Interviews

Two Nationals Competitors Recount their Experience

March 1, 2019

If you had not heard, two of our youth team members, Ian Frost and Maddie Gillis, made USA Climbing Nationals. Through their stellar performances in the local, regional, and divisional stages, they both qualified to compete with 48 other athletes in their age bracket. Along with their families and Team…

Member Spotlight: Cole Kohei Corbin

February 25, 2019

Cole Kohei Corbin found climbing only a little over a year ago, but he’s already going places. After quickly progressing through Salt Pump’s Lead Class and Skills Seminars, Cole graduated to outdoor climbing – managing his first sport and trad leads before the New England winter forced confined him to…

One Day at Pawtuckaway

January 15, 2019

When the Salt Pump crew hits Pawtuckaway, they try hard and laugh often in equal measure.  Each fall, as the leaves begin to drop and the air starts to chill, the razor sharp boulders of Pawtuckaway State Park in Nottingham, New Hampshire, lure bloc-hungry climbers from near and far. When…

Member Spotlight: Jean Juliano

November 15, 2018

Maine life comes easy to Jean Juliano, even if her current home in Portland is a long way from where she was raised – the island of Kaua’i in Hawaii. “I like living the coastal life like I did growing up on an island, but here I can venture farther…

Inside Game no. 8: Michaela Tracy

November 15, 2018

Michaela Tracy on “Numb Thumb” (V7) at Pawtuckaway State Park. FINDING HER ZONE Michaela Tracy has always struggled to define ho­­me. The daughter of two American ex-pats, she was born in London, where her father Jack worked for more than twenty years. As she spent the majority of her early…

Inside Game no. 7: Mike Morin

September 19, 2018

Our Man in the Trenches “It’s funny, people’s idea about what a bolt or fixed protection is,” says Mike Morin, the Access Fund’s Northeast Regional Director. “If you’re not a climber, ‘bolting’ can sound so ominous. A big part of my job is to explain and break down those barriers.”…

Becoming a Climbing Family

February 14, 2018

By Trisha Cloutier There is a certain moment when a person undergoes a metamorphosis, transforming from someone who climbs to a climber. For this family, their youngest son Declan was the catalyst for that transformation. Not only did Declan become a climber, but his family became a climbing family. Now, Declan, his brother Eamon,…

Member Spotlight: Mark and Debbi Currier

December 11, 2017

  Mark and Debbi Currier joined Salt Pump earlier this year. In the few brief months we’ve known them, we’ve been inspired by their powerful psyche for the sport of climbing, and impressed at their ability to squeeze visits to Salt Pump into their extra-hectic day-to-day lives. 1. Where is…

Member Spotlight: Dianne Roberts

September 4, 2017

Dianne Roberts, 69 years old, has been climbing for just two months. She is originally from the Portland area and now lives in Gorham. Between those two locations, about twenty years, she and her husband John early retired to Park City, Utah to ski and travel the west. They ‘ski…

John Patrick: Member Spotlight

June 7, 2017

  Many Salt Pumpers know member John Patrick as the scrappy, bearded fellow who can’t get enough of our lead wall. Few may realize, however that John, an incurable climber, leads a double life as the Reverend of the Demark Congregational Church, “a small village Church with a big heart and…