Wilderness Skills - Olympia Mountaineers

Wilderness Ethics
As the wilderness becomes more heavily used, it is important
for each of us to learn and practice minimum impact skills.
We must, or someday there won't be any wilderness for us to
enjoy and appreciate. As "knowledgeable Mountaineers", we
have a special responsibility to be examples for other lessknowledgeable
back-country travelers. The Mountaineers
take wilderness ethics seriously.
Wilderness Ethic Guidelines
The popularity of hiking, backpacking, backcountry skiing, and climbing grows each year. Competition for
space and solitude increases. Soil, plants, water, wildlife and scenery bear the brunt of the seasonal onslaught.
Litter, pollution, erosion, and noise increasingly scar the wilderness we seek to enjoy.
When we step from the car and onto the trail, the protective asphalt is left behind us. Our attitude and actions
must change to conform to the fragile surroundings we're visiting. A backcountry ethic must take hold.
We're obligated, as backcountry users, as Mountaineers, to help sustain the illusion of solitude and the illusion
of being first. Most of us are sensitive to the obvious--no littering, no polluting, no tree or trail cutting. The land,
however, demands more of us. We must learn how to minimize our impacts even more. We may have to work
at it, but only until it becomes second nature, just like learning to take the proper equipment into the
backcountry.
Wilderness Skills Module Page 38 of 73
Olympia Mountaineers - Hiking, Alpine Scrambling and Basic Climbing