{"id":138728,"date":"2020-02-06T08:27:36","date_gmt":"2020-02-06T16:27:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=138728"},"modified":"2020-05-22T13:03:17","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T20:03:17","slug":"pro-skier-angel-collinson-wants-to-sail-around-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/snowsports\/pro-skier-angel-collinson-wants-to-sail-around-the-world","title":{"rendered":"Pro Skier Angel Collinson Wants to Sail Around the World"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three times in Angel Collinson\u2019s life she felt like the universe was sending her a message she had to listen to. The first time was when she was 13 years old and she was watching pro skier Sage Cattabriga-Alosa ride a steep Alaskan spine in a ski movie. \u201cI felt deeply, with every fiber of my being, like I was going to do that someday,\u201d Collinson said. \u201cI felt a calling to ski that kind of terrain.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It took another decade or so, but by her early twenties, Collinson did ski that kind of terrain. Widely considered one of the top professional big-mountain skiers in the world,<\/span> Collinson<\/span><\/a> has earned high rankings on the Freeskiing World Tour and Freeride World Tour, and she’s twice won Best Female Performance at the Powder Awards for her segments in films from Teton Gravity Research, the same movie company Cattabriga-Alosa films with.<\/span><\/p>\n

The second time in her life she felt a deep calling was when she met someone who lived with an Indigenous tribe in the high Andes of Peru. \u201cI knew I wanted to go and do that at some point in my life,\u201d she said. She hasn\u2019t made that happen yet, but it\u2019s on her list.<\/span><\/p>\n

And the third? She was on a friend\u2019s sailboat off the coast of British Columbia a few years ago and the feeling came like a flash: \u201cI knew I would spend a chunk of my life on a boat,\u201d she said. \u201cIt felt like second nature to me, even though I\u2019d barely ever been on a boat before. I just needed to learn how to sail first.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Collinson is the type of person who listens to the messages the universe is sending her. She takes silent retreats, meditates regularly and believes in the power of ancient wisdom. Meditation, visualization and mantras have guided both her personal and professional life. She\u2019s also the type of tough-as-nails person who\u2019s not afraid of seemingly impossible challenges. (This is the athlete, after all, who<\/span> tumbled a thousand vertical feet down<\/span><\/a> an Alaskan face and walked away unharmed.)<\/span><\/p>\n

She and her younger brother John, also a pro skier, grew up in employee housing at the base of Utah\u2019s Snowbird Ski Area, where their dad worked as the mountain\u2019s ski patrol director and their mom homeschooled the kids in the area. In the summers, the family would pile into their 1979 van and spend the months backpacking, camping and climbing mountains. She summited Mount Whitney, Mount Rainier and Mount Shasta before she was 10.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Angel Collinson has made a name for herself skiing big lines like this one. (Photo Credit: Nic Alegre \/ Red Bull Content Pool)<\/p><\/div>\n

Collinson went on to become a talented ski racer. But when she missed a chance at the U.S. Ski Team, she decided to study environmental law at the University of Utah and give freeskiing competitions a try instead. Since then, she\u2019s found her calling making ski movies and<\/span> breaking glass ceilings<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

All of which is to say: When Collinson, who\u2019s now 29, recently found herself with the opportunity to buy an old 40-foot steel monohull sailboat docked in Maine, she naturally took it as a deeper sign about the future direction of her life. She bought the boat, is working to restore it and she has signed up for several intensive sailing courses this summer to learn how to operate the boat she now owns. She and her partner plan to set sail in November 2020 on what will eventually become an around-the-world mission. She\u2019s still working on the details, but she hopes to make the sailing trip a philanthropic journey that in some way gives back to the coastal communities she visits.<\/span><\/p>\n

The boat\u2019s name is Sea Bear. It was built in 1990, the year Collinson was born. She took that as a sign that this boat was meant to be. \u201cEverything lined up too perfectly,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m at a place where I can do this. I can make this happen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Just to be clear: Collinson isn\u2019t giving up skiing. She plans to become a sailor and stay on course as a skier, too. \u201cI\u2019m hoping to mesh this with my ski career. I\u2019ll sail during the months I\u2019m not skiing,\u201d she said. \u201cSkiing has given me so much. But it\u2019s just one part of my life. I really want to do something that\u2019s meaningful and gives back.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Angel Collinson and her new purchase, Sea Bear, a 40-foot steel sailboat. (Photo Courtesy of Angel Collinson)<\/p><\/div>\n

There\u2019s one important hurdle she needs to overcome before she sets sail: \u201cI\u2019m afraid of moving water,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a very visceral fear, like maybe I drowned in a past life.\u201d She\u2019s working on that fear through\u2014you guessed it\u2014meditation, visualization and mantras.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn life, you can become complacent or unfulfilled,\u201d Collinson said. \u201cI had this feeling like I wasn\u2019t growing. Life will always throw challenges at us. I wouldn\u2019t say to everyone, \u2018Leave what you\u2019re doing and go sail around the world.\u2019 But trying new things is a good way to push yourself so you\u2019re always growing. I think complacency doesn\u2019t create deep happiness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Collinson said she hopes her leap into sailing will encourage others to find their passion and follow it. \u201cSometimes the challenging first step is just figuring out what you want to do,\u201d Collinson said. \u201cIt could be a salsa dancing or cooking class. Anything new is going to feel outside our comfort zone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Even though Collinson said <\/span>her gut told her to give sailing a try<\/span>, it\u2019s still a big unknown. \u201cI don\u2019t know how it\u2019s going to go. That process is scary. Even more than my visceral fears of being on the ocean,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I hope that through sharing my story it will inspire people to commit to a small thing they\u2019ve been dreaming of, or to take a step that feels scary but realistic. You\u2019ve got to commit, and you\u2019ve got to trust. I\u2019m willing to fail. I\u2019m willing to flop on my face. It\u2019ll be a journey either way.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three times in Angel Collinson\u2019s life she felt like the universe was sending her a message she had to listen to. The first time was when she was 13 years old and she was watching pro skier Sage Cattabriga-Alosa ride a steep Alaskan spine in a ski movie. \u201cI felt deeply, with every fiber of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":151992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[727,364],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-138728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-snowsports","tag-latest-posts","tag-snowsports"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/snowsports\/pro-skier-angel-collinson-wants-to-sail-around-the-world","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Pro Skier Angel Collinson Wants to Sail Around the World","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/snowsports\/pro-skier-angel-collinson-wants-to-sail-around-the-world","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/snowsports\/pro-skier-angel-collinson-wants-to-sail-around-the-world"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/02\/NicAlegre_RBcontentpool.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/02\/NicAlegre_RBcontentpool.jpg?fit=1500%2C999"},"articleSection":"Snowsports","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michelle Flandreau"}],"creator":["Michelle Flandreau"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["latest posts","snowsports"],"dateCreated":"2020-02-06T16:27:36Z","datePublished":"2020-02-06T16:27:36Z","dateModified":"2020-05-22T20:03:17Z"},"rendered":"