My Climbing Story

Hi, I'm Sarah!

I have been climbing since I was really young (check out this picture on the left from 10/15/00) and I wouldn’t trade this sport for the world. Rock climbing has taught me confidence, independence, strength, and so much more. In the past 20 years this stoked little girl turned into a professional athlete, coach, outdoor guide, instructor and advocate for the sport. Here’s how my story started:

My very first climbing experience was on a portable outdoor wall, quickly followed by camp at Rhode Island Rock Gym. I found myself falling in love with the sport and joined the competitive program. I was a fairly successful youth athlete and competed at local, regional, divisional, and national competitions. Throughout this time, thanks to some wonderful coaches and mentors, I also fell in love with climbing outdoors. Growing up near multiple local bouldering and sport climbing spots provided ample opportunity to develop my skills, and the different mentors I climbed with taught me a great respect for the outdoors.

By senior year of high school I realized how important this sport had been to my development as a person and an athlete, so I used my senior project to research and present on the benefits of youth rock climbing while I developed proposals for adding climbing programs in local schools.

In college, while getting a degree in biomedical engineering, I was heavily involved in our Outing Club. I helped develop a route setting program, and was President of the club leading outdoor trips and mentoring new climbers as they learned about bouldering and sport climbing. I also founded, ran, and went to nationals with our competitive indoor climbing team. Meanwhile I was coaching some fantastic athletes, teaching classes, and eventually setting at the local gym while developing my skills as an industry professional. I briefly worked as a biomedical engineer, but quickly realized my heart was not in it.

After moving to Boston I worked full time running a competitive and recreational youth climbing program, route setting, and teaching adult classes and private lessons. While coaching athletes on the road to USA Climbing National Championships, I also taught them lifelong skills they could apply indoors and outside. We took trips to some incredible destinations, and the team learned valuable lessons about safety and risk management, responsibility in the outdoors, and more. Seeing the growth my athletes experienced after climbing outside I realized it was now my responsibility to be that mentor for them just like my coaches were for me.

My path to becoming a certified outdoor guide began in 2019 when I completed an AMGA Women’s SPI Course taught by some fantastic instructors who helped me fully realize my skills as an outdoor guide and mentor. This course inspired me to pursue a way to combine guiding and coaching professionally. When gyms closed in 2020 for the pandemic, I decided to create Outdoor Climbing Academy to provide a space for all the new climbers to gain the skills and knowledge they needed to safely transition to the outdoors.

I am now running OCA full time, and I couldn't be more excited. It is so amazing to help someone learn something new or have an experience for the first time. I love showing athletes the joy of sending a climb outdoors, gaining a skill, or accomplishing something they didn't think they could do. I can't wait to work with you and help you accomplish your goals as an outdoor athlete!