Ambassador Profile: Cody Braesch

An avid rock climber and outdoorsman, Belong Ambassador Cody Braesch thrives on adventure. Happiest in nature, Cody’s curious personality inspires others to follow their passions and find where they too, belong. 

Name:  Cody Braesch 

Instagram: @cody.braesch

Born: Boulder, Colorado

Started My Sport: I started rock climbing only about a year ago and have thrown myself into the sport completely. I have always loved being outside: hiking, snowboarding, and camping, so as soon as I was introduced to rock climbing, I quickly fell in love and began to give a large amount of my time to it.

Superhero: Spider-man! He’s the worlds best climber! 

My Favorite Place In The World: Although I do love climbing, it’s very hard to beat being at the top of the Panoramic Express lift at Winter Park with my snowboard. Being up there in the early morning before anyone else is amazing. You are above tree-line so you can see for miles and miles and are surrounded by the snow-covered Rocky Mountains. It’s beautiful. Even better, I get to board down! 

My Perfect Day: My perfect day would be getting up early, gathering all my climbing gear into my car while the sun has yet to come up, and driving to pick up my friend. We would drive to whichever crag we had chosen for the day and get everything set up, the air still cold. Then, as soon as the sun started to come up, we would begin climbing and we wouldn’t stop until our hands were completely spent for the day. It’s such a great feeling to be 60 feet up the side of a wall, feeling the cold morning air, and look back and see the sunrise.

Greatest Accomplishment: I think my greatest accomplishment has been learning how to take control of my life and do things that I love and enjoy even if it means I’m not the same person  I used to be. It can be hard because there’s always pressure from many different people and places, but choosing to listen to yourself and do what makes you happy is one of the best things you could ever do!

Top 5 Spots:

• Horsetooth Reservoir, Fort Collins: I enjoy climbing/ bouldering at Horsetooth because it’s where I learned everything.

• Clear Creek Canyon, Golden: This is also one of the first spots I ever climbed, and it’s so much fun. There are always other people here, and the people in the rock climbing community are incredible.

• Poudre Canyon: Although I do both, I definitely spend more time bouldering than rope climbing, and there are a ton of great boulders in the Poudre Canyon.

• Winter Park: My favorite place to snowboard.

• Rocky Mountain National Park: I spend a huge amount of time in the park. Everything from hiking to snowshoeing to camping to photography, it’s one of my favorite places to be.

What Does It Mean to Follow My Passion and Find Where I Belong: To me, this is one of the most important things that you could ever choose to live by. Too many times people are doing things only to please others, to try to fit in, or because they’re scared to take that first step into what they really want for themselves. If you love to do something, and you are passionate about it, dive right in, and I promise you will be welcomed and find exactly where you belong. Explore your curiosities and adventures in every place you can, and pour as much of your time as possible into the things you love.