Bio
Jen Reed - has been busy connecting with the North East outdoor community since 1989. Over the years, Jen has taken on many Southern New England climbing leadership and instructor roles. Jen’s passion for rock climbing began back in 1989 with the Appalachian Mountain Club. Her boundless energy and love for climbing is contagious. She leads both rock and ice since 1991 and has climbed extensively throughout the Northeast, and in Nevada, California and Colorado, with Red Rocks, Toulleme Meadows and the Adirondacks as favorites. She has been actively involved in access issues in RI & Connecticut since 1990. In the early 90”s she assisted with membership support and efforts when the Ragged Mountain Foundation in Connecticut was born. In 1994 worked to block closure of the Lincoln Woods Bouldering State Park. More recently she was a fundraiser for the Western MA Climbing Coalition. Monies raised were used to purchase Farley Ledge in western Massachusetts.
Jen became a certified AMGA Top Rope Site Manager in 2005 and has attended and successfully completed Citizen Guide I and II modules with the American Climbing Institute in Colorado. In Fall 2009 she tested and gained the Lead Climbing Instructor Certification by the Professional Climbing Instructors Association.
In May 2006 she authored a non-public Climbing Guide to Rhode Island – and sold the rights to Eastern Mountain Sports (EMS) to help them expand and formalize their professional guiding program. Jen pioneered by starting the EMS Climbing School Satellite program in Rhode Island. It offered local professional instruction climbing for the first time in this area.
In Spring 2007 Jen was appointed the first Outreach Manager for the Eastern Mountain Sports Exploration Team, where she represented the EMS Kayak School, EMS Climbing School, and EMS Adventure Treks and Travel to the outdoor community.
Jen was the liaison for the sixty plus EMS retail stores and their outdoor programs. Internally she assisted with creating the framework, tools, and marketing training manuals for the outreach program. Externally she forged financially productive partnerships with top outdoor corporations, colleges and club leaders across EMS’s northeast and mid-Atlantic markets. Within 2 years the EMS Exploration Team saw 40 % increases in program participation.
She has over 20 years of Emergency Medicine experience concurrently working as a Registered Nurse at Roger Williams Medical Center.
In the future she would like to start her own climbing school and guide service with the support of her husband, David and children Kelsey and Kyle cheering her on.