Most Popular Blogs

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Rodica Manole, a volunteer with the Everett Branch who encourages her fellow women to step into leadership roles because you’re more ready than you think you are. Read more…

Decision-making as a leader is hard and inevitable. There are times when you are forced to face these epic inner battles rivaling Middle-Earth wars and can choose to retreat or be defeated. Retreat equates to loss of pride, but you live to die another day. Defeat may bring you to the ultimate destination but may also ensure delicious victory in the clenching teeth of the Sauron of Summit Fever. Read more…

One step at a time. It can be slow, and often painful, but you can always take one more step. That’s how you climb mountains, and that’s how you recover from addiction.  Read more…

"Look there!" Danielle pointed across the marsh to the west, her binoculars just below her eyes.

"What do you see?" John quickly lifted his binoculars. 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…

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

This year, we'll be participating in Microsoft Nonprofit Fair on October 19.   We'll be at The Commons from 11:30am – 1:30pm raffling off outdoor books and gear, so stop by to say hello and learn more about how you can get involved with The Mountaineers. Read more…

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…

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’s pushing 95 degrees in Portland, and I’m biking home in the uncharacteristic and unforgiving sunshine, squinting even behind my sunglasses. It’s been over 90 all week. Read more…

It’s no surprise to any of us who have been hiking and adventuring in our wild places since the days of heavy luggedsole boots, knee high cotton socks, and external frames that in the words of conservationist Rick McGuire of the North Cascades Conservation Council and Alpine Lakes Protection Society: we are currently facing a human tsunami on our trails. And if we’re to stay true to this metaphor, a tsunami inundating our wild places isn’t going to leave them in good shape. Read more…

We're pleased to present you with the outcome of our most recent Board & Branch elections and we are grateful to everyone who participated in this election process. This year, we saw an +80% increase in member voting with 1,501 votes.   Read more…

When you’re hanging on a rope, upside-down in a waterfall, 50’ off the deck, you’re not doing a lot of thinking. It’s disorienting, the pummeling of ice-cold water. Despite the fact that the vertical momentum of the water very clearly indicates the way down, you can’t keep track of whether you cartwheeled left or right or flipped backwards and it’s not like you can look around to get your bearings. 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…

“Hiking is free. As long as you have shoes and an Orca card, you can go anywhere.” Read more…

The first day of April has grown to be a favorite around The Mountaineers. With the outdoor industry going all in on April Fools Day pranks, we’ve had fun following the pranks and coming up with a few of our own. Surely you remember the HonnSolo 11 Freesolo Airbag Pack by Black Diamond, or the Technical Lederhosen from Outdoor Research. We’re especially proud of the Cheater Badges we created for April Fools last year. 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…

Meet Regina Robinson, your branch email editor for the last two years.  When she was recruited into the position, she thought, “No way, I don’t know how to do that!” She eventually agreed after some gentle persuasion and stated, “Okay, I will give it a try." She hasn’t looked back. She promises to keep doing it, "for as long as we will have her." Read more…

This year was a hard one. I hit rock bottom mid-May when I unexpectedly found myself crying alone in a tent in the middle of my living room floor. The chasm between the person I had planned to be when I set goals for 2020 and the person I actually was felt insurmountable. My carefully made plans, proudly anticipated fitness milestones, and dreams of adventure were slipping through my fingers. Read more…

While traveling solo to remote and wild places, I had been in some dicey situations. The risks were real, but I knew of no one else interested in exploring the nether regions of wilderness, nor the Himalayan front range from east to west, nor the ancient trade routes that connect Tibet to India through massive ranges, passes that cut deep, from north to south where borders often go unmarked – and so I had gone alone. Read more…

If you love exchanging stories of the trail or are interested in a mini vacation close to home, we have the perfect opportunity for you! Back by popular demand, the volunteers who run our  Stevens Pass Lodge will open the lodge to Pacific Crest Trail thru hikers this summer - but we need your help to do it! We are searching for volunteers to commit to staffing Stevens Lodge for 4 days at a time from August 20 - September 30.  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…

This is a classic winter scramble up a scenic valley, past two mountain lakes, to a summit with outstanding views. 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 Olympia Branch is challenging you to dedicate one day (or more!) to stewarding our public lands.  This challenge is a great way to give back to our outdoor playgrounds and meet a vibrant community of volunteers. All Mountaineers members are welcome to join - regardless of branch affiliation. Read more…

This story came to our attention after one of our longtime members saw the feature by Bam Mendiola in the spring 2018 issue. Bam’s piece discussed the unique challenges of climbing Tahoma (Mt. Rainier) as a queer, non-binary person of color. After reading Bam’s work, this member (who shall remain nameless for reasons which will soon become obvious) felt compelled to share his own Mt. Rainier anecdote. Without further ado, here’s the story of Mt. Rainier, Spire Rock, and a mysterious package in the night. Read more…

It's 9:30pm. I’m on a glacier, on a private climb with my Small Instructional Group (SIG). I joined the Basic Alpine Climbing course in December, and now we are out on one of the best climbs of my life. It’s been beautiful all day, with amazing views, great company, and a feeling of comradery. We are crawling across a glacier in swirling mist and smoke.  The day’s warm weather has melted the top layer of the glacier, and the cool night air freezes it as we traverse. I am at the end of the rope, the last one to cross the glacier, and my crampons are skittering off the ice under my feet. Our climb is one misstep away from real danger. It will be a “near miss” if we make it off this steep slope, and it will be so much worse if I slip now. Read more…

The Mountaineers launched our Instagram (@mountaineersorg) in 2014 as a way to celebrate the adventurous spirit of our community, the beauty of our natural landscapes, and the myriad types of outdoor experiences we have access to in the Pacific Northwest. From star-lit campsites to sun-kissed summits to smile-filled stewardship, Mountaineers are eager to share their photo-rich trip reports and inspire others to appreciate and protect the special places that we’re lucky enough to call home. Read more…

On Monday, April 3, 2017, I received the news that Mary Anderson passed away at the age of 107. A Washington State native, co-founder of REI with her husband Lloyd, one of a handful of Mountaineers instrumental in setting up the climbing course in 1936, and a longtime teacher in the Seattle Public School District, Mary's legacy will surely surpass her long life.  Read more…

During Junior Mountaineers Summer Camp in 2014, nine-year-old Sydney Swenson confidently announced to then Youth Programs Manager Caitlin O’Brien that she was planning to climb The Tooth in celebration of her tenth birthday. In January 2015, Sydney’s dad Matt Swenson sent an email to some of his friends in The Mountaineers climbing community asking if anyone was interested in joining him and Sydney on the celebratory Tooth climb. Read more…