Progressive Climbing Education Committee Roles

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. 

While The Mountaineers will invest in key staff supports to drive this work forward, we will rely on the innovation of four key committees to move this initiative in the right direction.

Committee Summaries

To learn how to serve on a committee, click the "learn more" link 

Curriculum Committee

We will bring together volunteers from all branch's climbing committees to inventory our current courses and curriculum, standardize curriculum across branches, and then work to expand course offerings, including short-course modules to meet the needs of busy climbers. Learn More

Technical Advisory Committee 

We will bring together volunteers from all branch's climbing committees to make annual recommendations for climbing techniques to be used organization-wide. This committee will be charged with keeping abreast of new technical and gear developments as well as industry standards, recommending changes to committees, and implementing a training plan to ensure any changes are adopted by all branches. Learn More

Leadership Progression Design Group

We are bringing together volunteers from each branch's climbing committees to re-design our leadership progression. Currently it is a cumbersome bureaucratic process to become a Climb Leader, and each branch has slight different definitions and varieties of Climb Leader. We also have lots of less-technical activities run by highly-qualified climb leaders because we don't have entry-level leadership designations. The Leadership Progression Design Group will be tasked with developing a leadership progression that is easy to understand, consistent across branches and helps students become leaders early and progress in status. Learn More

Climbing Access & Stewardship Committee 

We will bring together volunteers from each branch's climbing committee to address our access issues and promote stewardship of our climbing areas. This committee will be charged with scouting, identifying and developing new climbing areas, partnering with local agencies to conduct stewardship projects, making recommendations to our climbing committees about party size reduction where needed, and participating in advocacy efforts to promote access to public lands. Learn More