Progressive Climbing Education

We invite you to apply for this winter's Alpine Ambassadors ice climbing program in Canmore! The program will help you develop more advanced ice climbing skills on challenging terrain with support from each other, skilled volunteers, and professional guides. Volunteers from all branches are invited to participate in this innovative, aspirational program, which seeks to infuse The Mountaineers with deeper skills and inspiration to give back.   Read more…

Progressive Climbing Education (PCE) is a strategic initiative to advance our Mountaineers climbing programs, make our suite of volunteer-led Climbing Programs more fun for volunteers to run, easier to recruit volunteers for, more attractive to new climbers (especially those coming out of the gym), and more advanced for our highly-skilled volunteers and students. This quarterly communication is intended to provide regular updates about each committees' projects, offer transparency, and ensure that all branches are able to provide feedback and input to proposed changes to the climbing programs. Read more…

Our students and volunteer climbers tell us year after year that there are not enough trips and not enough leaders. The process to become a climb leader is not well defined or outlined, and many potential new leaders may not know where to go or how to start down a leadership path. To solve this problem, the Progressive Climbing Education (PCE) Leadership Development Committee (LDC) is working to identify new leadership roles in Mountaineers climbing in an effort to reduce barriers, increase available climbs, and ease the burden on our already busy volunteers.  Read more…

Progressive Climbing Education (PCE) is a strategic initiative to advance our Mountaineers climbing programs, make our suite of volunteer-led Climbing Programs more fun for volunteers to run, easier to recruit volunteers for, more attractive to new climbers (especially those coming out of the gym), and more advanced for our highly-skilled volunteers and students. This quarterly communication is intended to provide regular updates about each committees' projects, offer transparency, and ensure that all branches are able to provide feedback and input to proposed changes to the climbing programs. Read more…

We invite you to apply for this winter's Alpine Ambassadors ice climbing program. The program will help you develop more advanced ice climbing skills on challenging terrain with support from each other, skilled volunteers, and professional guides. Volunteers from all branches are invited to participate in this innovative, aspirational program, which seeks to infuse The Mountaineers with deeper skills and inspiration to give back.   Read more…

Alpine Ambassadors are a group of climbers looking to push their limits together, learn from the mentorship of guides and highly accomplished climbers, and mentor others. The group is comprised of leaders from all branches with climbing programs! These climbers will head to Squamish in July to refine their skills and be better situated to give back to their branches as a result.  Read more…

We invite you to apply for the the next Alpine Ambassadors trip to Squamish, British Columbia, from July 27-Aug 4. The program will help you develop more advanced multi-pitch rock skills on challenging terrain with support from each other, skilled volunteers, and professional guides. Volunteers from all branches are invited to participate in this innovative, aspirational program, which seeks to infuse The Mountaineers with deeper skills and inspiration to give back.   Read more…

Over a frigid week in mid-February, seventeen Mountaineers from across the organization converged in the warm and welcoming Canadian Alpine Club Lodge in Canmore, Alberta, to spend a week working on ice climbing skills in this penultimate North American ice destination.   Read more…

The core objective of the annual three day Wilderness Risk Management Conference is to offer an outstanding educational experience to help mitigate the risks inherent in exploring, working, teaching, and recreating in wild places. Brent Williams was one of two Mountaineers members awarded a scholarship to attend the 24th annual WRMC conference in Portland, Maine. Read more…

A few weeks ago, we announced an open call for applications in an exciting new Alpine Skills Development program. Its goals are to help intermediate-level climbers refine and develop their technical skills to be poised to effectively give back to The Mountaineers. Together, we're taking strategic steps to design programs aimed at building a cohort of skilled alpinists. Read more…

As part of our Progressive Outdoor Education initiative, The Mountaineers is investing in eLearning to complement our existing courses. Our successful pilot with Wilderness Navigation in 2016 showed us the value of eLearning in improving the delivery, impact, accessibility, and consistency of our courses.  Read more…

The Mountaineers 'Vision 2022' Strategic Plan calls for us to invest in being “innovative leaders in outdoor education.” This means we need to respond to growing needs and address new century challenges in ways that are different from traditional  outdoor education. This includes investment in our volunteers – the greatest source of innovation and a priceless resource that is uniquely Mountaineers. We call this new approach "Progressive Outdoor Education."  Read more…

The Progressive Climbing Education (PCE) initiative is an organization-wide, multi-faceted approach to developing leaders, enhancing skills for our volunteers, growing curriculum, conserving climbing areas, and fostering the highest quality climbing programs. In 2018, we're introducing the new Alpine Skills Development Program aimed at skilled climbers who've given a substantial amount of their time to help new climbers through The Mountaineers, and who want to take their own climbing skills to the next level.  Read more…

In mid-2016, The Mountaineers Board of Directors voted to allocate funds to begin a project called Progressive Climbing Education. The goal was to dedicate resources to advance the goals and initiatives  of our passionate volunteers. Done well, these strategic investments will make our suite of volunteer-led Climbing Programs more fun for volunteers to run, easier to recruit volunteers for, more attractive to new climbers (especially those coming out of the gym), and more advanced for our highly-skilled volunteers and students. Read more…

In mid-2016, The Mountaineers Board of Directors voted to allocate funds to begin a project called Progressive Climbing Education. The goal was to dedicate resources to advance the goals and initiatives  of our passionate volunteers. Done well, these strategic investments will make our suite of volunteer-led Climbing Programs more fun for volunteers to run, easier to recruit volunteers for, more attractive to new climbers (especially those coming out of the gym), and more advanced for our highly-skilled volunteers and students.

On January 12, 2017, the Board of Directors ratified a multi-year Progressive Climbing Education Plan and approved $131k to fund the first phase of work in 2017.  Read more…

We've spent the past five months in an intensive discovery process, gathering input from folks within our climbing committees at all branches, from leaders in our climbing community, and from folks in our local climbing communities who may not be associated with The Mountaineers. We've learned a lot and highly value the input we've received from our community! To learn more about the discovery process, check out this blog. Read more…

Earlier in 2016, The Mountaineers Board of Directors voted to allocate funds to a project we’re calling Progressive Climbing Education. The goal is to dedicate resources to advance the goals and initiatives  of our passionate volunteers. Done well, these strategic investments will make our suite of volunteer-led Climbing Programs more fun for volunteers to run, easier to recruit volunteers for, more attractive to new climbers (especially those coming out of the gym), and more advanced for our highly-skilled volunteers and students. Read more…

We believe we have a responsibility to build a community that welcomes climbers of all types - new climbers, climbers new to the area, climbers from every community, hard core climbers, and those of us that dabble in climbing. That's why we embarked on a project called Progressive Climbing Education - an initiative to re-think our program design to better meet the needs of the climbing community and better achieve our mission. The first step involved intensive information-seeking, then we took the feedback to simplify our project goals. One of those goals is to "Create a Welcoming Community."  Read more…

We believe we have a responsibility to teach climbers to be good stewards in the mountains. That's why we embarked on a project called Progressive Climbing Education - an initiative to re-think our program design to better meet the needs of the climbing community and better achieve our mission. The first step involved intensive information-seeking, then we took the feedback to simplify our project goals. One of those goals is to "Develop Good Stewards."  Read more…

We believe we have a responsibility to teach climbers to be safe, efficient, and competent in the mountains. That's why we embarked on a project called Progressive Climbing Education - an initiative to re-think our program design to better meet the needs of the climbing community and better achieve our mission. The first step involved intensive information-seeking, then we took the feedback to simplify our project goals. One of those goals is to "Develop Safe Climbers."  Read more…

At our July Climbing Education Advisory Council (CEAC) meeting, we were advised to simplify our goals to make them easier to articulate and understand and so they can serve as anchors for his project moving forward. Read more…

The Mountaineers is embarking on a project we're calling Progressive Climbing Education - an initiative to re-think our program design to better meet the needs of the climbing community and better achieve our mission. The first step is an intensive information-seeking process to find out what's working and what needs to change. We sent a survey to the broader climbing community and received more than 200 thoughtful responses. Read more…

Did you miss the chance to attend our Progressive Climbing Education listening sessions? Please use this survey  to give us your input! Read more…

We’ve been teaching people how to climb outside for 110 years, but that doesn’t mean we have all the answers. As we look back on the challenges we’ve faced and look forward to the opportunities to teach skills in new and different ways, we’re excited about the potential to take some of our outdoor education programs in a new direction. Read more…