Ask Claude to research any mountain. The route-researcher skill pulls from 10+ mountaineering sources and compiles a detailed Markdown report with current weather, avalanche conditions, daylight windows, trip reports, and route beta. What used to take 3-5 hours of tab-hopping now takes 3-5 minutes.
Other projects you might like: PNW Climb Planner · mountaineers-mcp · mountaineers-assistant · peakbagger-cli
See it in action:
| Peak | Elevation | What it shows |
|---|
| Mount Si | 4,167 ft | High-traffic trail with abundant trip reports |
| Mount Adams | 12,280 ft | Glaciated volcano with weather/avy conditions |
| Wolf Peak | 5,813 ft | Technical scramble with sparse beta |
| Mount Shuksan | 9,129 ft | Glacier climb requiring crevasse rescue skills |
| Tinkham Peak | 5,398 ft | Accessible Class 2-3 scramble near Snoqualmie Pass |
Quick Start
Install with npx skills:
npx skills add dreamiurg/claude-mountaineering-skills
Then just ask naturally: "Research Mount Rainier". Claude generates a route beta report in your current directory.
npx skills installs the route-researcher skill, which drives the full workflow from natural-language requests. If you also want the /mountaineering:* slash commands, install the plugin instead -- see Installation.
How It Works
The skill uses a hybrid architecture: Python scripts for deterministic API calls, LLM agents for tasks requiring judgment.
graph TB
Start([User asks Claude to<br/>research a peak]) --> Search[Phase 1-2: Peak Identification<br/>Search PeakBagger, fetch details]
Search --> Parallel[Phase 3: Parallel Data Gathering]
Parallel --> Python[Python Script<br/>Weather, daylight,<br/>avalanche, air quality]
Parallel --> Agent1[Researcher Agent 1<br/>PeakBagger + SummitPost]
Parallel --> Agent2[Researcher Agent 2<br/>WTA + Mountaineers]
Parallel --> Agent3[Researcher Agent 3<br/>AllTrails]
Python --> Analyze
Agent1 --> Analyze
Agent2 --> Analyze
Agent3 --> Analyze
Analyze[Phase 4: Route Analysis<br/>Synthesize data, identify hazards]
Analyze --> Writer[Phase 5: Report Writer Agent<br/>Generate markdown report]
Writer --> Reviewer[Phase 6: Report Reviewer Agent<br/>Validate accuracy, fix issues]
Reviewer --> End([Phase 7: User receives<br/>route beta report])
style Start fill:#e1f5ff
style End fill:#e1f5ff
style Parallel fill:#fff4e1
style Python fill:#e8f5e9
style Agent1 fill:#f0f0f0
style Agent2 fill:#f0f0f0
style Agent3 fill:#f0f0f0
style Writer fill:#fff3e0
style Reviewer fill:#fff3e0
Three researcher agents gather data in parallel while a Python script fetches conditions. Dedicated agents write and review the final report. If a source fails, the skill documents the gap and continues.
Features
Data Sources
The skill aggregates from specialized mountaineering sites:
Coverage note: Report quality depends on how well-documented your peak is across these sources. Works best for popular North American peaks.
Graceful Degradation
Missing data? The skill notes what's unavailable in an "Information Gaps" section and provides manual lookup links. You always get a report, even if some sources are down.
Installation
Prerequisites: Claude Code, Node.js (for npx), optionally uv for Python tools.
Recommended: npx skills
npx skills installs the route-researcher skill directly:
npx skills add dreamiurg/claude-mountaineering-skills
Useful flags:
npx skills add dreamiurg/claude-mountaineering-skills --list # preview before installing
npx skills add dreamiurg/claude-mountaineering-skills -g # install globally (all projects)
npx skills add dreamiurg/claude-mountaineering-skills -y # skip confirmation prompts
This gives you the full natural-language workflow ("Research Mount Rainier"). The /mountaineering:* slash commands are not included -- install the plugin below if you want them.
Alternative: Claude Code plugin
The plugin bundles the same skill plus the /mountaineering:* slash commands:
/plugin marketplace add dreamiurg/claude-mountaineering-skills
/plugin install mountaineering@mountaineering-marketplace
/reload-plugins
Python dependencies install automatically if uv is available. No restart needed -- /reload-plugins activates the plugin in the current session.
Usage
Commands
| Command | What it does | Time |
|---|
/mountaineering:research <peak> | Full route research report | 3-5 min |
/mountaineering:conditions <peak> | Weather, avalanche, air quality, daylight | ~30 sec |
/mountaineering:trip-reports <peak> | Recent trip reports from PeakBagger and WTA | 1-2 min |
Natural Language
You can also just ask naturally:
"Research Mt Baker"
"Get route beta for Forbidden Peak"
"I'm planning to climb Sahale Peak, can you research it?"
Reports save to your current directory as YYYY-MM-DD-peak-name.md.
Migration from v4.x
If you previously installed the plugin as mountaineering-skills, reinstall with the new name:
/plugin uninstall mountaineering-skills
/plugin install mountaineering@mountaineering-marketplace
Dependencies
Updates
If you installed with npx skills:
npx skills list # see installed skills
npx skills update route-researcher # update to latest
If you installed the plugin:
/plugin list # check current version
/plugin update mountaineering # update to latest
Contributing
Pull requests welcome. See CONTRIBUTING.md.
Support
Open an issue or start a discussion.
License
MIT · Privacy Policy
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Made by @dreamiurg in Seattle. If this project saved you time, you can buy me a coffee — appreciated, never expected.
