The Mountaineers

This will be very long winded, so to sum it up, The Mountaineers produce amazing books from an experienced knowledge base with online courses also being an excellent. The practical courses are fairly expensive for being very hit or miss, due entirely to teacher/volunteer staff with a constantly patronizing attitude. I will start with the good parts, the Mountaineer's books and online courses are actually very thorough and worth their money. I own several books produced by them with information that is a great reminder of the basics or something new to learn. Those who write for the Mountaineer's are clearly experts in their field. In early 2021 I took a navigation course from the Kitsap Branch as a refresher for the basics so I can advance to more fun activities according to their course structure. The online navigation course was great for beginners and those who grew up hiking and traveling, but needed a refresher on the details. The bad side was the in person volunteer staff with the practical test. I grew up hiking in the woods of Colorado; climbed dozens of 14 thousand foot mountains there and traveled for work, hiking in national parks and other areas when I could. I do not have a "resume" of achievements for this as hiking is my peace and hobby. I wasn't going to argue to skip basic courses when I joined "at a price" and looked at it as a refresher and learning experience. When the few volunteer staff that would talk to the students asked my experience with navigation and basically being outside, they shut down any conversation the moment I told them I was from Colorado. Why? There was a long list of gear to get for this basic course, most I did agree with, some was a little overkill, all was expensive and required according to the teachers. When I arrived for the practical, less than half of the students had any of it besides just a compass, which somehow was ok, making those who did get everything, feel played. The volunteers for this course were not friendly and far more interested in talking with their friends/colleagues than answering questions from students. For a structured navigation course everyone just winged it. The volunteers were also very outspoken to anyone else at the park that wasn’t a part of the course. People with dogs were glared at and the volunteers showed NO courtesy around them. People on dirt bikes were yelled at my staff, chastising them even though they had their own trail. Some questions of the exam were written well. If you and your course partner aced them, however the volunteers had no idea want to do with you, much less talk or answer any questions. The last question was poorly written and the entire group was confused. The volunteers were VERY selective on whom they answered questions from. I was told by one of the volunteers that if I was such a hotshot to figure it out. Most people gave up and followed others instead of navigating their own as we were instructed to do. Those who came out other than the expected end point were also chastised. I am good with faces and through all my years of hiking since, I have not seen one of those volunteers out here, sadly nor any of the first time hikers from that course. The Peninsula and Cascade range is big, but not that big. Later in I took an REI kayaking safety course which was a blast. Funny enough we ran into an equivalent Mountaineers. The REI teacher went to greet the Mountaineers teacher and on brand, the Mountaineers teacher was upset to see us, wanting our practice area. WE were courteous and moved even though we there 30 minutes before they showed up. As I passed the students, they were all laughably miserable. So buy their books, but there is no need to pay money to experience the Seattle Freeze with a class.

We had a wonderful evening, our last night in Seattle, at the Mountaineers Club. The service we had was great, both people that looked after us were enthusiastic a attentive. We were seated on an outside table and the views were stunning. The food, which is a kind of tapas menu was all good. We would highly recommend the rooftop experience at the Mountaineers Club.

So glad there’s a place like The Mountaineers that offers a wide variety of programs, day camps, and overnight camps for youth. The staff have been incredibly responsive and supportive throughout the application and registration process. We’re thrilled to be off to a great start as my kid just started his first ever summer camp this week and we’re already feeling confident about the experience! Thank you for all the support!

Ok rethink your concept of this club- it is ever inclusive, adaptive and offers wide ranging activities for both mind/body outdoor stewardship and outdoor community for those new to the area and those who’ve lived here forever but lack the skills/support to get out and try direct engagement with the mountains and waters that surround us. Plus I lost my hat at film night and office staff went above and beyond to reunite me with it.

My kids have been going to Mountaineers programs since they were in elementary school through an agreement with the YMCA's childcare program. They have consistently provided such good programming that we've been pursuing more of their summer camp and trip opportunities as my kids have gotten older and older. The staff does an amazing job of running trips and the organization is incredibly thoughtful around safety, COVID regulations, emotional learning and wilderness enjoyment. My kids always come back from their trips feeling accomplished and with new, good friends to join them on future adventures, and as a Girl Scout leader myself, I know how difficult it can be to do the trip planning alone, let alone managing group dynamics in a healthy way (with middle schoolers!). Their fees are pretty steep but in my opinion, they're more than worth the cost for the literal mountain top type experiences that my kids have had with The Mountaineers.

Great venue with awesome staff. They were very helpful and professional throughout the entire process.

Great ambiance and vibe. Good beer selection

Great empty building yet wish there was more information about what they offer... haven't been there for decades but I guess everything is online. Thanks for the use of your classroom. It's interesting that you have so many solar panels to heat all those high ceilings...

Great place to take someone from out of town or a date. Recommend reservations but don't think they are necessary. The atmosphere and view are big winners here. Can get crowded. Parking in the area can suck. Often meet someone here when going to a show at Neptune Theater. Good light fare and cocktails. I like the clam chowder.

Good selection. However their shipping is either ridiculously high or ridiculously slow (i.e. media mail). You have to pick a poison. I can't fathom why they use media mail to mail something that would be just as inexpensive to send first class.

We are currently enrolled for their Alpine Scrambling course. Our experience up until now has been very pleasant. We had a gear workshop a week ago and I went in wondering if it would be an information overload sort of a session but it was very well thought out. A set of instructors were assigned to every round table , hence the session was very interactive with real world examples. The instructors shared their go-to things to carry in the outdoors in different situations. We were handed a booklet , ropes, carabiners that we got to take home with us. The first half of the session was an instructor going through a lot of the content in the booklet and summarizing what is ahead of us for the rest of the year followed by an interactive gear walkthrough . The final part covered introduction to downhill climbing. We were taught to tie two kinds of knots , a water knot and a klemheist knot. We also got to try this out tying knots and traversing down with a rope using the knot. It was a very useful sessions and we walked out feeling confident that we were with the right set of people who would guide us to become technical scramblers. I have been hiking for the past 1.5 years and have done a fair share of strenuous hikes and scrambles. Am never confident scrambling so learning the right technique to make myself more confident outdoors is what brought me here. Also finishing this course will be a gateway for my alpine mountaineering course which is one of my goals for next year. We (my husband and I) have several field trips planned with them and we are very excited to continue to on this journey and see where it takes us. We can't wait to graduate :)

Not only is this the greatest place to meet new people, it's also a fantastic place to either brush up on your first aid skills, practice climbing, learn how to use those super-cool ice tools, teach kids about teamwork, and, did I mention, meet new people??? An awesome organization run by an amazing group of volunteers.

If you are interested in learning the skills to safely participate in some amazing outdoor activities and meet great people the Mountaineers is for you. Their courses are taught by dedicated volunteers who love sharing their knowledge and experience with others. If you learn to climb mountains with them it will be quite a different experience than if you are a client climbing with a guide service. You will be a member of a team climbing with peers. If you are willing to do the hard work necessary the Mountaineers can help guide you on a journey that may change your life and lead you to destinations that you had never dreamed of.

I let my membership lapse and I'm going to have to remedy that soon because this is a great club for outdoor enthusiasts of all kinds. Take classes, go on trips, socialize and do volunteer work. They have clubs within the club for different interests, such as: Alpine Scrambling Backpacking Hiking Ski & Snowboard Biking Climbing Kayaking Sailing Snowshoeing Photography and more... They have outings for families and for singles, and a Youth group, and they have some of the best books and guidebooks around. If you're into the outdoors you'll meet terrific people here and the membership fee is totally reasonable. Highly recommended.

Get outside! This large club helps connect members with climbing buddies and has an endless menu of classes for mountaineering and other outdoor skills-building classes. I joined in August of 2009, and I'm taking their Basic Alpine Climbing course in 2010.

the mountaineers do a lot of great things lots of classes all by volunteers. But after 30 I gave up. Lots of clicks new people cannot break into. only the super athletic and high end climbers. It is supposed to be for everybody but it is not They will send women out into the early morning. Once i was expected to meet some one and ride with time at 4:30 in the morning at some unknown location. In the age of "me too: does this seem like a good idea to you? Also wondering that an organization based in a city like Seattle is all white except for a very few people of color

We always enjoy date night at a Mountaineers event. Last night, we heard Erika Klimecky talk, Photographer's Journey of Adventure and Culture through Nepal. Dinner and a Mountaineers event means we'll learned more about this world, ask questions, and make plans for a most exciting future. Much better than a movie!

I've been to a few Mountaineers events, but mostly for "networking" or "partying" or "movie screenings." I've generally found the crowd to be a bit on the older side, though everyone has been extremely nice and welcoming. They partner with a lot of really worthy organizations, including the Washington Water Trails Association, which helps to ensure that Washington maintains and creates new public water launching and camping sites for human powered craft (kayaks, canoes, stand up paddle boards, you name it). The facilities at the Sand Point location are amazing, and I love the rock climbing wall. If I didn't live so close to Seattle Bouldering Project, I'm sure I'd come here more often. Four stars, despite my limited experience with the club, to encourage you to check it out for yourself!

Now it is out of the City finally,so to be redesigned & new on its' builder style: "DIY TV' .or not a 'used clubroom'+'ballroom' from Nordic Groups off past decades. By objects these cosmopolitan yrs.,but lacks funding for a 'vertical wall' as like a chain club group! Why not open one near to it ! Terrible they don't have more memberships for connections too as others clubs to meet inside which took away their contacts,...etc.,.... [A.A.C., ]the colorado based club since its set into tops a resorts, not N.Y.C.,N.Y. where it were into past & long decades,pre1999yr.

Great, positive place which also has cool events like workshops and even film festivals. Awesome outreach department, cool community. Even if you're feeling dumpy and unmotivated, they'll breathe inspiration into you.

This new headquarters for the Mounties is really nice and flexible space for just about any meeting, or get together.

I rented two sections of the Goodman auditorium for a celebration of life for my mother. The staff was great to work with, and did a perfect job of setting up the space per my specifications. The on-site staffer there that day, Frank, very helpfully brought out another table when I realized I needed one, and also let me use some tablecloths when I noticed that the rectangular tables would look better if covered. I appreciated that The Mountaineers let me self-cater this event, and also that they made their refrigerator and kitchen space available to me. There is ample free parking, and the building is fully ADA compliant. All in all, a great venue space.

Sometimes I feel like I live here lol. I absolutely love this place! There are plenty of rooms for trainings, lectures, and meetings. There's also a big indoor area for large gatherings, and can be divided for smaller events. The bookstore here has phenomenal deals on used books and, of course, a discount for all members. There is a small break room with a fridge and, of course, coffee machine. There is an outdoor climbing wall which is open for general use, and the indoor climbing wall is available during open climb nights (typically Friday evenings). I've always been into the outdoors but the Mountaineers Club has provided me with a community of outdoor enthusiasts who share my same passion. I think what's even more amazing is the fact that the lectures, trainings, courses, and outings are all run by volunteers! It blows my mind that people generously give up their free time for the development of others. I'm really thankful! Keep up the great work!

This is a really great club. It is a chance to learn about many outdoor activities and to make friends. And to socialize. I only gave it 3 stars because phone staff are not always uptodate with info. In this case, it took me several months to get the correct info and thus I was not a member until I got it.

Actually, this checkin was for the PSMS mushroom show. They host it at the Mountaineers. It is always a great show with a lot of knowledgeable mushroom experts. We've been to it the last two years and will probably go again in the fall.

If you're looking to learn basic alpine climbing techniques, the Mountaineers is an inexpensive and effective way to go, but the low price comes with some drawbacks. One is that it's a club that has to teach protocols that convey insurance coverage to certified climb leaders. The structure and hierarchy bleed a certain amount of the fun and joy out of what should be recreation - when I was in the class, it felt a bit like a job. The basic class seems to be viewed by most students and instructors as a precusor to the intermediate class, rather than an end in and of itself. There's also a culture of assessing performance, which leads to some sense of striving for informal standing and status. In short, it's not a particularly fun environment. The courses are volunteer-run, so you also have to put up with inconsistencies in techniques being taught and tested at times. Instructor's people skills aren't always the best. As a club, they have rules, and as with any rules, they can feel arbitrary (for instance, they just started allowing students to bring rock shoes to use on rock climbs instead of insisting on mountaineering boots only and they just started allowing lighter-weight wire gate carabiners instead of standard ovals - despite these changes, I'm sure there are other rules still in place that current students won't like, such is life). All that said, I personally learned skills that I now use in the mountains - self-arrest, self-belay on snow, navigation. I got on rock for the first time in their course and found I really liked it (although others who just want glacier skills bristle at having to do rock). I did gain "the freedom of the hills," which in my case meant gaining the skills and confidence to summit a whole series of peaks I'd never quite finished. So as long as you can look past the drawbacks or if your personality is just well suited to the culture of the club, it's a good way to go. If you're independent-minded or if having a good time when you climb is crucial for you, you might want to look at short courses and other options.

The Mountaineers isn't the Mountaineers anymore. Not too long ago, the Mountaineers had a large group of volunteer mountain guides and instructors who led trips into the wilderness every weekend and taught people how to climb, back country ski and scramble for free. This provided a significant protection to the wilderness environment by the only way it works .... eyes on, boots on the ground every weekend up in the mountains. Unfortunately, the board was taken over by insiders and the old clubhouse near Seattle Center (owned free and clear by the club and an ideal facility for a large volunteer organization) was sold to a developer in a questionable real estate deal ( it is now a condo). The rented space at Sandpoint is operated kind of like a cruise-ship-style climbing wall and the large corps of volunteer guides and teachers is largely gone. The paid insiders, acting commercially, drove out the people who were doing it for free because it hurt their income. In my case, I think I had one of the best safety records of the volunteer leaders with over 100 climbs, scrambles and backcountry ski without significant injury or incident. The Climbing Committee (controlled by insiders) lied about me, sabotaged my trips and engaged in conflicts of interest with outside entities against the best interest of the club. I'm sure lots of Mountaineers insiders, particularly from the publishing company, benefitted greatly from this "monetization" of the club assets, but I don't see hardly anybody up in the wilderness from the Mountaineers anymore!