Colin Souness

Colin was born in Scotland’s beautiful West Highlands and has been in love with wild, mountainous landscapes for as long as he can remember. This passion led to an interest in glaciers and how they carve landscapes like the Scottish Highlands.

As a young man Colin was captivated by the stories of polar explorers such as Scott, Shackleton, and Scotland’s own William Speirs Bruce, which inspired him to study glaciology with a focus on the Polar Regions. He first visited the Arctic in 2003, conducting research in Greenland. Then, he first Sailed to Antarctica the following year as yacht crew on the 2004 / 2005 British Antarctic Mountaineering Expedition. Building on this introduction to seafaring Colin cut his teeth on powerboats whilst working in British coastal search and rescue for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution between 2008 and 2012.

Colin holds a Master of Science and a PhD in Glaciology and worked in a range of glacial environments around the world, before joining Quark in 2012. When he is not guiding, Colin still gravitates towards wild spaces and now lives in South Africa where he and his wife manage a nature reserve in the semidesert Karoo region. In Scotland you might find him bagging ‘Munros’ (mountains over 3000 ft). He also enjoys vintage Land Rovers, flying helicopters and pursuing his passion for life-long learning. Ever the student, Colin is currently enrolled part-time at Scotland’s University of the Highlands and Islands, where he is studying North Atlantic Viking History.