…

We know you asked Santa for this in May, but our elves just finished working, and we’re happy to deliver this to you a few days early and drop it down your chimney before the holidays. Read more…