Collin Beecher is the consummate gentleman. Drawing from a long-standing friendship, Collin joined our Team as an Ambassador in 2009 just before the Mammut National Bouldering Championships – where he secured his place as a top-50 climber that year. Since then, his genuine support of local climbing and climbers in the Black Hills area, his personal integrity, his professionalism, and his ongoing support of Vedavoo has made him the example of what our Ambassadors should represent. Collin became the Captain of our Ambassadors early in 2012, and his leadership will surely have an outstanding impact on our team.

Collin climbs for the love of the sport, and the friends he’s made near the rocks. He started climbing seven years ago when some friends took him climbing on Casper Mountain in Central Wyoming. “I had nothing more than a pair of Chuck Taylor shoes and a ratty old harness we borrowed,” Colin says. As that winter hit and snows came, he became a gym rat at The Peak in Casper, Wyoming. Later, he moved to Laramie, Wyoming where he met some amazing climbers and lifelong friends while co-running The Backyard Bouldering Gym (RIP).

Collin has climbed some amazing routes and some (bad) routes all over the US ranging 5.5 to 5.12 and wrestled boulders from V0-V10.

Collin describes his favorite and future climbs: “From Hueco Tanks to the beautiful Black Hills, my tick list is different than most – it consists of places that I love, not single routes. Spearfish Canyon is by far one of the most beautiful places to climb followed by Hueco Tanks. Fremont Canyon would be next on my list and the VC, Rushmore, Custer State Park and the needles areas to follow. Vedauwoo (Vedavoo) will always be a very special place to me not necessarily because of all the great climbs, but mainly the great stories that come from this place. Many people talk about the climbing in Colorado which it is amazing- but it is definitely too crowded for my taste. I hope someday my wife and I are able to go to Spain and get on the beautiful rock that is offered there. Squamish would be outstanding as well and I cannot wait to see what lies under the trees up North.”

For Collin, climbing is a lifestyle, not just a sport. “Climbing is more than numbers or bragging about, “how hard I climb” just to plaster it all over the internet or some magazine. It is about the camaraderie between friends/family as you all push yourself beyond the limits you imagined. It’s about the sweat, blood, screams, stories, laughter, campfires and beer. It’s about the relationship and respect between you and the rock when you hit that moment of truth, to choose to bail or choose to push on. It’s about that existential moment, the moment when nothing else in the world is able to touch you besides the wind; and even the wind goes unnoticed. Clarity settles in and you are in tune with your senses only to realize that you just reached the top. It’s about hearing the cheers from your friends/family echo throughout the forest as you snap back to reality.”

“I climb because it is beautiful. Climbing has made me a better person and I will forever have an obligation and responsibility to give back to climbing what it has given me.”