Haley began working as a raft guide in 2004 in West Virginia, as a change of path from a career as a classical bassist. For the following decade, she led rafting, climbing, hiking, and glacier expeditions across diverse landscapes, including Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona, Washington, Wyoming, and New Zealand. She spent several winters managing a ski patrol clinic in New Hampshire and a season overseeing the food supply at the South Pole station in Antarctica. She explored Morocco, Laos, Thailand, New Zealand, and Quebec by bicycle, Sub-Saharan Africa via bus, and the Himalayas and Annapurnas of Nepal on foot. In 2013, Haley learned to roll a kayak on the Ottawa River. That winter, she returned to Uganda, this time to learn to kayak on the White Nile River. She spent four winters paddling on the White Nile and has since explored rivers in the US, Canada, New Zealand, England, Ecuador, Zambia, and Chile.
Haley began teaching whitewater kayaking at NOC in 2023. Now, she teaches kayaking year-round, alternating between NOC in Western North Carolina and Chile.
Surfing waves is her favorite way to spend time in a kayak, and she enjoys improving her creek-boarding skills. Haley finds great joy in teaching kayaking; she loves to see students get out of their comfort zone and make new connections. She specializes in helping students manage their anxiety while on the water. She is currently enthusiastic about gardening, with the help of her cat Twinkie.
Certifications:
- ACA Kayak Instructor Level 4
- Wilderness EMT-B
- CPR/First Aid/Wilderness First Aid/Advanced Wilderness First Aid Instructor
“I believe we are only limited by our own imagination.”
