Seattle Branch Blog Posts

We are proud to share our fiscal year 2021 Impact Report, an annual publication highlighting the ways that programs, publishing, and people combine forces to impact our outdoor community and the future of outdoor recreation. Read more…

With great sadness we share the news of the passing of Pradnya Mohite, a beloved member of our Everett and Seattle climbing communities. On March 6, 2022, Pradnya was on a private climb of Mt. Hood with another Mountaineers member when they suffered a fall. The team was benighted, and Pradnya did not survive. Read more…

Together with our End of Summer Bash sponsored by REI Co-op, we’ve raised just shy of $40,000 to support The Mountaineers Conservation and Advocacy program.  Our community has a long and rich history as a regional leader advocating on behalf of the natural world, and our successes would not be possible without your dedication and commitment to protect the places we love. Read more…

Join the new Seattle Backcountry Ski Committee at the Seattle Program Center for its inaugural event, a screening of two great ski films produced by Teton Gravity Research. Meet up with friends, have a beverage, and build the stoke for the upcoming ski season. Read more…

The Olympic National Forest draws Mountaineers from all over the region year-round to hike, camp, and experience the natural beauty of the Olympic Peninsula. Whether you’re drawn to peaks like Mount Ellinor or love to hike lush river valleys like the Skokomish, the forest’s five wilderness and twenty developed campgrounds offer something for everyone hoping to experience these iconic old growth forests. Read more…

From craggy summits to windswept beaches, Washington’s lands and waters provide inspiration, connection, and transformative experiences. For more than 115 years, The Mountaineers community has been connected through a passion for these places and a commitment to leave outdoor spaces better than we found them. However, it is important to recognize that the places where we gather, learn, and recreate are the lands of Native peoples who have lived here since time immemorial. Read more…

Each year, we host an annual meeting for our members to share a retroactive tour of our last fiscal year. Members are invited to join virtually to hear about how The Mountaineers is doing, learn more about our strategic planning process and upcoming focus sessions, have the opportunity to ask questions of our leaders. Per our bylaws, the Annual Meeting also allows Mountaineers members to make At-Large Director nominations from the floor for the 2022 election season. Here's the recording from September 13, 2022. Read more…

Recently, my partner and I helped teach the Kitsap Alpine Scrambling Course. We began class with an icebreaker question: “When did you fall in love with the outdoors? And if you’re not sure you’re in love yet, when did the outdoors start to call to you?” The responses varied, and even though we came from vastly different backgrounds, we found we had as much common ground as we had differences. This icebreaker served as an introduction to our 20-minute module on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). We continued our conversation by asking a question, in some cases considered the question, then talked about other ways we, as leaders and students, can help foster a culture of belonging for ourselves and each other. Read more…

Become a beach-side naturalist in our upcoming seminar designed to help you develop your shorebird identification skills. Offered by the Seattle Naturalist Committee on Sep 13 at 7pm, Introduction to Shorebirds of the Pacific Northwest will open your eyes to the stunning beauty of our local shorebirds.  Read more…

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. Read more…

How fitting that this fall's magazine theme would be Trip Reports, because this month’s members absolutely rocked it with theirs! Stories, photos, and beta galore, these reports were a joy to read through, especially because our trip leaders were quite the comedians this time around. Read more…

Few people have done more to change the trajectory of our organization than Amber Carrigan. In her five years serving as Development Director, Amber built a talented and high-performing team, dramatically transformed our fundraising mission and messaging to build a stronger culture of philanthropy, and most importantly built deep and caring relationships with hundreds of donors and volunteers. While we are sad to say goodbye, we wish her the best of luck as she moves on to her next chapter at the end of September. Read more…

Join us on the waterfront on Saturday, September 24 for An Evening of Advocacy and incredible artwork!  Read more…

The Mountaineers began as a volunteer organization, and 116 years later we are still largely run by volunteers, with a small staff supporting administrative tasks. Whether your interests are in teaching, leading trips, helping at events, supporting stewardship efforts, or serving on a committee that orchestrates such activities, we have opportunities for you to pitch in and make a difference!  Read more…

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

Our five-year strategic Plan, Vision 2022, provided an important foundation for us as leaders in innovative outdoor education striving to engage future generations in advocacy, adventure, education, volunteerism, and community. Vision 2022 also put a stake in the ground for our goal of becoming a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization where all people can feel belonging. Read more…

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

Have a gear wishlist a mile long, or some extra gear you'd like to unload? Come to The Mountaineers Seattle Program Center from 6-8pm on Monday, August 29 for our upcoming Gear Grab.  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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

South Early Winters Spire (SEWS) is a popular climbing route in the North Cascades. The highest summit of the Liberty Bell Group, the climb offers outstanding views of Liberty Bell and the North Cascades. Climbers flock to SEWS as a great option for their first alpine climbing experience because of the quality of granite rock and the relatively easy climbing and great scrambling. Read more…

With cobalt-blue skies, post-bedtime sunsets, and Rainier finally making a regular appearance on the horizon, it feels like summer is finally here. As the weather starts to heat up and we attempt to cool off (however unsuccessfully) with summer swims and smoothies, let’s refresh ourselves with the brisker memories of June’s adventures.  Read more…

The Seattle First Aid Committee's role is to ensure that our members and leaders have access to classes that allow them to gain and maintain first aid skills. During the past two years, the committee has lost a few core members due to job changes or moves. The Seattle branch is grateful that we've retained Mary Panza as the chair, but she can't do it alone. We are looking for both in-person and remote volunteers to support our community's First Aid education.  Read more…

Directly bordering the monument, the upper Green River Valley is an ecologically important landscape beloved for its scenic views and many recreation opportunities. Early versions of the bill to designate Mount St. Helens a national monument included protections for the valley, but those lands were carved out of the final version to protect mining interests. Left unprotected, the valley continues to face the threat of development. Read more…