Blog

Each October, the Olympia Mountaineers gather to celebrate the work we have done, the fun we have had, and the friendships we made during the program year.  Read more…

Mount Rainier National Park is a wonderland of outdoor escape, offering a little something for everyone. Hikers, backpackers, cyclists, naturalists, and climbers flock to the park, enjoying its larger-than-life views and breathtaking natural beauty. At Mountaineers Books, we are fortunate to have a wealth of titles centered on this incredible place. Below are a few resources for anyone who wishes to explore the wonders, large and small, of Rainier. Read more…

As a part of our mission to help more members of our community get outdoors, The Mountaineers has a Gear Library to provide low cost, high-quality gear to individuals, families, and organized groups. In an effort to build sustainable programs, we are updating our Gear Library pricing and membership structure.  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…

Education lies at the heart of most everything we do at The Mountaineers. As a 116-year-old outdoor education organization, we’ve found that the more you know about your environment, the more you can enjoy it. Our courses, activities, and initiatives teach outdoor enthusiasts new ways to experience and enjoy Washington’s landscapes. We educate and empower youth to connect to nature by introducing them to the many benefits of outdoor experience, including perseverance, self-confidence, and appreciation for the natural world. Read more…

Last year, we announced that The Mountaineers is leading Outdoor Alliance Washington, a group of organizations representing the human-powered outdoor recreation community in Washington State. The goal of Outdoor Alliance Washington is to forge strong relationships with lawmakers and land managers to effectively advocate for shared conservation, recreation, and climate priorities. By amplifying the voices of more than 75,000 recreationists across the state, we can achieve a more sustainable future for Washington’s outdoors. Read more…

We are thrilled to welcome you on Saturday, September 24 to support our impactful conservation and advocacy work. The Mountaineers has a long and rich history as a regional leader in these efforts, and we need your help to continue moving the needle on climate policy. Read more…

The magic of Mount Rainier has inspired Mountaineers for generations. From our early involvement advocating for wilderness areas and building trails (including the Wonderland Trail) to today’s river of hikers, backpackers, trail runners, and climbers flowing into the park, it has long been one of the most popular and stunningly beautiful recreation destinations in the region. Read more…

It can feel like access to a reliable vehicle is the eleventh essential for lovers of the outdoors. Summertime, however, brings with it more options for hitting the trails via public transit; an eco-friendly choice that's also kinder to your wallet given current high gas prices (not to mention eliminating the worry of dealing with a trailhead break-in.)  Read more…

Join us on September 15 for our End of Summer Bash hosted by REI. Adults 21 and over can enjoy a fun night of food, drinks, and music on the outdoor terrace at REI Seattle’s Flagship Store. Read more…

Join The Mountaineers as we host author and climber Jeff Smoot at The Seattle Program Center on September 13 for a presentation on his new book All and Nothing: Inside Free Soloing. Read more…

Our volunteer leaders are a huge part of what makes the Olympia Branch such an inspiring, fun, and impactful community. Each year we honor the hard work and dedication of one Olympia volunteer by presenting them with the Branch Service Award. Read more…

The reputations of Katie “Salty” Gerber and Heather “Anish” Anderson precede them. Katie is a renowned wilderness instructor and guide who has logged thousands of miles on trails including the CDT, PCT, Colorado Trail, and Oregon Desert Trail. Heather is a record-smashing legend who was named a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year for her 2018 Calendar Year Triple Crown (hiking the AT, PCT, and CDT all in one year). Now they have joined forces to combine what they’ve learned on the trail and through their expertise in nutrition and personal training to create Adventure Ready: A Hiker’s Guide to Planning, Training & Resiliency, new from Mountaineers Books. Read more…

Meet Elizabeth Nakashima, a Foothills hike and urban walk leader, as well as the Treasurer of the Foothills Backpacking and Hiking Committee. Elizabeth joined The Mountaineers to train for a hike across the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, and has been with us ever since! Read more…

Update: The Inflation Reduction Act passed Congress and has been signed into law. Thank lawmakers for making these historic investments in our climate and public lands a reality. 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…

The Everett Branch is an increasingly diverse and close-knit community with committed volunteers and leaders. Our courses, programs, and activities are highly sought after and often imitated across the organization. We are looking for enthusiastic and intrepid volunteer leaders to help steer our branch for the next 2-3 years. Read more…

In continuation of our article "Belationships, Packmances, and Nature-Loves" from our spring 2022 edition, we thought it fitting for summer to showcase two stories from Mountaineers sailors who met their partners on the open water. After all, what’s more romantic than the Salish Sea? Read more…

It’s a hot afternoon in July, but the Seattle Program Center basement is invitingly cool. Ethan Metzger, Gear Library Manager, sits at an old wooden desk. He is surrounded by shelves full of packs, snowshoes, and boots from floor to ceiling. A rolling workbench is cluttered with repair and cleaning supplies and a couple of large tents are set up to air out.  Read more…

June may have been a cold and rainy month, but if the heat of the past couple weeks is any indication, summer is finally here. Our activity calendars are filling up and so are trailhead parking lots. Most trail snow has left, mosquitoes have arrived en masse, and the summits are generous in their offerings of clear-skied views. Read more…

Mountaineers Adventure Club (MAC) is a year-round club for teens, giving them access to education and skills rivaling many adult programs. Imagine an at-your-own-pace Basic and Intermediate Alpine Climbing course, taken over a period of four years with sport climbing, skiing, hiking, and backpacking thrown in. As a young member, you learn from upperclassmen, and as you gain more experience, you begin passing down that knowledge to others. Most importantly, you learn to take care of yourself and others in the mountains. Read more…

Each week we bring you a personal story from one of our members and volunteers. For our volunteer profile this week we talked to... Read more…

The day started off cool, gray, and cloudy. We arrived at the trailhead at 10:35 am. The low-lying mist swirled gently around us, cloaking ancient trees, shrouding foothills from view, and forcing us into cold weather gear we were not too happy to put on. Summer was here after all, but it didn’t seem like it. Read more…

The work of our existing dedicated volunteers is one of the many reasons we see our volunteer base growing each year. Many Mountaineers have shared how a positive experience with a volunteer or leader led them to pay it forward themselves, allowing us to provide more courses, trips, and programs for our membership.  Read more…

Herbs and spices have been used around the world for thousands of years to support human health. This still holds true today. Herbs and spices  can be incredibly helpful for the modern day adventurer, especially when out on the trail. Naturally occurring compounds in plants called phytochemicals, designed to protect the plant from infection and illness, have also shown health benefits for humans as well. Read more…

Over the past year, two new courses have been developed by staff and select volunteer leaders to help set the benchmark for outdoor leadership training at The Mountaineers. These courses are the Foundations of Leadership and the Foundations of Instruction eLearning courses. They were designed for our current and future volunteer trip leaders and instructors, with the goal of fostering diverse and passionate connections throughout The Mountaineers.  Read more…

Mountaineers have a history of changing and adapting with the times. We adjust our courses and activities to respond to new safety practices, revolutionary gear, and the ever-evolving passions of our community. Take packrafting, for example. These inflatable “packable” rafts began to appear in army surplus stores in the 1950s – leftover survival equipment from WWII airplanes. Packrafting has recently enjoyed a surge in popularity as lighter-weight versions have become available. And recently our volunteers got together to create the Seattle Packrafting Committee to share their love with other rafters and soon-to-be-rafters in the Pacific Northwest. 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…

The weekend of July 8, I was helping lead a Mountaineers climb of the Emmons Route on Mt. Rainier. Our team was fortunate to have great weather and even better route conditions, and everyone on our two rope teams made it safely to the summit and back to the White River trailhead with no mishaps. Read more…

“Contrary to the examples that most blogs, magazines, and brand-name catalogs present, a backpacking hobby doesn’t have to be expensive, extremely arduous, or put on hold until you are at your goal weight.” Shared in the opening pages of How to Suffer Outside: A Beginner’s Guide to Hiking and Backpacking by Diana Helmuth, these wise words are written with backpacking in mind but apply to all things outdoor gear. Read more…