Ron was equally enthusiastic about mountain climbing. He climbed a great many of the volcanoes in the Cascade Mountains of Washington and Oregon, including Mount Rainier (multiple times), Mount Adams (many times), Mount St. Helens (both before and after eruption), Mount Hood (many times), Mount Shuksan, and Sahale Peak. In the Tetons of Wyoming, he and Kathleen climbed the Grand and Middle Tetons, Teewenot, and Mount Owen. He also later climbed Symmetry Spire. He climbed with his family in the Selkirks of Idaho and wrote an article on Chimney Rock for Off Belay. Also, in Idaho, he summited the He Devil in the Seven Devils, and he climbed the Matterhorn, Sacajewea, and Twin Peaks in the Wallowas of southeastern Washington. While in Europe, he climbed Rimpfischhorn, Pollux Peak, Liskalm, and Mont Blanc in Switzerland. Of all his climbing treks and tours, his most memorable was a trek to Mount Everest Base Camp in October 1999, where he reached the summit of 18,600-ft Kala Patar, an altitude personal record. The roundtrip trek started at Lukla in Nepal and took about ten days.