The Mountaineers
As a Mountaineers member, you receive free access to our quarterly Mountaineer magazine, keeping you up-to-date with everything our organization and community have been up to. Hear from regular contributors on topics from training exercises to trail tips, and read features from our members sharing stories from the outdoors. We encourage you to access all of our updates, stories, tips, and more in the tree free online magazine today.
"Being part of The Mountaineers, I meet people in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond taking on physical feats that would make most people in their 20s balk. Of course, their abilities aren’t due solely to physical strength. You can go further if you have a well-managed pack. You can paddle faster if your technique has been honed. You move faster through the mountains when your feet know how to carry you. Our endurance abilities also seem to be cumulative, defying traditional notions about athleticism – many in their 50s can run hard for far longer than they ever could in their 20s. Age has its benefits."
–Hailey Oppelt, Editor
In this edition we explore the theme of "active aging," with members from our community sharing what it means to them to get outside and stay fit. In Moving Through the Mountains at 67, Piolet d’Or winner Steve Swenson and UphillAthlete founder Scott Johnston provide resources for building a training program as an older mountain athlete. In A Family Affair we meet Billee and Jack Brown, a couple in their late 80s whose lives have been spent surrounded by family in the outdoors, and in The Meadow, 38-year member Michael Shurgot shares an alarming wildlife encounter on a solo hike in the Canadian wilderness. In From Student to Teacher, we hear about Kiana Ehsani, and what it was like for her as an experienced climber from Iran to join our community. Mountaineers Books author and famed PCT trail angel Barney Scout Mann dives into the past with us in The Hidden History of the PCT, sharing an illuminating discovery he made in our archives about the inception of the trail.
Trail Talk is an especially salient piece this edition as well, as Mountaineers Books guidebook author Craig Romano shares what it was like being diagnosed with an inflammatory disorder and turning 60 – and what this has meant for his outdoor exploits and outlook on life. Craig can be spotted on this cover this edition, on a trek up Old Snowy Mountain.
All of this - along with our regular features, tips, and tricks to enjoying a life outdoors - is available now.
Special Thanks
This edition, we would like to extend our thanks to Craig Romano, Steve Swenson, Scott Johnston, Billee & Jack Brown, Kiana Ehsani, Cindy Hoover, Katie Ives, Seth Kanter, Meryl Lassen, Barney Scout Mann, Kaelen Moehs, Lisa Newcomb, Twyla Sampaco, Courtenay Schurman, Michael W. Shurgot, Steve Smith, Cheri Solien, and Cebe Wallace.
