Anyone want to grab a beer?” The proposal came after a hike to Skyline Lake near Stevens Pass with 14 strangers. I met them through Gearhouse, Seattle’s trifecta of a gear library, cafe, and social club, the outdoorsy answer to the Seattle Freeze.

In this town, just being a hiker or biker is too broad of an identity to find meaningful community, says Evan Maynard, who founded Gearhouse in 2021. “There are so many people that are outdoorsy that it’s not an identifying enough thing.” The Gearhouse model is to use club-organized activities to connect people, get them equipped without owning more gear, and create organic friendships so they can then organize their own outings. 

With over 30 events each month—women’s happy hours, backcountry navigation clinics, city cycling outings—Gearhouse’s full calendar encourages folks to find peers with similar goals and paces for outdoor adventure. Membership costs $30 a month, though a $95 all-access tier adds free coffee and gear rentals; everyone gets deals on instructional courses and access to a Slack channel for trip-planning conversation. The Gearhouse library rents everything from headlamps to hardtail mountain bikes.

Early inspiration came from the bar inside Seattle Bouldering Project, a social hub within a more purpose-built gym; the difference comes in Gearhouse’s appeal beyond rock climbing. Maynard says that his club contrasts with the outdoor industry at large in that it’s “not just a white guys’ club” and that the demographic spread of members matches Seattle’s. Still, the monthly fees dwarf that of, say, the nonprofit Mountaineers organization, which costs just $85 per year. The group heading to Skyline Lake felt like a cross-section of affluent Seattle; most were child-free millennials. 

At first, Gearhouse was primarily a gear rental service in a South Lake Union warehouse, but people congregated on Friday nights for board games and ski waxing clinics, hungry enough for outdoorsy community to endure a windowless building. Now, activities launch from a Capitol Hill space with floor-to-ceiling windows and comfy booths, open to the public to buy coffee or beer.

“Almost everyone is more interested in doing the thing with other people than doing it at the perfect intensity,” Maynard says. The guided Skyline hike came with an online chat but no appointed leader or guide. More experienced folks naturally took the lead and paced for the slowest members. The three-mile trip took a leisurely five hours, and wrapped up with shared beers and photos. 

But Gearhouse is not just for beginners. At a happy hour, I connected with three women who share my interest in long-distance trail running and backcountry skiing. Maynard likes to say, “There’s no wrong way to get outside”—and from this corner of Capitol Hill, that includes starting indoors.