Blog

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 made a commitment to reduce our organization’s carbon footprint as part of Vision 2022. In the Carbon Footprint Reduction Committee’s last blog post, we discussed transportation and a few ways you can reduce your carbon footprint. In this blog, we dive deeper into electric vehicles (EVs). Read more…

Looking for a new film to get stoked on? Enjoy the newly-released Super Frenchie, providing an intimate look at the life of professional skier and BASE jumper Matthias Giraud - who stops at nothing to pursue his passion for adventure. Read more…

It’s impossible to imagine The Mountaineers without our incredible team of volunteers, who generously donate their time and talent in support of our community of outdoor adventurers. Each year, we honor a few of these dedicated volunteers who went above and beyond by recognizing them with an organization-wide volunteer award. Though the last year has been mired with unprecedented challenges, these individuals found meaningful ways for our community to stay connected to each other and the outdoors while we rode out the storm. This spring, we’re excited to celebrate the inspiring creativity and leadership of our 2020 volunteer award winners at our upcoming virtual gala on Thursday, April 29. Read more…

As Mountaineers, we are committed to learning from our experiences. We examine every incident that happens on a Mountaineers trip for opportunities to improve the ways we explore and teach. Our volunteer safety committee reviews every incident report and picks a few each month to share as examples of ‘Lessons Learned’. The trip report below describes what happened on this trip, in the leader’s own words, and outlines the lessons the leader has identified. In some cases, we offer additional key learnings from the incident. Read more…

Join us to hear stories from Mountaineers Book Author, Triple Crown hiker, and a man who National Geographic dubbed “the dean of America’s long-distance trails," Barney Scout Mann.  Read more…

The night before our snowshoe trip to Mount Rainier, I was a tad nervous reading the weather forecasts. I had been diligently reading them for a week prior, because a winter storm advisory was in effect. In addition, the avalanche danger had increased with all the new snow and slight warming trend. The next day, the expected weather forecast stated we were in for 90% precipitation, rain at lower elevations and snow higher. I was uneasy, and kept hoping that the road to Paradise would be closed. My backup plan for our adventure was to stay low and safe with a short snowshoe around Longmire. Read more…

This month, the Foothills Mountaineers would like to recognize the contributions of Luis Zuniga! Luis is a new Mountaineer who, with his wife Karla, has developed a passion for the outdoors and all things Mountaineers. He quickly became a Foothills hike leader, is already seeking his backpack leader badge, and has volunteered to be a mentor for the Backpacking Building Blocks course. We're thrilled to have Luis on the Foothills volunteer team! Read more…

It's exciting to see our courses and events opening up this year to give new members and students the experiences that we all enjoy. If you would like  to brush up on your skills and start planning your summer hikes, join Olympia Mountaineers leaders for one of our upcoming clinics or seminars. Read more…