Foothills Hiking Committee
FOOTHILLS HIKES AND HIKING SKILLS COURSES
Despite the relatively small size of the Foothills Branch, our dedicated volunteers on the Foothills Hiking Committee delivered 210 hikes a between October 2017 and October 2018. These hikes ranged across a wide variety of destinations and levels of physical challenge, from easy beginner trips, to photo and wildflower hikes, to intense conditioners, and even to hikes followed by wine-tasting!
The Foothills Hiking Committee also puts on several clinics and courses to help new and seasoned hikers gain new skills and refresh existing ones. Most of our courses are offered in the spring, as the hiking season gears up! Our clinics and courses for hikers include:
- Introduction to Hiking in the Pacific Northwest! - Free seminars with accompanying hikes!
- Winter Conditioning Hiking Series - Free series of hikes to help you keep your conditioning up over the winter!
- Conditioning for Hikers and Backpackers - Develop a personalized training and conditioning plan to improve your strength and conditioning for hiking and backpacking!
- "Staying Found" On-Trail Navigation - A hands-on navigation field day focused on skills that hikers and backpackers need to 'stay found', even on complicated trails!
CONSIDER BECOMING A Mountaineers HIKE LEADER!
Even if you aren't currently a member of Foothills Branch, the Foothills Hiking Committee is a great home for anyone who would like to 'give back', learn valuable outdoor leadership skills, and gain greater control over where and when their Mountaineers hikes will go. We do this by:
- Offering a regular New Hike/Backpack Leader Seminar, where you can learn about the expectations and procedures for being a Mountaineers hike leader. You will learn from experienced leaders in a small-group discussion format how to handle some of the most common leadership challenges on hikes;.
- Providing mentors and other assistance for new leaders as they set-up and lead their first Mountaineers hike.
- Offering a wide range of Leader Resources and regular updates on skills and tools.
- Providing generous rewards for our active leaders, including free and subsidized core-skills training and REI gift cards.