#mountains matter

[mountrainiernps]

On International Mountain Day we recognize the many benefits of mountains. Mountains like Mount Rainier support a range of ecosystems, from lower elevation old-growth forests to subalpine meadows to alpine tundra. These are home to a rich biodiversity of plants and animals. The summit of Mount Rainier is wrapped in glaciers which fuel numerous rivers that provide habitat to cold water species like bull trout and provide fresh water to numerous communities. Mountains are also sources of personal inspiration and challenge, and many people call mountains “home”. What do you enjoy about Mount Rainier?

Learn more about mountains throughout the National Park Service at https://go.nps.gov/mountains.

NPS Photo of Mount Rainier and the Nisqually River in Longmire, 11/26/25.

[mountrainiernps]

NPS Photos of Fay Fuller (left) and Alma Wagon (right). This year for International Mountain Day, we are recognizing that “women move mountains” and play a key role in mountain communities around the world. Women like Fay Fuller, the first woman to summit Mount Rainier, and Alma Wagon, the park’s first female climbing guide, paved the way for generations of women to challenge themselves– and the conventions of their time– on the slopes of Mount Rainier. Suffragists attending the 41st Annual American Woman Suffrage Association convention joined members of The Mountaineers to summit Mount Rainier in July, 1909. Dr. Cora Smith Eaton carried a "Votes for Women" pennant on the climb to fly at Mount Rainier's snowy crater. Inspired in part by this climb, Washington State passed a law to allow women to vote in 1910, which helped revitalize the national suffragist movement. How have mountains like Mount Rainier inspired you?

Asahel Curtis/Washington State History Museum photo of the “Votes for Women” pennant on the summit of Mount Rainier.

Learn more about mountains throughout the National Park Service at https://go.nps.gov/mountains.

~kl

[mountrainiernps]

Happy International Mountain Day! Mountains like Mount Rainier provide water, food, and homes for numerous plants, animals, and people. Mountains inspire and challenge us. What do you like about mountains? #MountainsMatter

___________ NPS Photo of Mount Rainier and the Edith Creek, 10/13/18. ~kl