Bellingham Branch Blog Posts

Bellingham Branch Blog Posts

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How To: Reduce Your Backcountry Camping Impact

At The Mountaineers, we've believe venturing into the outdoors is an essential piece of the human experience. It's important to implement low-impact recreation skills to keep our wild places as sanctuaries for the human spirit. Read more…

How To: Navigate Loose Rock

Rock fall is one of the more common causes of injuries in both climbing and scrambling. The rock in the Olympics is notorious for its poor quality, and the Cascades, although overall it is of much better quality, has its share of choss piles as well. A friend of mine used to joke about climbing in the Olympics, “if you don’t like your options for handholds, pick the rock up and move it somewhere else.” Read more…

How To: Reduce Your Backcountry Eating Impact

At The Mountaineers, we've believe venturing into the outdoors is an essential piece of the human experience. It's important to implement low-impact recreation skills to keep our wild places as sanctuaries for the human spirit. Read more…

How To: Reduce Your Backcountry Travel Impact

At The Mountaineers, we've believe venturing into the outdoors is an essential piece of the human experience. It's important to implement low-impact recreation skills to keep our wild places as sanctuaries for the human spirit. Read more…

How To: Avoid Hazards Caused by Snow Melt

As the summer heat melts the snow in the mountains, more and more patches of  exposed rock appear and can be very hazardous for multiple reasons. Read more…

Mt. Baker Fall Colors Photography Weekend - Sept 23-25

The Photography Committee invites you to their annual Mt. Baker fall colors weekend.  Read more…

How To: Prevent and Treat Heat Related Illness

June was an interesting month in the mountains. We had “June-uary” conditions, giving us lots of new snow, rain, and wind. We also had scorchingly high temperatures with places like Leavenworth and Vantage reaching close to 100°F.  As we progress through the summer, we need to be mindful of the dangers on these hot, sunny days - even if we are out on snow or a glacier.  Read more…

Airbnb Offers Special $200 Bonus to Mountaineers Who Host

Summer is the busiest time for travelers. In fact, 400% more people make trips to the northwest from July-October than during winter. Read more…

Be An Outdoor Ambassador: How To Implement Low-Impact Recreation Skills

At The Mountaineers, we've believe venturing into the outdoors is an essential piece of the human experience. We go outside to wander and explore the adventurous spirit within ourselves. It's important to implement low-impact recreation skills to keep our wild places as sanctuaries for the human spirit; so our grandchildren can experience the sensation of discovering an untouched place. Read more…

Our Climbing Curriculum: Tell us what you think!

Did you miss the chance to attend our Progressive Climbing Education listening sessions? Please use this survey  to give us your input! Read more…

How To: Poop in the Outdoors

I am confident that you and I have at least two things in common: 1) we both set aside time to explore the outdoors, and 2) at some point during these adventures we will both experience the discomfort of knowing we have to go number two. Even if you don't, you will inevitably be reminded of this basic human function by the sight of toilet paper discarded uncomfortably close to trails and water sources. By the amount of TP I have seen recently on Washington’s trails, it seems even the most avid outdoor enthusiasts may not know how to handle nature’s calling. Read more…

Faces behind the Rescue: The Mountaineers and their dogs who helped during the OSO mudslide

On March 22, 2014, a natural disaster hit the state of Washington in the form of a massive mudslide. Read more…

How to: Reduce a Dislocated Shoulder

As I skimmed through the latest Annual Safety Report looking for ideas for this month's article, I noticed The Mountaineers had 5 instances of dislocated shoulders in 2014. This got me thinking about all of my friends who have had shoulder dislocations while out in the backcountry. Read more…

Thankful for you. For our community.

We're lucky. At The Mountaineers, we've always known the value of natural places to restore our bodies and our spirits. Our outdoor playgrounds offer endless ways to explore and learn and discover and connect. Read more…

How to: Prepare for Variable Weather

With the days getting shorter and colder as we creep into winter, many climbers start looking for warmer venues for their climbing excursions. If you are looking for a weekend warm-up, we have good crags close to home, like Vantage, Tieton, and Smith Rock. However, even though these areas are usually warm during the day, they can still get bitterly cold at night. Climbers should be prepared for the temperature swings that accompany these arid, deserty crags. Read more…

Annual Bellingham Fall Rendezvous - Oct 13

Everyone is welcome to join The Bellingham Mountaineers on October 13th at 6pm for our Fall Rendezvous. Read more…

Word of the Day: Benighted

On a Bellingham Basic Alpine Climb of Horseshoe Peak, the group chose to stay out an extra night at their base camp after returning from their climb. As climbers progress and start attempting longer, more technical routes, it becomes a matter of not if, but when they will be benighted.   Read more…

How To: Preventing Descent Accidents

Recently, a group of 6 climbers were on Sahale Peak in the Boston Basin area of North Cascades National Park. They'd enjoyed great weather, and  climbed efficiently up the Quien Sabe Glacier on the northwest side of the peak, reaching the summit around 10:30am. Read more…

Bellingham Branch Leadership Opportunities

There are three positions still needed to round out the Branch Council and all of them require the following:  Read more…

Bellingham 2014 Basic Course has begun!

The basic course will teach you the skills to safely get to higher ground via rock climbing, snow and glacier travel, backpacking, and hiking through moderate to difficult terrain. You will learn how to evaluate weather, mountain terrain, and snow conditions to make sound decisions about when and how to travel in the high country. We will also teach Advanced Alpine First Aid in order to minimize the potential for an accident and provide the first response to incidents in the back country. Read more…