Blog: Laura: Mountainers (#1236)

Co-authored-by: Laura Czajkowski <lauraczajkowski@users.noreply.github.com>

Author: dbazhenov

assets/blog/2026/07/mountaineers-intro.jpg

@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+---
+title: "Introducing Mountaineers: A Way to Say Thank You"
+date: "2026-07-16T11:00:00+00:00"
+tags: ['Community', 'Percona', 'Open Source', 'Mountaineers', 'Community Ascent']
+categories: ['Community']
+authors:
+  - laura_czajkowski
+images:
+  - blog/2026/07/mountaineers-intro.jpg
+slug: introducing-mountaineers
+---
+
+You filed a bug report at 11pm because you'd already done the work to isolate it. You answered a forum question that had been sitting unanswered for three days. You wrote a PR. You spent an hour on a call telling us what's broken about a tool you use every day. None of that is small, and none of it should go unnoticed.
+
+That's what Mountaineers are. It's how we recognize the time and energy you put into this community — and reward it.
+
+## Why we built this
+
+Every contribution to this community costs you something: time, expertise, patience. Writing reproduction steps for a bug isn't free. Neither is answering the same kind of question for the fifth newcomer this month, or sitting down with our engineering team to walk through how you actually use Percona Operators in production.
+
+We see that. Mountaineers are our way of tracking it properly and giving something back — recognition, access, and yes, swag.
+
+## What counts
+
+This isn't just about code. If you've assumed that contributing means opening a pull request or nothing, that's not how this works. Points come from:
+
+- **GitHub** — issues, PRs, and merged contributions
+- **Forum** — starting discussions, replying, and accepted solutions
+- **Content** — blog posts, tutorials, and video appearances, including through our [Community Writers Program](https://percona.community/blog/2026/05/22/write-for-percona-community/), where you also get paid for published posts
+- **Direct feedback** — 1:1 sessions with our engineering team and survey responses
+
+That last one matters more than people think. If you want to tell us what works, what doesn't, and how you're actually using our tools day to day, we want that conversation. Talk to engineering directly, or write it up for the blog. Either way, it counts.
+
+## How the climb works
+
+Everyone starts at Basecamp. From there, the more you contribute — and the more places you contribute — the higher you climb. Show up across GitHub, the forum, and content in the same month, and your points multiply. We're not trying to make this complicated: more engagement, more recognition, faster.
+
+Points convert into real rewards. Stickers and digital badges at the entry tier. T-shirts and water bottles as you climb. Hoodies and tech accessories further up. All those who begin the climb will receive a serialized Challenge Coin — the kind of thing you can't buy, only earn.
+
+The people who consistently show up across the board get invited to take part in Percona Live: roadmap sessions, early access, time with the people building the tools you use.
+
+## You don't need a long resume to start
+
+If you've filed one bug report with clear reproduction steps, answered one forum question, or have an opinion about a tool you use that you've never told us — you already have something to bring. We built Mountaineers to recognize the full range of ways people show up, not just the most visible ones.
+
+**[Sign up for Mountaineers](https://forums.percona.com/signup)** and your GitHub and forum activity start counting from day one.
+
+Want the full detail on points, rungs, and rewards? Read the [Mountaineers program page](https://percona.community/ascent/mountaineers/).