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

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Dee Ann Kline, a volunteer leader with the Olympia Branch who enjoys leading easy paced hikes with plenty of time for photos and berry picking. Read more…

Eighteen years after his first attempt to reach the summit of Link Sar, Steve Swenson, legendary alpinist, Mountaineers Board Director, Mountaineers Books author, and past president of the American Alpine Club, finally stood atop the notoriously technical peak in Pakistan’s Karakoram. He was joined by alpinists Mark Richey, 61; expedition leader Graham Zimmerman, 33; and Chris Wright, 36. “The climbers succeeded because they were persistent, used their 126 years of combined climbing experience, and understood what partnership meant,” and for this they are being awarded the prestigious 2020 Piolet d’Or. Read more…

We recently met with staff from Rainier National Park, Olympic National Park and North Cascades National Park about their respective proposed fee increases. National Parks across the country are considering increasing entrance fees, camping, and wilderness permit fee increases. Read more…

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Takeo Kuraishi, a volunteer leader with the Seattle Branch who serves on the Climbing Committee for  the Foothills and Seattle branch. Takeo is also one of our newly elected Board Directors from the 2021 Board & Branch elections! Read more…

Standing on the edge of the water in my camp sandals, boots and pants stowed safely inside my pack, I look longingly across the river. I wish I could teleport myself instead of wading through the bitterly-cold, swift-moving water. It’s June 2021, and the Pacific Northwest’s unseasonable heatwave is melting the snowpack, sending it rushing down the mountain river valleys in record volume. Read more…

I joined The Mountaineers two years ago – I am new to the “wild” outdoors – with Basic Wilderness Skills (BWS) as my first course. Prior to that, I was having difficulty getting questions answered about what I should wear so I didn’t die of exposure. I came to Bremerton from arid desert climate, where a t-shirt and jeans are the accepted hiking attire. I needed someone to give me the low down on what the heck “hard shells and base layers” were. Susan Graham and the BWS team gave me the core tidbits I needed to do more.  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…

Resident orcas of the Salish Sea may be wild creatures, but satellite tags, drone images and individual health profiles are making them as familiar as family to researchers. The distinctively marked, largest members of the dolphin family that comprise the J, K, and L pods, also known as killer whales, are being studied inside and out. While scientists monitor the whales’ whereabouts, new babies, and what’s happening with food sources, they’re also analyzing the whales’ feces and blubber to better understand the health of individuals.  Read more…

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Thomas Bancroft, a volunteer leader with the Seattle Branch who loves the process of learning with others. His advice to new leaders? You don't have to know everything, a love of nature and a willingness to learn is plenty! Read more…

For our member profile this week we chatted with Rajesh Pillai, an Everett Mountaineer and volunteer. He told us about his inspiration and revealed a few of his favorite Mountaineers memories. Read more…

For our member profile this week we spoke to Maiza Lima, a rock climber and mountaineer from Brazil who signed up with us to learn how to climb and found a great community that makes her heart smile. 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 Elwha River, which spans 45 miles in the Olympic Peninsula, is part of a massive restoration project that included demolishing Glines Canyon Dam, one of the tallest dams to ever be intentionally breached. Read more…

Beginning Monday, February 8, Sand Point Way NE will be closed to ALL traffic for a retaining wall replacement project. Traffic will be rerouted to 35th Ave. The main 74th street entrance to the program center will be OPEN during this time. Read more…

These days many Olympia Mountaineers know Mike Kretzler as a trip leader for hiking, backpacking, and snowshoeing and a course chair for the Navigation program. What they might not realize is Mike's has a long leadership history with the chapter, including a term as Secretary and a term as Council Chair. Read more…

Progressive Climbing Education (PCE) is a strategic initiative to advance our Mountaineers climbing programs, make our suite of volunteer-led Climbing Programs more fun for volunteers to run, easier to recruit volunteers for, more attractive to new climbers (especially those coming out of the gym), and more advanced for our highly-skilled volunteers and students. This quarterly communication is intended to provide regular updates about each committees' projects, offer transparency, and ensure that all branches are able to provide feedback and input to proposed changes to the climbing programs. Read more…

Seattle, WA (November 16, 2015) – The Mountaineers, an outdoor nonprofit based in the Pacific Northwest, has been selected as one of OUTSIDE’s Best Places to Work 2015. For over 100 years, The Mountaineers has been getting people outside safely and responsibly. With staff and volunteers delivering memorable outdoor programs and a nationally recognized publishing division, The Mountaineers is actively creating future generation of stewards for the outdoors.  Read more…

A climber on rappel dislodged a piece of rock the size of a small computer or a VCR. It fell 10-15' and pinched one strand of the rappel rope against a thin ledge on the second to last rappel on the descent, severing it clean through. Read more…

As our community adapts to a new way of gathering together and learning, we're collecting ideas, tips, and how-to's to help you be successful. The Mountaineers community of staff and volunteers has stepped-up to share success stories and answer frequently asked questions about how to make your next virtual event run smoothly. Read more…

Blame the Internet. Blame social media. Blame me and other guidebook writers. Blame the Washington Trails Association (WTA). Read more…

You can experience the outdoors even when you're stuck inside, with a podcast! I love podcasts because they introduce me to new ideas, bucket list items, and adventurers. Plus, they're easy to listen to inside and out. Read more…

Climbing mountains requires a lot of energy, risk management, and the ability to lean into difficult situations. In this new speaker series, sponsored by the Seattle Climbing Committee, hear from four local outdoor experts in a series of seminars on nutrition, high altitude travel, mountain weather, and dealing with head trauma. Read more…

At the top of Three Way Peak, our rainbow assortment of French macarons shone in contrast to the cloudy skies. My mood mirrored our brightly colored summit treats. This was the first on-the-ground outing of Mountain-Queers, an affinity group of LGBTQ Mountaineers that I started laying the groundwork for last August. When I began, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, now I couldn’t wait to see what was next. Read more…

Our family has hiked together since our 12-year-old daughter was a newborn. I remember our daughter’s first decade as a series of literal peaks and valleys, many of them in the Olympics. I can picture her chasing butterflies over Marmot Pass at age five, and searching for fairies in old growth cathedrals along the Dungeness River. When she finished first grade we backpacked into Grand Valley, then clambered up Grand Peak, a perch with majestic views into the heart of the Olympic wilderness. Read more…

Olympia Branch members: we want your BEST - photos that is! We're hosting a photo contest and we can't wait to show off your great photography skills to our community. Follow the instructions below to submit photos in one of 8 categories to win recognition and eternal bragging rights. 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…

I have had the honor and privilege of mentoring women in their first steps into glacier mountaineering for the past three years. I take this awesome responsibility very seriously.

I always have feelings upon sending new mountaineering mentees into the world. Are they ready? Did I teach them enough? Are they going to be okay? In an open letter to this year's mountaineering family (and new climbers in general), I strive to offer words of wisdom to take them wherever they go next. Read more…

Summer is the busiest time for travelers. In fact, 400% more people make trips to the northwest from July-October than during winter. Read more…

I am a proud trail running newbie! I first hit the trails in my street running shoes, carrying nothing but my car key. “No big deal,” I thought. “I’ve got this.” Then I watched my pace slow way down from my road pace and started debating whether the steep hills would kill me. “But I’m a runner, this shouldn’t be this hard!" Read more…