Mazamas

I think this is one of the most interesting places I've been to for a field trip. Being a school bus driver that is. It was fun, like I think the kids had an awesome time. The people who worked there were awesome and welcoming. So if you don't know this place is all about climbing mountains and rock climbing. They have a pretty large library of books regarding this matter. From what I was told this is one of four in the US as far as libraries go. It was awesome seeing this place and learning about the things they do. Would recommend highly

This is my club that I belong to for hiking and other outings. If you live in/near Portland, Oregon and enjoy the outdoors and might want to try hiking or climbing then you should research and join this club.

Took a class, volunteered for a class committee for years. The group was very clicky, if you weren't drinking with the group you were not part of it. Unclear expectations and no appreciation for my volunteer time. This organization doesn't really add much value to my life and don't feel like my time was worth it just to keep a dying organization afloat.

The Mazsmas are a serious climbing club. Now they teach those new to the sport how to climb safely. But they also keep the history of climbing in their extensive library.

Mountaineering Club that's been around since 1894. If you're a climbing or hiking enthusiast or just want to learn about hiking and climbing history, you should stop in.

Too cliquish and unfriendly for my liking.

I have participated in Mazamas activities for a number of years both as a participant and a volunteer. Unfortunately, while there is some value in the organization, they are deeply dysfunctional and have some serious problems with the group culture. One of the main downsides of this organization is that they are very cliquish and somewhat unfriendly to newcomers. In my case, I was never really able to break in and was never able to make any friendships that led to climbing outside the organization (which was one of the main reasons I joined). They will not let you into more advanced classes if you aren't part of the "in group" regardless of your qualifications. The organization strongly encourages its members to volunteer and those who are unable to get on climbs are told that they will do better if they volunteer more. However, in my personal experience this is false unless you plan to contribute a huge number of volunteer hours. Volunteers are also taken for granted and treated poorly. Once, when I showed up to help with a class I had signed up to help with the main instructor was very unfriendly and acted it was a big imposition to have me assist with it. Other Mazamas who were helping had a similar if slightly less hostile attitude. In another case, they waited until just a few days before an activity before requesting I fill out a mountain of paperwork that took hours to complete. Another problem is that the instruction is not standardized. Every instructor has their own preferred way of doing things which may be significantly different from other instructors. To an extent, this is valuable since it exposes students to multiple ways of doing things. However, some instructors advocate unsafe practices when they should know better due to having taken advanced classes like ICS and AR. The lack of standardized practices gives these instructors the flexibility to maintain their questionable practices and pass them on to newer climbers. There is no mechanism for recognizing skills learned outside of the organization. If you don't take their advanced classes (which require up to 9 months and cost up to $900), you will always be a beginner to the organization even if you already have the skills and won't be able to participate in climbs that require those skills. It is also very difficult to get on Mazamas climbs. They fill up extremely quickly and you have to apply to a large number in order to get on just a few. I had a success rate of less than 25% which made it feel more like college admissions than something that is supposed to be for fun. There is some value in this organization but there are also a lot of problems. In the end, the downsides ultimately outweighed the positives for me.

Mazamas is a great organization and great place to meet new friends!

There is a theory, probably right, that it's a universal human need to get high. After all, those pleasure receptors are there for a reason! So for a long time, our species has been compelled to climb mountains. The thin clean air, the silence and unobstructed view are the reward for getting high on elevation. Maybe it's also attractive by the very fact it's out of reach of most flatlanders. There is a good argument that the environmental legal landscape of today is the result of those same drives by Supreme Court justice William O Douglas. At age 6, Douglas settled in Yakima, Washington. In his writings, he proposed his hikes in the foothills of Mt Rainier were therapy to combat the effects of childhood polio, although this has been disputed. A lifelong outdoorsman, he went on to become a SEC commissioner and chairman, fighting for the 99%, under President Roosevelt, then, the youngest Supreme Court justice since 1812, at age 40. He was both a liberal and an activist judge, more of that please! Douglas is also the longest serving Supreme Court justice in history. He was a mountaineer and author of the revolutionary dissent in Sierra Club (Mineral King) v. Morton, a landmark opinion on environmental law - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sierra_Club_v._Morton#Douglas.27_dissent. Although Disney won the decision to allow them to build a ski resort there, the plan was abandoned and the land became part of a national park. He was also a contributor to the first ever dedicated environmental law journal, published by Lewis and Clark College Law School. So individual outdoor experiences can have a huge impact on public policy and public policy can have a huge impact on the availability of outdoor experiences. The mission of the Mazamas, as it was with William O Douglas, is to get high outdoors. They lead climbs of Mt Hood, other area high spots, and outdoor events including humble Portland city hikes of our Portland hills. They have overseas expeditions. They also have films, speakers and used equipment trades. I was able to climb Hood with friends. If that is your standalone ambition, the Mazamas have been training climbers and leading ascents for over 100 years. If you don't have personal mountaineer buds, and you want to get it up, the Mazamas is highly recommended! They teach mountain survival, self arrest, rope work and traversing crevasses. You will need that to get by Mt Hood's Bergschrund - http://www.traditionalmountaineering.org/Report_Hood_Bergschrund.htm. The summit's most common approach, the Pearly Gates, is a steep narrow chute which can be plagued by rockfalls in the warmer season or warmer parts of the day (helmets required). I was able to easily arrest a slip by a ropemate on our descent there. On the way up and down, you will pass poisonous volcanic gas vents. Yes, Mt Hood is a volcano. You can check the history, not too long ago it was quite active! Mt Hood is not a joke: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hood_climbing_accidents. Don't be a statistic! It is the job of the Mazamas to train you to safely summit it. The Mazamas has continual activities for people interested in the outdoors. It is the outdoorsy crowd not the cocktail crowd. But I've not known the Mazamas to be teetotalers, their clubhouse is by a bottle shop, and they seem to have an endless supply of Sierra Nevada beer. The Mazamas clubhouse is classic. They fully occupy an old church. The main room has a stage for speakers and bands where the altar would be. Flanking the "altar" to either side are indoor climbing walls, floor to ceiling. So these Mazamas aren't worshiping any false gods! They have a library, guide books for sale and old photographs from the organization climbing Hood in the snow in the 1800's when they first formed. I have heard they have organized heritage climbs using old equipment and with the women climbers wearing dresses. No word if the men were required to have beards for the climb. I heard a Mazamas talk by a world famous ice climber who specializes in horizontal ice climbing. What is horizontal climbing? That is where you are upside down climbing the underside of an overhang with ice tools and crampons. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZlbObESWr0. In his spare time he paraglides, climbs icebergs, stunt doubles, climbing as Jason Bourne in the Bourne Legacy, and climbs for Red Bull. He also was giving a Portland workshop on dry tooling, a new boutique technique of using ice tools on rock. Mazamas are very similar to Seattle's The Mountaineers or the Colorado Mountain Club, but older. All and all it's a great place to connect with fellow outdoor adventurers, indoors and outdoors!

Did you know that the Mazamas has one of the top mountaineering library collections in the country? It's true. It's amazing! And members can check out books, magazines, and other media for free. And did you know that the Mazamas is one of the oldest climbing clubs in America, formed on the summit of Mt. Hood in 1894? It was! And Mt. Mazama--the mountain that 'houses' Crater Lake was named after the club, not vice versa. Same goes for the Mazama glacier on Mt. Adams. But I digress. Ultimately this is a climbing club with over 3000 members, devoted fundamentally to education. Want to learn how to climb mountains? This is the place. Want to learn how to rock climb or ice climb or Nordic ski or backcountry ski? This is the place. What to go out on the weekend and do these sorts of activities with a bunch of like-minded people? You can do that too! And by the way, you don't have to be a member to take advantage of any of these activities. It's open to the general public--as are all public presentations, lectures, and other and activities. The Mazamas also has a lodge in Government Camp where you can stay--near Timberline Lodge--for cheap. Check it out! Its run almost entirely by volunteers for whom the Mazamas is like family. I joined in 2007. Now my closest friends are Mazamas-- and I would argue some of the finest human beings I've had the honor of knowing. I love this organization.

You know those cheesy country songs? No, not the sad ones about exes wreckin' trucks and takin' yer dog. The ones filled with sugary platitudes about a comfortable, innocent past that never existed. Not sure what I'm talking about? Drinkin' yer first beer? Kissin' yer first girl? Takin' the backroads? Arms out, windows down? Puttin' on yer Sunday best? Family brunches after church? Shootin' rifles with grandpa? THOSE kind. Well, the Mazamas make me feel like that. I am from a place with no mountains, no rocks, not really any trails. I didn't see a "babbling brook" till I was in my 20's. When I moved to Portland I was barely what you would call a "hiker". I had only camped "in the woods", one time, and I was carrying my sleeping bag in my ARMS the entire hike in. But I loved the outdoors and I loved taking photos of the outdoors. I'd see these magnificent, monolithic, white castles towering alone in the NW and think "I gotta get up there!" But. I'd also think "I really, really don't want to die." So what's a lad with high dreams and low skills to do? I googled "Portland mountaineering" and stumbled upon the Mazamas. I took their Basic Education Climbing Program in 2010 and never looked back. I have since taken every climbing class they offer. Snow, Rock, Ice, I love 'em all. I'm so grateful to this organization that I now volunteer to help others that were in the very same position I was in some three years ago. And you know what: I LOVE IT. There are seriously few other ways I'd like to spend my time (ok, perhaps I'd rather be climbing something, maybe, sometimes) It's incredibly inspiring to help people achieve things they never thought were possible (I'm sorry if that sounds like a line from a religious cult). Learning something new can be really intimidating. I know I was a bit scared and a bit timid when I first signed up for BCEP...but this is normal. Don't be shy, if you want to get into climbing, check out the BCEP class. Contrary to popular belief, this is not some exclusive club. You don't have to be a member to do any of the activities the Mazamas offer. Stop by the mountaineering center (I kind of got off-topic, but that's what this review is supposed to be of) and ask the folks in there some questions, I'm sure you have many of them. See you in "The Hills"!

A hiking conservancy group that leads groups on low cost outdoor adventures. They teach people hiking safety and how to climb properly. Mountaineering, if you will. Also trail tending and the like. They were formed in 1894! Mazamas offers over 350 climbs and 700 hikes annually, and sponsors conservation and research to protect and better understand the alpine environment. They rely heavily on volunteers. To become a member you have to conquer a glacial summit. I think that's kind of a cool entry requirement. Their website has a schedule of hikes and retreats along with lots of information and a FAQ: http://www.mazamas.org

I am a descendent of William Gladstone Steel. Wish I were more of a climber, but so proud of what this man accomplished.