Where do I start?
Hey everyone,
I’m completely new to mountaineering and looking for advice on how to get started the right way.
Right now I’m mainly looking for recommendations on good beginner resources — books, YouTube channels/videos, training advice, skills I should focus on first, beginner mistakes to avoid, etc.
I recently came across Northeast Mountaineering and plan on looking into some of their classes and guided hiking trips to start building a foundation. Long term, I’d love to work toward traversing harder mountains and eventually doing more technical objectives, but I’m in absolutely no rush. From the little I’ve learned so far, this seems like something where patience, experience, and learning safely matter way more than trying to progress quickly — especially since the sport can get expensive fast.
A little about me:
-Former Army paratrooper
-Comfortable rucking long distances with 40–60 lb packs
-Runner — completed 2 half marathons this year
-Getting back into hiking and hoping to start backpacking soon
-Based in the Northeast, so New Hampshire and Maine will probably be my main areas for hiking/backpacking
One of the biggest things I’m looking for is a sense of community. Since leaving the Army, I’ve struggled to find people who still want to push themselves and chase hard things together, and from what I’ve seen so far, the mountaineering community seems like it might be exactly what I’ve been missing.
Would appreciate any advice, resources, or even just hearing how some of you got started.
Thanks!