Blog

Enjoy access to our quarterly Mountaineer magazine, keeping you up-to-date with everything our organization and community have been up to. Hear from regular contributors on topics from training exercises to trail tips, and read features from our members sharing stories from the outdoors. We encourage you to access all of our updates, stories, tips, and more in the tree free online magazine today. Read more…

A collection of trip reports that chases away our fair-weather friends with the devastating reminder that summer is still 20 days away. Read on, dear friends, for sticky whirlpools, spring snowstorms, an untouched summit register, fruitful work, and the ongoing saga of variable, early season conditions in the Pacific Northwest.   Read more…

With the western sun shining brightly on the Seattle Program Center, 122 volunteers, donors, and staff gathered for a Block Party to kick off summer and celebrate their contributions to our outdoor community, celebrate our mission impact, and have a bit of fun, too!  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’re excited to once again be calling for nominations for individuals to join our Board of Directors, and new this year we are also seeking individuals to join as part of our branch leadership. Our open nominations process is rooted in our core values and ensures we bring forward an excellent and diverse slate of candidates to be elected by membership. Nominations are due by June 21, 2024. Read more…

Several Mountaineers members have pooled their donations to create a surprise $5,000 matching challenge, today and tomorrow only! Starting now and continuing through midnight tomorrow, all donations will be matched dollar for dollar up to $5,000.  Read more…

North, the hill plunges over 600 feet. South, it drops a similar elevation in increments. The hilltop is maybe a hundred feet wide, flat, and stretches a hundred yards or more perpendicular to the valley’s western wall before descending in stair steps to the creek running north. My mind tries to comprehend time and what has happened to sculpt the amazing configuration of this valley. Read more…

New people are drawn to our outdoor community with each changing season. Mountaineers programs and books provide resources so everyone has the chance to develop skills to enjoy the lands and waters of the PNW confidently and responsibly. When you support The Mountaineers, you help to engage a vibrant community of outdoor enthusiasts. 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…

Buildings contribute a significant amount to global CO2 emissions, and Mountaineers facilities are no exception. As an organization that cares deeply about healthy lands and waters, we have a unique obligation to aggressively reduce our impact on the environment and respond to the climate crisis. While we do this through public lands advocacy, stewardship, and low-impact recreation practices, we still emit thousands of pounds of greenhouse gas emissions through our operations. Throughout the development of our strategic plan, Adventure with Purpose, we consistently heard from volunteers and donors that we need to make faster progress toward reducing our organization’s carbon footprint. In 2020, we formalized our commitment to this important work through the creation of our organizational climate statement. Read more…

The Mountaineers is partnering with the Sacred Lands Conservancy, an Indigenous-led nonprofit with strong ties to the Lummi Nation, to produce a series of educational pieces on the importance of mindful recreation and how we can all develop deeper connections to the histories of our natural places. Tah-Mahs Ellie Kinley is a Lhaq’temish fisherwoman, an enrolled Lummi Nation tribal member, an elected member of Lummi Nation’s Fisheries and Natural Resource Commission, and President of the Sacred Lands Conservancy (SLC). We hope you enjoy this blog from her, written in collaboration with SLC’s Julie Trimingham, which shares more about tribal treaties of the Pacific Northwest - which allow us to live, work, and recreate on these lands and waters - and how we can all strive to uphold them today. - Conor Marshall, Advocacy & Engagement Manager Read more…

We were the luckiest teenagers we knew. In the spring of 1953, my sister (16) and I (18) learned we would spend ten days that summer in the alpine world of Mt. Rainier with two other teenage climbing course graduates, as well as renowned photographer Ira Spring. How did this happen? Ira had a contract with the publisher of a new magazine, Sports Illustrated. Read more…

This weekend an estimated 23 million people will go camping across the US, and even more will get outside for the day to enjoy parks, forests, waterways, and other outdoor spaces. We love to see people enjoying the outdoors, and believe that each of us has a role in conserving the natural world—and the outdoor experiences we love—for future generations.  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…

Spring is an exciting time at The Mountaineers as people from all backgrounds and experience levels turn to us to seek outdoor education and venture outdoors through books, trips, and activities. Spring is also when our community rallies to support our shared vision through philanthropy. Read more…

On a Friday night in late August, I headed north from Seattle with Iris, Phillip, and Jordan - three friends I’d made in the Everett Basic Climbing course. We were on our way to Ruth Mountain and Icy Peak to try what’s known as the Ruth and Icy Traverse - a linkup of two glaciated summits on the border of North Cascades National Park. 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…

Since joining The Mountaineers in 2019, Travis has taken the Basic Snowshoeing, Alpine Scrambling, and Basic Alpine Climbing courses, helped instruct for the Wilderness Navigation, Alpine Scrambling, and Basic Alpine Climbing courses, become a hike leader, and participated in numerous Mountaineers activities and events. He was elected as Chair-Elect for the Branch in 2023. Read more…

When I was little my parents enrolled me in summer sailing camp. My mother told me it was a necessary life skill that would be useful later on, but I was skeptical. Next thing I knew I was on a small boat with three other kids, floating into the middle of Lake Washington. We were packed in shoulder to shoulder, our red regulation life jackets up to our ears, my stomach bobbing up and down in tandem with the waves. We looked at each other with the same expression. “You guys know how to do this, right?” None of us did. Read more…

Today and tomorrow mark a celebration of community and generosity across the Pacific Northwest. Will you join us and GiveBIG to get more people outside? Read more…

But what do you eat? This is my students’ favorite question when I tell them I’m running a 100-mile race. More than anything, they want to know what’s in store for my stomach (they care deeply about my stomach when I talk about mountaineering, too). If you’re also curious, here are my insights from years of running and mountaineering. Read more…

Public land management. While it may not sound like the most exciting subject, Mountaineers courses and programs depend on well-managed public lands and waters. From trail maintenance to wildfire protection, an effective land management plan is the foundation for a good day spent outside. That’s where land managers come in. Read more…

On May 7 & 8 thousands of Washingtonians will join GiveBIG, a regional grassroots fundraising movement to support the causes and organizations that help our community flourish. Make a GiveBIG donation to The Mountaineers to support inclusive and responsible outdoor recreation in the PNW and beyond! 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 April 30, 2024, we shared a “state of the organization” update with members of our community. One year into our new strategic plan, Adventure with Purpose, we are excited to be in a strong position to continue our forward momentum. We also celebrate our rock-solid community, which is rooted in exceptional volunteerism and generosity where our mission, core values, and strategic plan continue to be our North Star as we look to the future. Read more…

Calling all Conditioning Hiking Series (CHS) trip leaders and alumni! Join us June 21 at the Seattle Program Center to celebrate and congratulate CHS founders Kelly & Matt Cleman for their vision and dedication. Since 2005, nearly 1,000 Mountaineers have graduated CHS, earning their course badge, improving their fitness, and hiking to farther and more spectacular places than they ever thought possible. Read more…

April... It was the best of months, it was the worst of months. Read on, dear friends, for occasional chaos, butt-scraping fun, superior starts, few redeeming qualities, and the promise to never return. Oh, and two straggling March trip reports that you'll be grateful we didn't let go unnoticed. Read more…

What is biodiversity, and what creates it? What defines the ecosystems ranging from saltwater marshes to alpine tundra, and what species inhabit these areas?  Join the Seattle Naturalists for an engaging virtual exploration of Washington's diverse ecosystems, led by the Washington Natural Heritage Program Manager, Joe Rocchio.  Read more…

The sweat pours from your brow as you trudge under the spring sun, a mere half-mile from the summit. You know you’re tired, but begin to question if you’re unwell when you see not one, but a dozen people bounding toward you, clad in all kinds of hiking-inappropriate garb. One man is in a hula skirt, followed by a woman dressed as Belle from Beauty and the Beast. You sit down for safety and watch the apparitions get closer. You’re not hallucinating. You’ve just stumbled upon the elusive Mother’s Day hikers outside of their usual haunt. Read more…

As someone who cares deeply about the outdoors, you’re well positioned to be an effective advocate - it just takes a little training and knowing the best opportunities to engage. In addition to advocating on behalf of our community of more than 16,000 outdoor enthusiasts, The Mountaineers amplifies opportunities to leverage your voice to advance conservation and recreation policy and create new ways to deepen your engagement in our conservation work. Read more…