Equity Blog

We're crazy for stories -- campfire stories, stories in books, stories told at organized events, podcast stories and . . . well you get the idea. Recently we heard an inspirational podcast from She-Explores about how women over 50 are participating in the outdoors. We thought we'd share it with you. Read more…

In this era of the perpetual run-up in sports, when the next trend or wunderkind can be spied, not just a mile but often an entire continent away, Kai Lightner has been an under-the-radar, champion-in-waiting for so long, he’s literally had “next” before his sport had a recognized competitive outlet. Read more…

A significant goal of The Mountaineers and its publishing division, Mountaineers Books, is to recognize and encourage diversity in our community and in the books we publish. A recent article in Alpinist Magazine reviewed four climbing instructional texts in regard to gender diversity and gave Mountaineers Books positive marks. Read more…

When I first applied for an internship with the In My Backyard program in the National Park Service, it seemed almost impossible for someone like me to join. Read more…

Last year, The Mountaineers went through an exercise to clarify and distill our core values, both as an organization and as a community. The core values we identified—Adventure, Advocacy, Community, Education, and Volunteerism—closely align with our mission to “explore, learn, and conserve." In a recent course, one of our students identified a common language shortcut with the unintended impact of being non-inclusive. Read more…

For the past ten years, I haven't been able to hike. My knees were severely arthritic and the pain was so great that it got to where I couldn't even stand for more than 15 minutes without crying. I tried to not let it stop me. I was in my late 50s, felt 20 years older, obese from not being able to exercise, losing muscle tone, depressed, and not wanting to leave the house. It was time for a change. Read more…

As Leaders in the outdoor industry, we must always remember the importance of being open to new information, re-evaluating our plans in light of new conditions, and avoiding overconfidence that can lead to mistakes. Read more…

Creating an inviting and diverse membership is an important goal for all of us. It's a challenge because building an inviting, diverse, inclusive environment for learning and adventure will take many steps and The Mountaineers, with a predominantly white membership, could do more to make progress on this journey.  Read more…

We hear about it all the time. National Parks visitation is becoming less diverse as our nation is becoming more diverse. The lack of diversity on our trails, at our crags, and on our rivers is profound, and it’s a problem. If you’ve spent enough time in the Outdoor Industry, you’ve likely sat at a table with well-intended, mostly white, predominately middle-aged male educators talking about a shared passion for changing this demographic imbalance in the outdoors. Last week, there was a new kind of conversation. Read more…

Every Mountaineer is well-meaning. Every volunteer cares about the experiences of their students and participants. But let's look at some statements that women occasionally hear while out on the trails: Read more…