Episode #53- Stephanie Giguere

Our guest for this episode is Western Massachusetts Climbers Coalition (WMCC) operating director, Stephanie Giguere. Stephanie recently took on this leadership role after spending multiple years as a volunteer with the organization. In the past few years, WMCC has worked through a couple of major projects, securing access to important regional crags like Farley Ledges and Hanging Mountain. Stephanie walks us through some of the finer details of these two projects, which required coordination with private landowners, funding sources, and community support to ensure they succeed. WMCC is a great example of an LCO that’s making an incredible contribution to the larger network of nearly 150 local climbing organizations across the country. The knowledge and expertise of local climbers is imperative to the success of sustaining climbing access for the future. 3:10- Stephanie’s intro and climbing in Massachusetts 7:30- Stephanie's climbing story 9:30- Climbing history in Western Mass 15:57- Stephanie's role with the WMCC 22:23- Funding an executive director-type position 24:52- WMCC's jurisdiction in MA 27:36- Land management and ownership of climbing areas in the East 30:02- The Farley Ledges project 39:44- Lessons from the Farley Ledges project 44:14- The Hanging Mountain Project 48:23- Funding resources for Hanging Mountain 54:26- Final thoughts WMCC’s Instagram: @wmcc_climb_gneiss WMCC’s website: https://climbgneiss.org/ Access Color Codes: https://climbgneiss.org/about-color-codes/