Coaching Adult Team: A Final Gladness, Part II
Note: In August, long-time coach and guide Zack Sawyer will be moving on from Salt Pump and New England as he pursues new adventures with his partner Suzy in the desert of southern California. Zack joined the Salt Pump team soon after we opened, and his positive attitude, lust for learning, and…
Coaching Adult Team: A Final Gladness, Part I
Note: In August, long-time coach and guide Zack Sawyer will be moving on from Salt Pump and New England as he pursues new adventures with his partner Suzy in the desert of southern California. Zack joined the Salt Pump team soon after we opened, and his positive attitude, lust for learning, and…
Our Spring Fling Equinox extravaganza is coming!
Join us on March 20th, 2019, from 6 – 9 p.m. for our annual Spring Equinox Party, featuring the legendary Spring Fling Dyno Comp. We’ll have gear to demo from Unparallel and Mammut, beer from Lone Pine Brewery, kombucha from Urban Farm Fermentory, and one very cool non-profit organization, the…
Two Nationals Competitors Recount their Experience
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…
System of the Down – Closing the Lowering System
Close the system A common and preventable cause of climbing accidents is being lowered or rappelling off the end of a rope. As experience, studies, and anecdotes (#FreeSolo) attest, it’s not just new climbers having these accidents. The fix is a tight, well-dressed, double overhand knot with a 12 inch…
Member Spotlight: Cole Kohei Corbin
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…
The Load Strand Direct (LSD) – The New Kid on the Block
A relatively recent innovation, the LSD lower is primed to go mainstream. It takes the novel approach of redirecting the load rather than the brake strand. This defeats the device’s assisted braking mechanism, providing a convenient lower! Great if you need to lower a climber mid-route or use a system…
Winter Solistice 2018 Recap!
Thanks to your generous donations and raffle ticket purchases, we raised $379 for Scarborough Land Trust! Another Winter Solstice Success! A few weeks ago, we had our fourth Winter Solstice member appreciation event, featuring the Feats of Strength competition! Over 30 competitors tackled our head routesetter Tino’s four maniacal challenges:…
One Day at Pawtuckaway
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…
Conquering Cathedral Ledge
THE THRILL OF STARTING FROM THE BOTTOM By Trisha Cloutier If you have ever been to North Conway, you have seen Cathedral Ledge. Although it doesn’t dominate the landscape like Mount Washington, it holds its own. Just beyond the village to the Northwest, you will see it – standing 500…
What Goes Up Must Come Down – A Lesson in Lowering from Above
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn… -Alvin Toffle Seldom taught are quality methods for lowering a climber from above. Yet this skillset, which often gets lumped in with other multi-pitch processes like…
Cathedral Ledge’s New Masterpiece
Life, The Universe and Everything: Jay Conway on the spectacular and difficult 5.13c fourth pitch of his new line on Cathedral Ledge. Photo: Brent Doscher. ANNALS OF TRY HARD Jay Conway isn’t normally one for tantrums, but there he was, hanging from a rope three quarters of the way up…
The Book Wall Part II: The Book Wall Returns
From The Ministry of Routesetting It’s getting into winter now, which means it’s time to forget about those cold, snow-covered rocks, and start training for the Spring! To help you with this, we’ve reinstalled The Book Wall on the 50º board. This will stay up for at least two months.…
Salt Pump Circuits!
The Salt Pump bouldering area is about to get more colorful by circuit grading. This system will give a more intuitive feel to your bouldering sessions and workouts. Currently all of the problems are marked with a white SP logo tag with the grade written on the back. These tags…
Member Spotlight: Jean Juliano
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
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…
Our Fall 2018 Youth Bouldering Comp Was A Huge Success!
On Saturday, September 29, 2018, Salt Pump welcomed more the 180 youth competitors from across New England for our U.S.A Climbing Local Youth Bouldering Competition. Competition Results have are posted here. Huge thanks to all the parents, coaches, volunteers, and route-setters who made this event a success!
Journeying into the Great Outdoors
Climbing long existed on the outskirts of society and sport. Climbing gyms, especially today’s modern and inclusive ones, have dramatically changed this. At Salt Pump, we feel privileged for the daily opportunity to introduce people to the sport and enrich the lives of new and old climbers alike. We are…
Member Spotlight: The Climbing Art Teacher
Meet Alison Crofton-MacDonald “The nice thing about teaching art is you always have something in your hands,” says Alison Crofton-MacDonald. Alison is a twenty-seven year old middle school art teacher in the Saco school system. When she discovered climbing four and a half years ago, she was immediately hooked, and…
Inside Game no. 7: Mike Morin
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.”…