Ascent Archive: Oral Histories with Rock Climbers Rachel Wittmann, Tallie Casucci

This episode features an interview with Portia Menlove. Portia started climbing as a child and competed in youth and adult bouldering competitions. In 2005 Portia won Nationals and was on the US Climbing Team. Portia discusses inspirational female climbers, friendships surrounding competitions, and the pressures of competition, including disordered eating. Portia is an ICU nurse at the Huntsman Cancer Institute and now focuses more energy outdoors into trail running, but still loves to climb and be a part of the community.

This episode features an interview with Larry Love that was recorded by Erik Solberg in 2007 as part of the Everett L. Cooley Oral History Project. Please excuse any sound quality issues as this recording was created for transcription purposes. Larry served in the Army Reserve, was an Alpenbock Club member, and skier. Larry established the first recorded route in Little Cottonwood Canyon with Ted Wilson.

This episode features an interview with Cerre Francis that was conducted in 2008 as part of the Everett L. Cooley Oral History Project. Please keep in mind the audio quality is a bit rough since this was recorded in a noisy environment.

This episode features an interview Jessica Taverna from the Everett L. Cooley Oral History Project and was recorded in 2008. Please excuse any archival audio quality issues. Jessica developed a love for the outdoors when she spent a semester working on a farm in Vermont during junior high school. In college, a friend of hers took her climbing and she loved it. She moved to Washington DC to work and became involved with the climbing community there. Jessica chose to come to graduate school in Salt Lake City because of climbing. She talks about her climbing experiences in Utah and the climbing community. She describes the climbing industry´s impact on the sport and on the environment.

This episode features John Cronin. John started climbing in the 'Gunks in the late 1980s. In the 1990s he lived in Salt Lake City (Utah) and was a very active climber and boulderer. You've probably seen his name associated with boulders in Little Cottonwood Canyon - listen to this episode for the full story behind those names! As John no longer climbs you can really hear the memories flooding back in this interview.

This episode features Sarah Wolfe. Sarah is focused on developing community and education opportunities amongst climbers through newsletters, event programming, compiling reports for American Alpine Club's Accidents in North America. Sarah works for Trails Utah, a trail advocacy and trail building nonprofit.