Although more accessible now than ever, outdoor recreation bars itself off with its cost of entry in terms of dosh and information. I've never seen a hobby that people are more unsure and scared of than outdoor recreation. I mean with good reason! It's dangerous. I see people on forums bumbling about how do they drum up the courage to go outdoors, maybe they don't go or worse, end up giving companies thousands of dollars in gear that you don't fully grasp what you have or need. Mountaineering especially needs a good amount of knowledge about almost everything involved. If you're interested in the medium I want this to be something that could lead you in the right way. Most general info can be easily found online but even when fully grasped, it never answered the questions I had. You have to keep learning, there's no other way.
MOUNTAINEERING IS INHERENTLY DANGEROUS AND ANY INFO YOU READ HERE SHOULD BE SUPPLEMENTED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF GUIDES AND CLASSES. DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK
Read “Freedom of the Hills”, either read the latest one (seriously, information becomes outdated or things change) or check it out on libgen. If you're interested in going during spring or winter, read “Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain '' .These will be the base of your understanding. Watching youtube videos on mountaineering guides quickly talking about their kit barely scratches any meaningful conversation about any piece of gear they bring. Freedom of the Hills is great for establishing a base knowledge about all the systems at play. It doesn't bog you down with insane info dumps, but you're gonna need that sooner or later. Most good info will be found in forums and books. Many people across these mediums provide good insight and data that you could only get from paying big bucks for a guide. Some good ones to check out are Summitpost, Reddit, MountainProject, and Backpacking Light. You must never be comfortable with how much you've learned. Then you are tasked with the next problem
Let's be honest, outdoor recreation is expensive no matter what area you choose. Mountaineering gear costs are no different if not greater. If you already hike, you might have a third of what you need. If you already climb, great, you have another third of what you need. The last bit is tricky though. I suggest some advice that you would tell a college student, observe your interest, and sink your toes a bit to see if you're really interested. Understand what you want out of it and if possible find a class or club outing near you. Clubs and Classes will almost always rent you with the right gear for pretty cheap and if not you ask somebody there to use theirs. If you live in the middle of somewhere and are about 6 hours away from some proper alpine activities like me you gotta find the closest thing and plan it. Ice climbing festivals and Alpine Academy's are a bit common and you might find one near you. Now after sealing your interest, you have all the knowledge to get what you need and understand why you need it.
Here are my biggest tips for getting cheap gear. Work at an outdoor retailer, either an REI, Moosejaw, or Mountain Warehouse. The reason is that most of them typically have an employee program that gives you discounts from 40% to 70%. Use these discounts for gear that are important to your safety, as you won't see the history of wear and tear of your 2nd hand gear, it's important to keep your kit redundant. Browse deals over various sites too, not just the big ones. In the US and Canada I really like verticall store. The second tip is to selectively buy used. Discontinued items sell for cheap on ebay sometimes, some gear is dual purpose like the Arcteryx Proclines, they climb well and ski ok and only cost me 100 bucks on ebay. Revered American alpinist Mark Twight said “Don't buy into the propaganda that insists only a top-of-the-line, high-performance, expensive, super-durable product will do all the time. It isn't true. Fine tune your clothing system so retreat or suffering will be remembered as 'fun'”. Once you have a grasp on clothing systems you might be able to find that the clothes that are already in your wardrobe are perfectly suitable for the outdoors, not ideal but suitable. Synthetic fabrics that will quickly dry out and breath well, synthetic insulation as idiot proof protection against the elements, a north face sewn-through puffer jacket with a shitton of 600FP down which is perfect for movement and moisture resistance, all of these might be in your closet already and if not they are cheap and easy to find at thrift stores. MYOG (make your own gear) is a route you can take, It can be as involved as making your own bombproof alpine packs or as simple as using household items to improvise gear (Tabei Junko the first woman to summit Everest climbed with waterproof gloves made out of the cover of her car and sewn trousers from old curtains). Good Luck
So now what? If spending all this time learning and reading hasn't inspired you with a first destination in mind and you don't want to fork several thousand dollars to a guide, check out 14ers if you're near colorado or summitpost for an idea of what's in your area. Typically it gives just enough info about a route or 2 or paragraphs about the history of the mountain. Go with a buddy, or if not possible try an easier route alone. Others might disagree but I believe there's little competitive sport to mountaineering these days, all your efforts are your own and you should be proud of it. Mountaineering in summer is still mountaineering.