People

Even though the days are shorter, I hope you are still finding ways to spend time outside and connect with nature. My kids and I have been spending time together on family adventures and enjoying the season's change. I also hope that you and your loved ones are staying healthy and doing as well as possible as we prepare for a long winter ahead. 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…

This #GivingTuesday has blown us away. We’re incredibly grateful for the kindness, support, and generosity of our Mountaineers community. We set our goal for $15,000 and you helped us fly past it, reaching $22,000 by the end of last night. You not only helped us raise over twice as much as we did last year, you added 35 scholarships to the 75 we were hoping  to offer. We set our sights high, and you have once again outdone yourselves. Thank you.  Read more…

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Barbara Folmer, a volunteer leader with the Foothills Branch who first got involved with The Mountaineers to go snowshoeing, and who stayed involved because of the community! Read more…

Scholarships do so much more than offer someone a single course. These outdoor experiences foster community, create future volunteers, and serve as an important bridge between recreation and conservation. Inspiring new conservationists to become advocates - especially those who may not have built those connections otherwise - is immeasurably valuable for our public lands. Read more…

Now more than ever, our small businesses need your support. They’re the ones who help keep your bag dry on rainy nights, your spork full, and your puffies stuffed. If you’re doing any shopping, please consider going local and supporting one of our partners: Read more…

As Mountaineers, we’re intimately connected with wild places. Some of us were introduced to the outdoors through The Mountaineers: a scrambling trip sparked a lifelong love for the North Cascades or a guidebook from Mountaineers Books introduced us to our first hike. Some of us join to deepen our love for the outdoors through new friendships and adventures. Regardless of what brought us here, we're united by our fierce love for the places we explore and our strong desire to protect them. Read more…

We're excited to be partnering with Climbers of Color in support of their mission to create more leaders of color in mountaineering. Established in 2017, Climbers of Color is a Washington State nonprofit that aims to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the climbing and mountaineering community by developing leaders of color. To accomplish its mission, Climbers of Color provides supportive mentorship, technical training from BIPOC professional guides, and access to key resources including gear and scholarships. Read more…

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Chase Gruszewski, a volunteer leader with the Kitsap Branch who chairs the Kitsap Climbing Committee and once did a 25 hour epic of Shield Wall on Mt. Washington. Read more…

For nearly 20 years, our conservation imprint Braided River has published stunning multimedia books about the wildest places in North America. In particular, the western Arctic and the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge have been a special focus. Award-winning books like We Are the Arctic and Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land have been used by senators, grassroots groups, and Indigenous tribes to help people experience this remote corner of the world through images and stories, and be inspired to protect it. 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…

It’s always a joy to visit with someone who speaks passionately about the things they love. For Helen Cherullo, her passion is books. Helen’s love is about more than a simple bound text; it’s about imagery and place-based storytelling, and how their subsequent ripple effects move communities to act. Read more…

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Bruce Durham, a volunteer leader with the Tacoma Branch who has ramped-up his paddling during the pandemic. He eventually hopes to lead a series of day trips - 22 of them! - originating at Budd Inlet near Olympia, paddling north through Puget Sound to the Straight of Juan de Fuca, then going west out to Cape Flattery and around to Hobuck Beach. It  will be a 229nm adventure. Read more…

At The Mountaineers, we believe a diverse and inclusive outdoors inspires unity, respect, and passion for the places we love. We also believe that the outdoors is for everyone. As part of our recurring Impact Giving blog series, this month we’re talking about one of our favorite donor-funded outreach efforts: Mountain Workshops. This program increases outdoor access for youth who may not easily have opportunities to enjoy positive experiences in our wild places.  Read more…

For this month's Leader Spotlight, we're changing things up and running a group feature. As a part of this special edition, we talked with Shuko Hashimoto and Christina Buckman, both leaders with the Backpacking Building Blocks (B3) course offered by the Foothills Branch. 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…

In previous years, it has been our tradition to gather our community each spring to celebrate our achievements and support future efforts to transform lives and protect wild places at our annual fundraising gala. This year, however, was a little different.  Read more…

In January 2020, we invited our members and volunteers, past and present, to participate in a member and volunteer survey. We wanted to learn how their perceptions of and experiences with our club have changed since our last surveys in 2011, 2014, 2016, and 2018. We compare these responses with past survey data to track patterns showing how we’ve grown and changed, and to identify opportunities to improve.  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…

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…

Six months ago we began this Impact Giving series as a way to feature the many ways philanthropy makes a difference for The Mountaineers. This month, we’re celebrating the 60th anniversary of Mountaineers Books and how philanthropy expands the impact one book can have on an individual, a classroom, a community, and the world.  Read more…

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Nataliya Semez, a volunteer leader with the Seattle Branch who is proud to represent The Mountaineers on the trail and in all aspects of life! 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…

In a normal year, The Mountaineers would facilitate a month-long giving campaign in May to foster donations that leverage our mission and boost our programming. In light of COVID-19 and April’s organization-wide virtual Gala campaign, we are adjusting our traditional fundraising efforts and reducing regularly-planned electronic communications. The following is an excerpt of a letter from Tom Vogl mailed to longtime members and donors to provide an update on our organization and demonstrate a need for support. Read more…

While you're waiting to get back out on the trail solo, with family, or with your favorite Mountaineers backpacking buddies, check out these opportunities to get credit for your backpacking skills and experience with one of these fun badges for your Mountaineers profile! Read more…

We get it. Today your inbox will be flooded with messages from many of Washington’s nonprofits and beyond. Today is an important day because the need for philanthropy in the time of a global pandemic is more epic than ever before.  Read more…

We are halfway through The Mountaineers fiscal year and what a journey these last six months have been. When our Board of Directors approved an operating budget of $9.28M in October to support outdoor programs, places, and books, they never would have guessed that our plans would be disrupted by the catastrophic impacts of a global pandemic. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that relies on a combination of earned revenue and philanthropic support to sustain operations, we’ve been challenged to pivot and re-imagine how The Mountaineers can best serve our community as incoming revenue slows to a trickle. Unrestricted charitable support from individual donors is paramount to our ability to sustain core operations. In this May edition of our monthly Impact Giving blog series, we are shining light on the Peak Society and how these leadership-level donors support our organization in good times and in bad. Read more…

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Becky Jacobsen, a volunteer leader with the Tacoma Branch who loves helping members gain new skills and the confidence to expand their horizons. Read more…

At our 'Breakthrough' fundraising Gala in 2015, we unveiled a capstone video project documenting The Mountaineers rich history of exploration, education, and conservation. For our 2018 Gala, we celebrated the theme of Adventure With Purpose, and it felt appropriate to update our favorite video to reflect our efforts to transform lives and protect our wild places for generations to come. We updated our video again in 2020 to reflect our learnings around equity and inclusion, specifically with regards to erasure language of Indigenous peoples. Read more…