Mountaineer Magazine

Mountaineer Magazine

All posts

Olympia Stewardship Challenge

Jim French, a 20-year Mountaineers stewardship trip leader, has noticed a familiar refrain from new participants. After a long day clearing trails, removing invasive species, or seeding native plants, they exclaim, “Wow, that was great! I would have never done that if it hadn’t been required as part of The Mountaineers course I’m taking. I’d like to do it again.” Read more…

Legendary Ice Ax: Bid a New Home

More than four hundred Mountaineers members, friends, and family will not soon forget the evening of April 14, 2018. The 2018 Mountaineers Gala, our single most important fundraising event of the year, brought our community together in celebration of all the things that make it so very special. Read more…

2,000 Miles to Summer Camp: One Counselor's Journey

Here at the Seattle Program Center, we look forward to the start of summer and are busily preparing ourselves for the hive to once again be buzzing with activity from our younger Mountaineers members. For eight weeks we will have around 65 students per week participating in Mountaineers Summer Camp. During this time, students will get a chance to climb, sail, kayak, explore the local parks around Seattle, and participate in two separate overnight camping trips. After the successful trip to Mount Rainier last summer, we have added a second overnight up to our lodge at Mount Baker. Read more…

Post-Surgery Summits: The Resilience of Body and Brain

Every explorer needs a few essentials to survive. Some might even say ten. But what does a person do when one of their essentials breaks? Say… their compass stops pointing north? They’re still on their journey and need it to survive. The answer: the best they can with the tools they have. This is the essence of resilience.  Read more…

Modern Outdoor Romance - Finding Love in The Mountaineers

I’m a sucker for a good love story, especially one that includes meeting in the great out-of-doors. My maternal grandparents met in the Sierra Club. They fell in love at a trail work party while bridge-building in Butano State Park, California. My parents met in in the aspen trees of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, where my dad was a ski instructor. For years I’ve shied away from online dating, preferring to meet new people through activity groups like running and climbing. You could say it’s in my blood. Read more…

Complacency in the Outdoors

On September 7, 2014, just after 5pm, Ross Halverson and his climbing partner were preparing to rappel from the summit of Garfield Mountain. Ross had just finished climbing Infinite Bliss, a twenty-three pitch bolted route ascending the south side of Garfield Mountain. As the late summer sun sunk toward the horizon, it became apparent that both climbers would need to move quickly and efficiently to descend before dark.  Read more…

Orcas of the Salish Sea

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…

Last Word: Unity

It’s a wonderful concept, coming down to us through Middle English, Old English, Old French and Latin; unus, or ‘one.’  

But where do we find unity today? Where do we find places or concepts that bring us together; that unite? 

Now disunity, that’s easy to spot. Read more…

Endless Adventure - The Journey from Camper to Pioneer

Addison, like all Mountaineers, loves the outdoors. She loves swimming, fishing, kayaking, rock climbing, and camping in her family’s gigantic tent – “no seriously, it’s gigantic!” she’ll tell you. Addison first joined The Mountaineers as a camper. Proudly she displays her collection of buttons signifying the different years she attended camp. At camp, she spent time learning many new outdoor skills, yet for Addison, rock climbing represented the highlight of her camp experience, that and of course finding Billy (a small stuffed goat and the camp mascot that is hidden each day for campers to discover).  Read more…

Overcoming Addiction in the Mountains: From Getting High to Getting High

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…

The Extreme Fishermen of Portugal’s Rota Vicentina

Extreme Fishing: though it’s not likely to be a new Mountaineers activity program anytime soon, it was part of the spring 2017 Rota Vicentina Global Adventure on Portugal’s wild southwest coast. The hardy Mountaineers trekkers on the trip were treated to multiple displays of Extreme Fishing prowess – not to mention feasting on the fruits of the fishermen’s labors! Read more…

Adventure

Adventure comes to us all, ready or not. We just have to be ready.

I remember taking my babies out onto the street for their first walks. They gripped my thumb and stutter-stepped along the sidewalk into a whole new world. Each crack in the pavement, each bud on a bush — new and amazing. A walk around the block could take 45 minutes. 

Everything was worth exploring. Read more…

VHF Radios and Safety 101 for Sea Kayakers

A group of six of us set off from the north shore of the mouth of Willapa Bay. The tide was coming in, but was going to turn around noon and the swell outside was about six feet. We intended to cross over to Leadbetter Point, enjoy the beach there for lunch and then return in the afternoon. We had four people with lots of experience in coastal paddling (surf conditions) and two with much less experience but were strong paddlers. Read more…

Top Ten Tips to Find Less Traveled Trails

The first time I hiked up to Rattlesnake Ledge was in the early 1990’s. The trail was pretty rudimentary following alongside a procession of signs warning you not to venture off the trail into the adjacent public watershed. I brushed through knee-high salal and kept my eyes on the ground lest a loose rock made a play for my ankle. Eventually, I reached the ledge. The view east across Rattlesnake Lake and into the U-shaped glacier-carved Cedar River Valley and South Fork Snoqualmie River Valley was breathtaking — and I had it all to myself! While nearby Mount Si and Tiger Mountain were seeing some play, I was out on the Trail Less Traveled — and it paid off — solitude and a wonderful backcountry experience. Read more…

Becoming Backwoods Barbie

A cold silver padlock is pressed against my hand as my fingers stumble to regain dexterity. Clumsily, I align a set of small white numbers with a red and unforgiving arrow; the lock clicks open. I feel my face grow warm and my palms clammy. The cool touch of steel presses against my wet skin as I lean against a row of metal lockers. Nervously, I begin to undress.  Read more…

To Everest and Beyond - Tom Hornbein Reflects on Life and Mountains

As Tom Hornbein stood in the shadow of Everest, he knew getting to the top wasn’t enough. He wanted more.

In 1963, Tom was a member of a sponsored expedition designed to send the first Americans to the summit of the highest peak in the world. The strategy was clear: climb the South Col route first established by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953. While summiting via the South Col was far from a guarantee, the proven route was their best chance.  Read more…

Adventure Writing Workshop with Charlotte Austin - April 6, 2018

We're very excited to host Charlotte Austin,  IMG mountain guide and adventure writer, for an evening writing workshop. Whether you're an experienced author, part-time blogger, or curious novice, this unique workshop will give you a glimpse into the wide world of travel writing and help you hone your storytelling and adventure writing skills! Read more…

Mentorship

I’ve never had a mentor. Not the kind that you think of when you think of a traditional mentorship. Sure, lots of folks have lent a hand over the years, but I never had an arm around the shoulder, “Let me help you out,” period in my life.  Read more…

Empowering A Generation of Climbers - An Interview with Lynn Hill

I don’t watch much television these days, but I had a TV in my bedroom growing up. It was a 13” set with a built-in VHS tape player. Weighing in at a svelte 27lbs, it fit perfectly between the two front seats of our minivan, plugged into the to the cigarette lighter to provide entertainment for my sisters and me on road trips. When you live in Montana, everything is a long car ride away.  Read more…

An Unexpected Adventure in Chile

Morning light was just beginning to illuminate the tops of the white granite cliffs surrounding our green valley when Señora Anita arrived to make breakfast. She stoked the wood stove in our tiny refugio and with impressive grace and speed, whipped up fresh rolls, an egg casserole, hot coffee, and tea — all without the benefit of heat controls other than adding and re-arranging wood and coals. Our group sat on a bench, sharing warmth of the stove, sipping coffee, and marveling at the culinary performance in the morning light. Read more…

Rescue on Dome Peak

On June 20th of 2015, a team of six Everett Mountaineers set out for Dome Peak — a remote glacier climb in the Darrington Ranger District. Dome is prominent along the Cascade Crest, one of the Bulgers, and a full 3-day trip brimming with interesting terrain. The Mountaineers website describes it as a “challenging” trip, rates it a “strenuous 5/5,” and points out that, “fitness for long days is essential.” So basically we had signed on for a suffer-fest. Read more…

Invasion of the Modern Body Snatchers

It was an absolutely breathtaking Northwest late fall afternoon. I was doing field research (translation=hiking) for my upcoming Urban Trails Eastside Mountaineers Books guidebook. My task was to check out a patch of urban greenery on Lake Washington’s eastern shore. As I walked down this park’s trails and across its boardwalks, I was mesmerized by the surrounding natural beauty and by the moment itself. The sun was low, the sky deep blue. Rays of sunlight kissed my face and danced across the shimmering waters of a quiet bay. They illuminated the resident waterfowl and intensified the brilliant colors of the autumn foliage. The sun continued to sink in the sky and my surroundings became more surrealistic. I was in pure hiking heaven — utterly elated — senses completely stimulated.  Read more…

The Legacy of Clark Schurman

Clark Schurman joined The Mountaineers in 1936 and devoted his abundant energy and talent to developing mountaineering techniques and a philosophy oriented to safety.  In his book, Molenaar called Schurman “An intense, brusk little man with the military way, he had a soul highly sensitive to the beauties of the mountain and to the dreams of youth. Visitors to the small, musty auditorium in the basement of the Guide House long remembered Schurman’s evening program of tinted lantern slides (and the first Kodachrome slides) which revealed the beauties of the mountain and its surrounding parklands. Schurman’s poetic interpretation of the great natural forces at work helped bring the mountain close to the hearts of his guests.” Read more…

A Climbing Proposal on the Summit of Denali

Some journeys begin with a single step — and some with years of planning and research, months of training, and weeks of food and logistics preparation. Evan’s 2016 summit of Denali falls in the latter category, but then so do most successful expeditions. Read more…

Rescue in the Mountains - What to Expect

As much as we plan and prepare for a trip, sometimes things go sideways. It just takes a twisted ankle in the backcountry to throw a monkey wrench into our travel plans. Our own safety report records show that slips, trips and falls dominate all categories of severity of incidents reported each year. What can we expect when calling for help?   Read more…

Peak Fitness: Reactive Balance

Improving your reactive balance will help boost your performance and confidence in the mountains, whether your next objective is a winter snowshoeing outing or ski trip, or a climb of Denali or Mt. Rainier next spring. By "reactive balance" I refer to the ability to keep yourself upright and over one leg when external dynamic forces act on you, such as a branch pushing you off balance with a weighted pack, a slippery scree slope that gives way, roots in your path, or a rock heading toward you that makes you dodge quickly. Read more…

Endurance

Endurance comes in many shapes and body sizes. Read more…

Snowshoeing in the Methow

I became a big-M Mountaineer somewhat late in life. My daughter Fiona and I joined the club when she was only fifteen and I was fifty-seven. We took the Alpine Scrambling Course with the Seattle Branch in 2003 and bracketed the class — she was the youngest and I was the oldest. It came easily to us. I had been doing self-taught solo trips in the mountains for nearly thirty years and involved her from infancy. Read more…

Nine Reasons to Love Cross-Country Skiing

Anyone who has been around me for a nanosecond in winter knows I love cross-country skiing. A lot. Maybe even more than climbing, kayaking, downhill skiing, and biking combined. (Gasp!)  Read more…

Mountain Workshops for Tacoma Youth

Mountain Workshops, The Mountaineers’ youth outreach program, has become well established in our Seattle location over the past five years. But these programs have just recently begun in Tacoma. By partnering with other youth-serving agencies, our goal is to reach youth that may not otherwise have the opportunity for rich outdoor experiences. Read more…