Conditioning Hiking Series

Participants must be a Mountaineers member with current waiver on file to register for the course.   Please email info@mountaineers.org with registration questions.

Priority registration: January 26th thru February 8th for first time participants only.

COVID POLICY:   All students and instructors are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to participate in this course. Students will be required to show proof of vaccination prior to attending the orientation meeting. More detail on the process will be emailed. Participants  will be required to keep up to date with current public guidelines for boosters, exposure for quarantine, etc. from the Mountaineers, King County, Washington, and the CDC. Additionally, masks will be required when indoors for in-person lectures. 

Due to the ongoing pandemic and the rise of variants of the COVID-19 virus, we will evaluate the restrictions closer to the course dates and modify the course as needed for the safety of our students and instructors.

The course fee is $150.00. Scholarships are available, please see the link above.  

Cancellations are subject to the following refund schedule.  Please note that all refunds will incur a $10 club cancellation fee.

• Before Apr 1 - 100% 
• Apr 1-30 - 75%
• May 1-31 - 50%
• After May 31 - no refund

Overview: This course is for hiking enthusiasts who are interested in challenging themselves by working up to day hikes of 15+ miles.  The Seattle Conditioning Hiking Series (CHS) kicks off in March, and is designed to prepare hikers who are currently experienced at the upper-easy/moderate level for the challenges of strenuous, long-distance day hiking.  It is also designed to provide a small-group trip environment in which hikers can build friendships by hiking with many of the same people on each trip.  All hikes are limited to current participants and former graduates.

Minimum Qualifications: This course is not for beginning hikers.  (If you are a beginning hiker we suggest you check out our  'GoHike' series here.)  For CHS, you should be capable of a minimum sustained pace of 1.5 miles per hour (think 1:20 up Rattlesnake Ledge trail or 2:40 up Mt. Si trail).  Participants are strongly encouraged to build physical fitness and spend time outside of the course keeping themselves in shape. You should be available and committed to go on eleven hikes over the course of the summer. You should also enjoy group hiking and socializing with your fellow participants.

What to Expect: The 2022 CHS program consists of a mandatory orientation, a minimum of two CHS hikes per month building in mileage and elevation gain from April through August, and a graduation hike in September. During orientation, we will cover basic information that is needed to prep for longer hikes, and also to go over course guidelines and expectations.  Participants are also required to earn a Stewardship Credit  (by completing one day of trail maintenance), as well as their  Low Impact Recreation badge (consisting of a few videos and a quiz) in order to graduate. 

This is typically a very popular series, and there is usually a long waitlist, so please  be committed to putting in the time and effort to graduate before registering and claiming a spot on the roster. 

Prior to your first hike in April, you will choose your preference for moderate (CHS1) or fast (CHS2) paced hikes. If you are uncertain which level is best for you, pacing hikes will be offered in March and our leaders will help you select a pacing group.

Where We Hike:  Our hike destinations vary depending on the month and range from the Cascades to the Olympics, from Mt. Baker to the Columbia Gorge, and everywhere in between including Mt. Rainier, Eastern Washington, the Kitsap peninsula, Mount St. Helens, Hwy 2, and the I-90 Snoqualmie Corridor.  We try to offer hikes on each Sat/Sun of every month, as well as occasional weekday offerings for those with flexible schedules. 

To get an idea of the types of hikes that will be offered and when, you can view sample hike schedules from a previous year here (for the CHS 1 < 2.0 mph pace group) and here (for the CHS 2 > 2.0 mph faster pace group).  

Miscellaneous Details:

Other popular annual events (all optional) offered with Seattle CHS include an Olympics campout weekend (June) with hikes to scenic peninsula locales, a Mt. Rainier campout weekend featuring  hikes in and around the park (July), and a North Cascades campout weekend highlighting several stunning hike destinations in the 'American Alps' (August).  Our optional overnight trips have extra costs associated with them.   Note that in 2021 the structure of these campout weekends was changed due to Covid-19, and exactly what these will look like in 2022 is still to-be-determined.