The Mountains are our happy place. We go for an escape, for adventure, for the views. And, for the feeling we achieve along the way. We often fail to consider that 32 million Americans are at home suffering from substance abuse during our periods of adventure. 

For a few seasons we here at the Mountain Bureau have partnered with the New Life Recovery Program team at the Tacoma Rescue Mission to help our community fight addiction one summit at a time. This addiction recovery program introduces participants to the regional pastimes of backpacking, rock climbing and mountaineering. Throughout the 2023 Summer, program participants will go on several guided trips into the backcountry, and finish with a graduation climb of Komo Kulshan (Mt. Baker). This program needs financial assistance so we can align the program participants with our licensed mountain guides, travel, and supporting logistics. Your donation will directly sponsor the operating expenses of the New Life Recovery-Climbing Out Program.

The New Life Recovery Program is tested. This program has several seasons in our rear view, helping many people, like Sarah showcased in this film, overcome addiction. The full Climbing Out program is a season of focused outdoor adventure to experience the joy curated by focusing on ascending difficulties and complexity of objectives. All climbers tout how outdoor activity helps bring meaning and purpose to life and living beyond the activity. There is no exception when climbing out of addition and create a “New Life”. Offering people suffering a unique opportunity to go from rock bottom to the summit of a local icon is a pretty amazing process to behold. Frankly, we are addicted to it. Participants and New Life volunteers are seeing outdoor learning and adventure programs such as this have positive effects on fighting the top 10-most likely reasons for an individual to relapse. This focused program will strengthen our participants ability to form and achieve goals. More they take away an appreciation for the natural world they thrive in and can have a chance to see.

'It’s crazy to me that we have all of this beauty and nature around us, and some people don’t even see it. For me, I get to appreciate it sober. Something I didn’t think was possible. I didn’t think happiness was possible.' – Sarah, a New Life Participant

For years, the program was funded by one or two out-of-pocket donors and is now in jeopardy of becoming obsolete. 

The Climbing Out program is facilitated by Becky Vinson, a registered nurse, and volunteer fellow at the Tacoma Rescue Mission. She was once a participant on a similar climbing team of recovering addicts. She lived through homelessness and could see how successful this mechanism was for lasting recovery. Becky has kept the program alive, cultivating a gravitational force of love and talent. She has recruited other volunteers and on boarded a small local PNW mountain guiding outfitter, Mountain Bureau LLC, to curate the program.

For several years this program was sponsored by the Recovery Beyond Paradigm (RBP) a 501c3 and rather potent adventure recovery program. It was wildly successful. This program coordinated with rescue missions across the PNW and introduced the concept of recruiting climbing teams from the members of addiction recovery programs. They introduced backpacking all the way to alpine mountaineering objectives. Each program scaled up to a slightly little harder mountains while the mission maintain a weekly accountably fitness program. All of this is in preparation to reach to goal of the final peak and a new life. In the past, Mount Rainier was the ultimate objective. Mark Allen, owner of the Mountain Bureau LLC, was the lead climbing guide for RBP Rainier program, met Becky Vinson, a finical donor a volunteer support climber. These two hit it off immediately and shared the love for the efficacy of this process. Mark was blown away to hear from Becky that RBP program was moving away form climbing and replaced by other more accessible activities not requiring professional guides. Mark and Becky believed climbing related team building had a unique potency. Becky just she kept showing up and hiring Mark to outfit these climbs. Becky then met Abi a climbing team participant. Becky and Abi are now the driving force keeping this alive and assembling teams.

“These are my people. They’re good people. They’re my family and my friends and I’m not givin’ up. I just keep showin’ up and so do they” -Becky Vinson

Join us in helping members of your community climb out of addiction and to the top of Washington’s highest peaks. Click on the link below go to help us reach our goal to facilitate the 2023 program. Becky and the New Life Climbing team program participants keep showing up. We need you to do the same.

If you have any questions about this project please email admin@mountainbureau.com