People

Every April, The Mountaineers hosts our Annual “Adventure with Purpose” Gala, a fundraising event that includes special guest speakers, dynamic programming, and a variety of live auction packages ranging from nature photography workshops to Everest Base Camp treks. This year, gala attendees had the opportunity to buy into a priceless trip up Mount Rainier with former lead climbing ranger and Mountaineers Books author, Mike Gauthier (who’s summited Washington’s famed mountain more than 180 times), and Mountaineers CEO, Tom Vogl. 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…

Being a huge fan of stewardship and conservation, I’m super proud of the hard hat I earned as a stewardship volunteer with the Olympia Mountaineers. I first became interested in 2014 when Kathy Fox and Jim French approached me to help out on several local projects, and from there I was hooked. 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…

Meet Foothills volunteer Christina Buckman. Christina was raised in Yakima and started hiking after her daughter went to college - and never stopped! She loves volunteering and is excited to be a part of our community.  Read more…

Our volunteer leaders are a big part of what makes the Olympia branch  such an inspiring, fun, and impactful community. Join us as we prepare to celebrate their hard work and our broader Olympia community at our annual banquet in October. At this banquet we will be honoring one Olympia volunteer with the Branch Service Award, to recognize their hard work and dedication. To help with this process, we ask our branch members to submit nominations for those they believe go above and beyond the call of duty and deserve this award! Read more…

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Karen Wallace, a volunteer leader with the Foothills Branch who is inspired to get newer members out on the trail, encouraging them to become advocates for the outdoors! 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…

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

On June 12, 2019, we celebrated the beginning of summer with a kick-off party in partnership with Mountaineering Club. More than 200 Mountaineers made their way to the ‘summit’ of the Graduate Hotel - the stunning rooftop bar with panoramic PNW views - to celebrate another great season of our favorite warm-weather activities. 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…

Reading books had a direct and specific impact in my becoming an explorer. As a young black kid growing up in a working class family in a New York city housing project, I loved to read and was fortunate to have a library nearby. I spent my time reading books about the 19th century’s "age of discovery," and dreamed that one day I too might get "out there" and become an explorer. These books had a powerful influence on me, ultimately leading my dreams of exploration to come true. Read more…

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Lisa Hayek, a hike and backpack leader with the Tacoma Branch who loves getting to know members with a wide variety of backgrounds and interests. Read more…

Standing in Yosemite Valley, gazing up at the imposing profiles of El Cap and Half Dome, it’s impossible not to think of Warren Harding, Tom Frost, Jim Bridwell, or Royal Robbins—climbing legends whose stories you want to share with your climbing partners, your friends, your sons and daughters. By remembering the stories of those who came before, you provide a pathway for young and old alike to imagine what is possible in 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…

The Mountaineers values diversity – including persons with diverse abilities – in its programs. While we do not specialize in integrating persons with disabilities into our programs, we encourage people of all abilities to consider participating in Mountaineers programming. Read more…

The Mountaineers’ Kitsap Forest Theater is one-of-a-kind. Attendees take a winding, quarter-mile path through lush woodlands sprinkled with wild rhododendrons. At the trail’s end, almost as though designed by the forest itself, the theater rises from the greenery. Giant firs surround terraced seating, moss-covered bark forms theater wings, verdant ferns serve as footlights, and sunlight shines through the tree canopy to create spotlights. Read more…

The key to having fun in the backcountry is having the skills and knowledge to get home safely.

From knowing how to travel on glaciers or tie proper knots to building an emergency snow cave or trusting a cam, Mountaineers Books publish a wide range of instructional guide books that detail best practices, expert techniques, and safety tips for human-powered outdoor activities. Professional guides, outdoor educators, instructors, volunteers, and weekend warriors around the globe use our guidebooks to further develop and advance their outdoor skills. 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…

We go outside to wander, and to explore the adventurous spirit within ourselves. As we step into the outdoors, we need to be mindful of the impact our food has on wild places. Our habits can make a difference at home as well, where the average person wastes more than 18 pounds of food per month. Read more…

This Mother's Day, we’re celebrating Mother Nature, the mom we all share. 

At The Mountaineers, we hold our wild places in the highest esteem. Mother Nature has always offered us places to play, explore, learn, and grow. And we all owe her a word of thanks for everything she’s given. 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…

Starting with #GiveBIG on May 8, The Mountaineers launched a month-long campaign to directly support our publishing division, Mountaineers Books. As explorers both on and off the page, we are passionate about sharing our stories of community, adventure, and advocacy in hopes of welcoming a new friend to an experience they’ve never had before. Read more…

Yosemite, September 1998. Marie, Andrew, and I are standing at a trail junction in northern Yosemite National Park, unable to decide which trail to take. We've had a spectacular week of high country, off-trail rambling in beautiful, high basins. Now we're making our way back to Tuolumne Meadows on-trail. The plan was to go left at this junction and do two more days of hiking through a valley none of us have visited. Now that we're at the junction, we realize we have the option to go right and make it back to the car this evening. Tempting. Read more…

A great story will stay with you, even long after you close the book.

Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home, by Heather “Anish” Anderson, is Heather’s account of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in 2013 when she finished with the “Fastest Known Time” for any gender. But hers is not at all a story about trail miles and speed. For Heather, it’s about choosing—choosing to get out and move, choosing to walk on the trail, and choosing to embrace an outdoor life. Read more…

In a brief encounter with a mother caribou and her calf, it becomes startlingly clear that we share an innate passion and concern for the future with all living beings. This universal calling leaps from the pages as you turn through Caribou Rainforest: From Heartbreak to Hope, recently published by Mountaineers Books as part of our Braided River line of titles. Read more…

 Books give power to our personal stories - whether you want to discover a new place, learn a new skill, make a lifestyle change, or feel a sense of connection with a wild place or a fellow adventurer. Read more…

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Krissy Fagan, a climb leader with the Bellingham Branch who is learning to appreciate the many different speeds of mountaineering ... but who still prefers a good sufferfest! Read more…

Meet Foothills volunteer Russ Levy! Russ moved to the Northwest 22 years ago and found The Mountaineers through his passion for hiking. He is a hike leader and is most fulfilled when he's leading a trail crew.  Read more…