Most Popular Blogs

Join The Mountaineers this fall for an evening of inspiring and captivating outdoor films handpicked from the Mountainfilm festival in Telluride, Colorado. Read more…

Today and tomorrow mark a celebration of community and generosity across the Pacific Northwest. Will you join us and GiveBIG to get more people outside? Read more…

On May 7 & 8 thousands of Washingtonians will join GiveBIG, a regional grassroots fundraising movement to support the causes and organizations that help our community flourish. Make a GiveBIG donation to The Mountaineers to support inclusive and responsible outdoor recreation in the PNW and beyond! 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 story begins in April, 2018 with a silly idea. I was moving away from my hometown of Seattle to Santa Barbara, and I wanted a good old fashioned Seattle sendoff before I went. I started thinking about the things I would miss when I moved, and one of those things was Dick’s, the classic Seattle burger chain. Dick’s is the mecca for late night food for teenagers, and post adventure eats for weekend warriors. It’s fast, cheap, and delicious.  Read more…

 A collection of trip reports with many opportunities for delight and few opportunities for dismay. Read on, dear friends, for an A-list peak, little feet in sticky sand, a very focused shuffle, and a sneaky October trip report (I know, I cheated) that reminds us of the dear and delicate work to be done in our forests.  Read more…

Mountain photography has been a passion of mine for over forty years, but I had little noticed (or perhaps intentionally ignored) mosses. After rejoining The Mountaineers in early 2015 to take the Introduction to the Natural World (INW) Course, I signed up for a few Naturalist activities that were oriented around mosses and lichens on wintertime hikes. I don’t recall wanting to learn about mosses and lichens - I barely knew what the latter were. I just wanted to expand my hiking repertoire. So I joined “moss hikes” on Cougar and Tiger Mountain. Read more…

The Mountaineers is committed to leading innovation in outdoor education. A key component of this commitment is investing in our volunteer leaders, the heart and soul of our vibrant organization. We’re excited to announce new Leadership Development Series seminars that provide high-quality, continuing education opportunities for our current and aspiring volunteers. Read more…

Mount Rainier National Park has over 100 climbable peaks — not counting Mount Rainier itself — either within or immediately adjacent to the Park boundary. Most are scrambles, a few are climbs, and 15 peaks are reachable as hikes.  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…

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

#GiveBIG is always an exciting time for us at The Mountaineers and this year was no exception. Thanks to your contributions, you helped us stretch beyond our match goal and together we raised $27,000 to support The Mountaineers, Mountaineers Books, and the community of volunteers who teach us to explore, connect, and advocate. 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 Mountaineers is incredibly fortunate to be located in a state with more than 12,000 miles of trails. On the first Saturday of June, communities across to country come together to celebrate National Trails Day. The Mountaineers invites you to help us celebrate our trails by joining a trail work party in some of our favorite places!  This year we have four highlighted stewardship opportunities to help you get involved, and many more all year round. Read more…

I vividly remember the first time I encountered runners on a backcountry trail. It was during the summer of 1985 and I was hiking in New Hampshire’s Pemigewasset Wilderness; New England’s largest wilderness area. I was wearing heavy boots and schlepping a pack complete with the 10 essentials-plus. The runners were carrying practically nothing — and their footwear and clothing were minimal too. My initial reactions were, those guys are crazy traveling through the backcounty with not much more than a water bottle — and how dare they breeze through this trail disrupting my wilderness experience! Read more…

The Foothills Branch Annual Social and Volunteer Recognition Banquet was a well-attended and a fun event for all. To kick things off, former branch chair Steve LeBrun shared information about branch membership, volunteerism, and programs from 2017, and our committee chairs recognized their amazing activity and course leaders. Then our new branch chair Cheryl Talbert announced our branch Volunteers of the Year. Finally, in a much anticipated presentation, ski guides and educators Trevor Kostanich and Forest McBrian shared slides and stories from their 34 day ski traverse from Snoqualmie Pass to Canada. Read more…

Few have documented the new American West as thoroughly or as beautifully as conservation photographer Dave Showalter. In a new book of photography and essays, Sage Spirit (out in August from nonprofit conservation publisher Braided River), Showalter illuminates the Sagebrush Sea which houses an abundance of unique wildlife, including the quickly receding population of Greater and Gunnison Sage-grouse. 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…

Most Mountaineers are not members because they love meetings (apologies to those of you who do!). But since meetings are necessary to run the programs we offer, let's focus on making them more effective, efficient, and enjoyable! Volunteering should be FUN.  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…

I had hiked the route from the Col de Tentes over the 7,450- foot Port de Boucharo, straddling the French and Spanish border to the medieval town of Torla in Aragon, a half dozen times. It was one of my favorite hikes to bring folks along on when I worked as a hiking guide in the Pyrenees for Portland-based Mountain Hiking Holidays. I loved looking for edelweiss, pointing out izards (a chamois native to the Pyrenees), explaining the fascinating history of the route (used by pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago and refugees during the Spanish Civil War), and highlighting so many other facets of this fascinating route to the folks I was guiding. Read more…

So you want to shred some gnar. Welcome. And congratulations on your willingness to look silly as a grown-up in the pursuit of a new skill. Many of your friends have likely been skiing since they were kids, and have no idea what it’s like to learn as an adult. They forget that white-knuckling your way down a ski slope with a waistband full of snow isn’t always stoke-inducing. So here’s a guide from another new skier based on my first season - tools I found useful, things I wish I’d known, and why you should accept and enjoy being an awful skier. Read more…

As we well know at The Mountaineers, teamwork and a shared passion for the outdoors can produce some incredible things. Over the past few years, volunteers and staff at The Mountaineers have enjoyed deepening our relationships with our partners at the American Alpine Club, Colorado Mountain Club, and the Mazamas as we work together to develop national climbing education standards for volunteer clubs. Through this work, relationships and friendships have formed, new climbing partners were found, and we all quickly realized how much we have in common. Today, The Mountaineers is proud to be a part of the newly-named Mountain Education Alliance (MEA) - a formalized partnership between our organizations, and we’re excited to be a part of a new program to recognize volunteer educators, both in the United States and worldwide. Read more…

Borrowed from early military aviation’s dawn reconnaissance flights, the phrase “Dawn Patrol” was adopted by recreationists to describe 5am pre-work adventures, allowing you to fit two days into one. Pulling it off isn’t easy, but with an iron will and a few cups of coffee it can be done. Hear from three of our favorite Dawn Patrollers on what motivates them to roll out of bed long before sunrise, and why it’s so worth it. Read more…

You have a dream of waking up to the perfect winter morning – just you, the stars, and the sunrise on the mountain. It sounds delightful, but one thought may give you pause… why sleep in a freezer? Read more…

Last spring, we encouraged you to sign a petition supporting a National Heritage Designation for the Mountains to Sound Greenway. Over 3,000 of you lent your voice to this issue - your signature helped double the support for this designation!   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 June, the Carbon Footprint Reduction Committee launched an ambitious $31,000 fundraising campaign in support of the Tacoma Program Center’s three-phase Net-Zero Energy Project. All funds raised would be used to implement Phase 2, replacing gas-powered furnaces and appliances with energy-efficient electric versions to greatly reduce the building’s reliance on fossil fuels. When all three phases of the plan are completed, the Tacoma Program Center will be a Net-Zero Energy Building, and Tacomans can feel proud knowing that this community resource is helping to ensure better environmental outcomes for our lands and waters. Read more…

Foothills is the fastest-growing branch in The Mountaineers, and it's thanks to the enthusiasm and dedication of our many wonderful volunteers. Without you, we wouldn't be able to hold the many courses, activities, and events that we offer. For that we would like to thank and recognize a group of volunteers that recently made a difference in the lives of our students and helped us get outside!  Read more…