Outdoor Leadership

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Bill Coady, a volunteer leader with the Everett Branch who encourages others to lead because he enjoys helping other similarly-minded outdoor enthusiasts ... and because he loves it! Read more…

It is no secret that volunteers are at the absolute core of The Mountaineers success. Nearly everything we do is driven by volunteer initiative and support, and it’s humbling to dive into our annual numbers and take a look at our collective impact. Read more…

The Mountaineers hosted our fifth annual Leadership Conference on Saturday, December 1 at the Seattle Program Center. It was an outstanding day of leadership development for our volunteer community - thank you to everyone joined us! Read more…

For Mountaineers member Matt Ray, the most transformational experiences of his life happened at a summer camp in the North Woods of Wisconsin. Part traditional sports camp and part old-fashioned sleepaway camp, PorterCamp offers a safe space for campers and staff to build a better understanding of who they are, while learning to develop healthy relationships and having a lot of fun in the process. Matt attended as a boy, and has since committed over half of his life volunteering to ensure today’s young campers experience the same magic he did more than three decades ago. Read more…

Meet Foothills Super Volunteer Chris Caviezel. Chris joined The Mountaineers in 1999 and has led over 100 hikes, and recently was a part of the establishment and growth of our new Alpine Scrambling program. Chris is a Search and Rescue volunteer and met his wife, Melissa, through The Mountaineers.  Read more…

We gathered 146 Olympia Mountaineers and guests at Saint Martin's Pavilion for the Olympia Mountaineers Annual Awards Banquet, held on Oct 27. We celebrated a year of hard work, connected with new friends, shared a delicious meal, and remembered friends we lost this year. Read more…

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Tab Wilkins, a volunteer leader with the Foothills Branch who encourages our leaders to be more collaborative, to learn from and recognize near-misses, and to embrace opportunities for feedback. Read more…

The Wilderness Risk Management Conference (WRMC) is an annual gathering of outdoor professionals that creates an unparalleled opportunity for experts from throughout the industry to share knowledge and best practices. We were lucky that this year's conference was so close to home - just down the road in Portland, OR - which allowed us the opportunity to send a group of fourteen staff and volunteers to learn and share on behalf of our organization. Read more…

A massive avalanche buried thirteen climbers below La Traviata peak near Revelstoke, British Columbia in 2003, killing seven in its wake. It made international headlines. Ken Wylie was among those buried; he escaped with guilt weighing heavily on his conscience, as he was one of the mountain guides responsible for decision-making on that trip. Ken wrote a popular book titled, Buried, about his experience surviving that avalanche, and the soul-searching life lessons which ensued. I have been learning from Ken for almost twenty years - starting at Outward Bound, then at the Wilderness Risk Management Conference, and most recently as a speaker at our Mountaineers Leadership Conference in 2017, where he gave a profoundly moving presentation about leadership, loss, and the healing that comes from courageous vulnerability. I sat down with him to learn more from his experience. Read more…

Meet Foothills Trail Running Committee co-chair Gabrielle Orsi. A San Diego native who relocated to Washington State from Colorado in 2013, she leads trail running, hiking, backpacking, and snowshoeing trips for the club in addition to her committee work. Read more…

If you didn’t notice, the larches were out in force this month, along with exceptionally sunny October weather inviting us to play outside. I think Mother Nature remembered to let the trees know it’s autumn, but she forgot to invite the rain. That's just dandy by me. Read more…

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Rena Chinn, a volunteer leader with the Seattle Branch who encourages others leaders to develop a clear sense of their capabilities and limitations, and to lead within the scope of their skill base. Read more…

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Curtis Stock, a volunteer leader with the Tacoma Branch who encourages our members to give trip leadership a try. If your committee thinks you're ready, you probably are! Read more…

Ruth Nielsen has practiced law in Washington for 30 years, specializing primarily in sports-related personal injury defense and outdoor product liability defense. She has successfully defended claims involving many of the activities that we lead at The Mountaineers - including skiing, rock climbing, mountaineering, and backpacking - and she is a frequent presenter at The Mountaineers annual Leadership Conference. Read more…

For a few days in late August, a group of students from our Mountaineers Adventure Club (MAC) joined the Access Fund's Conservation Team for stewardship work at Washington Pass. The project improved the well-used, but ill-maintained climber’s path that branches off of the Blue Lake Trail to access climbs on Liberty Bell, one of Washington’s most coveted and impressive peaks.  Read more…

Have you ever wondered who's devoting all the time and energy to run our courses and activities? How did they do it and why? Our volunteer leaders are the unsung heroes who have laid the groundwork for the programs we enjoy. This month we feature two exceptional volunteers: Darryl Olson and Rich Leggett! Read more…

Our younger members within The Mountaineers have been staying active and busy in Olympia the past few years. Volunteers from Olympia’s Youth Outreach and Family Hiking committees have pioneered new ways to get kids and their families excited about the outdoors. Since the youth program began nearly three years ago, our volunteers have created many  opportunities for youth to learn and explore. Read more…

On Monday, August 13, 2018, I attended a free presentation at REI by Dr. Michael Domingo, DPT, OCS entitled "Exercises for Healthy Hiking". I learned a lot about how to stay active in the outdoors as you enter your 'wiser years', and with Dr. Domingo's permission I want to share those tips with you. Read more…

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Henry Romer, a volunteer leader and instructor with the Olympia Branch who leads for multiple activities and encourages new leaders to take advantage of the wealth of knowledge available within our Mountaineers community! Read more…

With the sun about to kiss the horizon, Liz Thomas, trail name: “Snorkel,” has places to go and needs the last rays of the day to illuminate her path. She is ascending and descending steps in Seattle, one of the hilliest and most publicly staircased cities in the country. This is not a task to be executed, at her pace, in complete darkness. Read more…

Tom Unger has been hiking, climbing, skiing, paddling, and sailing up and down the west coast for 25 years. He’s widely praised by students and participants for his outstanding communications, group facilitation, instruction, and collaborative leadership. In the summer of 2017, Tom led a two-week trip with The Mountaineers around Cape Scott with Barney Bernhard, Esther Ladwig, Marty Mayock, Charlie Michel, and Karen Cramer. In this interview, Tom discusses how he intentionally brought his group together around common goals, expectations, and trip styles. Read more…

Volunteers are the lifeblood of Mountaineers programs, and this month we want to give a big shout-out to a volunteer who has jumped in with both feet to provide fantastic energy and great help with the startup of our Trail Running Committee! Read more…

What happens if a student isn’t able to demonstrate proficiency in a skill? What if a student has demonstrated the skill, but fails to do so during a test? When is good enough good enough, and when is an error sufficient to fail a student? When we fail a student, what options does that student have to continue to pursue this activity with The Mountaineers? Read more…

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Ted Miller, a volunteer leader with the Bellingham Branch who strives to provide a safe environment for students to learn from their mistakes. Read more…

Our branch wants to give a big shout out to Patti Polinsky and Michael Montgomery! Meet these awesome volunteers whose hard work is a huge asset to the Foothills branch community. Read more…

How do industry trends affect, shape, and impact our programs at The Mountaineers? If this is a question that you've ever considered – and a conversation that you're interested in being a part of – we invite you to join The Mountaineers at this year's Wilderness Risk Management Conference in Portland, Oregon. Read more…

For our Leader Spotlight this month we talked to Bernadette Lamarca, a volunteer leader with the Everett Branch who was hooked on The Mountaineers after three hikes ... and one fortuitous piece of chocolate! Read more…

On June 24, I will be leaving home - along with a group of three other Mountaineers sea kayakers - to paddle down the west coast of Vancouver Island. Our plan is to take three weeks, starting in Winter Harbor and ending in Tofino, paddling a distance of over 200 nautical miles of exposed and remote outer coastline.  As a part of our safety plan, we've included electronic signaling devices which we can use to call for emergency help. This blog describes the various options that I considered for our trip, an overview of what we decided to bring, and how we will use these devices throughout our journey.  Read more…

I am a proud trail running newbie! I first hit the trails in my street running shoes, carrying nothing but my car key. “No big deal,” I thought. “I’ve got this.” Then I watched my pace slow way down from my road pace and started debating whether the steep hills would kill me. “But I’m a runner, this shouldn’t be this hard!" Read more…

When is a group in the outdoors too big? Too small? The answer, of course, is subjective, and also depends on the place and the activity. The Mountaineers Outdoor Ethics Policy encourages leaders to choose a maximum party size based on seven important factors. Read more…