You might wonder if The Mountaineers youth programs are a good fit for you and your family. After all, you don’t summit mountains or know how to rock climb—in fact, you may not have much experience recreating outdoors.
According to Alvaro Juarez, Mountaineers Seattle Program Manager, “You don’t need to be an outdoor expert” to participate in the organization’s year-round programs. The programs are geared towards all families, regardless of their previous outdoor experience.
The Pathfinders program out on a ride (Photo courtesy The Mountaineers)
Program Basics
The Mountaineers Seattle year-round youth programs are for ages 2-18. The programs typically start in September or October and run through summer. Kids learn climbing, outdoor, and leadership skills as they progress through the different age-specific programs. Here’s the program age breakdown:
- Mini-Mountaineers is a program for the 2- to 5-year-old crowd
- Pathfinders serves 6- to 9-year-olds
- Explorers and Junior Mountaineer Adventure Club (MAC) target kids ages 10 to 14
- Mountaineer Adventure Club (MAC) is for high school students.
Juarez says that the programs are “very, very family friendly.” Not only is prior experience not required, but families also don’t have to own a lot of gear. “We cater to all,” he notes, especially those who are new to the outdoors.
Mini Mountaineers program (Photo courtesy The Mountaineers)
An outdoorsy family finds Mini-Mountaineers
Diane Clemens is a parent of a Mini-Mountaineer. Their family loves the outdoors, she notes, and they wanted to build community with like-minded families outside of typical activities like team sports. After participating in some individual climbing events and summer camps through The Mountaineers, they decided to join the Mini-Mountaineers for the year-round program.
Clemens favorite thing about the program is meeting other families. She also enjoys watching kids encourage each other. For example, if one child is nervous about trying an activity, for example, they might be more likely to try it if a friend is doing it with them and encouraging them. She loves to “have those little natural moments that help them feel more comfortable about being outside.”
Clemens highly recommends the program. “The programs work at [the kids’] speed and they meet the kids where they are,” she says.
Playing in the Pathfinders program (Photo courtesy The Mountaineers)
Pathfinders offers community and climbing
Jeff Larson was looking for climbing opportunities for his child. They didn’t want to just go to the climbing gym—the family wanted to do more “real world” climbing and when they heard about Pathfinders, they signed up.
Larson says the program is a “super supportive community of other kids and their parents that’s all built around learning and passing on knowledge relating to being safe and having fun in the outdoors.” For their family, community started building quickly, with connections and bonds forming during the first outing of the year.
Larson likes that much of the program is pre-planned. It’s given their family more opportunities to do things beyond what they could have planned themselves.
Know before you sign up
While the programs all live under the youth programs rain hat, they are geared towards family participation. Each child who participates brings along one parent or guardian to program events, and parents and guardians are expected to chaperone and volunteer during events and outings.
Fair warning: Programs are a big time commitment. Meetings and outings happen year-round, and high attendance is expected. Juarez says that Mountaineers invite families to a kick-off trip so they can see what to expect from the program and determine whether it’s a good fit.
While you don’t need outdoor experience to participate, you do need to be comfortable being outside in all kinds of weather. Clemens stressed that the group gets out in nature, rain or shine. At the same time, most groups prepare well for weather and have backup plans. All parents interviewed for this article stressed that The Mountaineers takes safety seriously in its programs. Clemens recommends checking out some Mountaineers one-off events or camps before committing to a year-long program.
Limited space and next steps
Mountaineers youth programs fill up, and not every family who applies gets to participate. For example, the Pathfinders program has slots for only 25 students. To select which youth and families can participate, The Mountaineers run a lottery. Applications are open throughout the summer, with the lottery held in September. If you get a spot in the program, you can keep the spot year after year for as long as you want to continue participating.
Interested? Consider applying next spring/summer to build your outdoor skills and experience through one of these Mountaineers youth programs!
