Tacoma Explorers

Please read this description in its entirety before registering.

Note: Explorers membership is $550 in total for the year. Participants may register here and pay in full, or may contact ryannp@mountaineers.org to set up a quarterly payment plan. 

We offer financial assistance! To apply for financial assistance click here.

Our Explorers program provides youth ages 9-13 and their parents/guardians with the opportunity to get out on an outdoor adventure once a month. Explorers is designed to expose youth to a variety of outdoor activities, build skills and confidence, and have fun! Participants will have the chance to climb, hike, snowshoe, cross-country ski, paddle, explore, and learn how to be safe in the outdoors. The Explorers group is also intended to prepare students for Mountaineers Adventure Club (MAC) in the future, which focuses on bigger adventures including mountaineering and advanced climbing.

Explorers will be supported by Mountaineers staff, but parents will be expected to play an active role in supporting their children, driving to trips, supervising, and possibly even leading some trips if they feel ready. Staff will provide opportunities for parents to advance their own outdoor skills as well as learn key skills for leading kids safely in the outdoors. This program will focus on skill-building for both youth and adults, and on building an outdoor community.

*Note that while  parents/guardians are expected to be active participants in the club, there is plenty of flexibility so that youth can participate in a trip even if a parent/guardian can't make it.

Explorers is a club and requires a time commitment and program fee of $550 (which can be paid in quarterly installments). In return, members gain a community of outdoor enthusiasts who enjoy spending time learning skills together. As families grow through our programs, lifelong friendships are built. When graduates of our teen program come home from college, they meet up with other Mountaineers friends to go hiking, backpacking and climbing. This program is just the beginning.

Note: Youth ages 9-13  register as participants, and therefore pay the registration and program fee. Parents should become a Qualified Youth Leader and then register for the Explorers program as a  Chaperone (there is no fee for this).

Explorers members generally are offered two weekend outings per month. One of the trips will be for Explorers families only, while the other trip will be a joint trip for both Pathfinders and Explorers members. We do this in an effort to both build a larger community and make logistics easier for families with siblings in different groups.

Parents who have children in the 9-10 age range may choose which program better suits their child's needs. Pathfinders-only trips will be shorter, easier, and less technical, while Explorers-only trips may be longer, more strenuous, and place more emphasis on developing technical skills. 

Please email ryannp@mountaineers.org if you have any difficulty registering.