Colin Haley

I was born in Seattle in 1984, and I live here still today. I am enchanted by the Cascade Mountains, the glacially-carved fjord of Puget Sound, and the majestic temperate rainforests that surround my rainy home. Although I might someday live elsewhere, especially if the current warmongering and environmentally nihilistic political trend continues in the United States, the geography and climate of the Northwest will always be a large part of my identity.

I have been hiking and skiing since before my earliest memories, but it wasn't until I was ten years old that my dad gave me an ice axe. When I was twelve my dad, brother and I climbed Forbidden Peak via the classic West Ridge, and then I truly discovered the joy of alpine climbing - a chaotic glacier, a steep couloir, an exhilarating ridge, rappels in the dark and an unplanned night out provided an intensity of life that I had never experienced before.

Although I love to feel my forearms unbelievably pumped or my heart pounding it's hardest, my passion for alpinism stems from a desire for adventure rather than athletics. I don't think I could describe this desire better than Rolando Garibotti has, as a search for "unmitigated contact with the natural world." Modern life is very safe, sanitary, and distanced-physically and emotionally-from nature. Alpinism is an outlet that immerses me in natural beauty, and places me in situations where complacency is not an option - where survival demands my full attention and effort. It is for exactly this reason that my fondest climbing memories are not from the relaxing sunny days, but rather from the days in storm, in the dark, out of food, cold, and a long way from home.

Alpine Climbing Ambassadors