The Mountaineers: A History

By Jim Kjeldsen

Book Overview

Illustrates the Club's leadership in outdoor skills training and conservation activismThere are more than 15,000 Mountaineers members nationwideIncludes anecdotes about members who made significant contributions to the climbing worldThis club is vigilant for wise conservation, and it is also anxious to blaze ways into the hills that anyone may follow, wrote Edmond Meany in 1910. The revered Northwest conservationist was outlining a vision for The Mountaineers, the recently formed outdoor club that he was to preside over for many years. But Meany couldn't foresee just how many would follow those ways.The fascinating, often amusing story of The Mountaineers' first 90 years of exploring the freedom of the hills comes alive in this book. It's loaded with tales ranging from the astounding to the heroic, such as pioneering trails through terra incognita, rappelling from office buildings, rescuing injured climbers in the middle of the night, and pestering legislators on behalf of the wilderness. There's even some of the discord occasioned by the growing pains inevitable in a club of adventurers that now totals some 15,000 feisty, dedicated individuals.As this richly illustrated history shows, the evolution of The Mountaineers has matched and even aided the growth of outdoor recreation far beyond the Pacific Northwest. The club, its members, and its publications have had a profound impact on the larger community. Many of today's recreational resources came from the actions and activities of the The Mountaineers, including trails, wilderness areas, and national parks; alpine skiing in the Cascades; climbing courses in the US, and the national Mountain Rescue Association.Heading into the next century, The Mountaineers faces significant challenges both internal and external, such as: maintaining volunteerism in an non-profit, member-managed club when it doesn't feel small and clubby anymore; assuring continued, responsible access to the backcountry; and dealing with the backlash conservation activists face from commercial and industrial interests. On these and other issues, The Mountaineers intends to remain a leader in both philosophy and action.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0898866154
• ISBN13: 9780898866155
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books
• Length: 205 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.6" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Attending to the Wild

I'd especially recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the wildlands of the Pacific Northwest - its forests, mountains, trails, and National Parks. It's the story of how, over the past century, a growing collection of academics, adventurers, inventive scramblers, writers, and high-metabolism volunteers came to explore, value, and eventually protect enough wild country to keep the region reasonably green and untrammeled. From the evolution of equipment and mountain fashion to the inception of The Mountaineers' now-extensive book publishing empire; from the first expedition into the barely explored Olympic Mountains to the birth of the coop that became REI - there's a big and important story here. It's a story that credits our predecessors, telling their story well and with enough historical photographs that readers might suspect they're actually part of that story. They are.

An energetic hike through the history of the Mountaineers

This book will interest anyone who has ever spent any time hiking, climbing, skiing, or just plain admiring our natural surroundings. The Mountaineers is one of the foremost outdoors groups and conservationist leaders in the Pacific Northwest, but you don't need to be a northwesterner or a conservationist to appreciate this book. Kjeldsen's style is energetic and he tells an interesting story, breaking chapters into themes such as the club's inception, climbing, conservation, etc. He also does a good job of not getting too technical in climbing or outdoor jargon. The book has left me with an uncontrollable desire to head on up the nearest mountain! The layout of the book is very attractive with tons of pictures, but I was surprised by the absence of maps. A few maps for those who aren't very familiar with Washington State (and probably for those who are!) showing landmarks, first ascents, mountains, and parks would have made this book even more of a delight. Otherwise, _The Mountaineers: A History_ is a fascinating, fun, light, and interesting read!