‘Be excellent to each other’: The wild and winding path of Logan Scully

At first glance, Logan Scully might seem like just another friendly face on the Central Washington University campus — a climbing instructor, a student mentor, a family man.

But underneath the surface is a story of resilience, unconventional choices, and a lifelong pursuit of challenge and connection. His life, a patchwork of adventure and adversity, reflects something more profound than a resume ever could: a commitment to becoming, to curiosity, and to helping others do the same.

Born in Yakima, Logan came into the world against the odds, so premature he could fit in the palm of a hand.

“I was right at the threshold of when a child can be born and live,” the Adventure Programs Senior Coordinator for University Recreation shares.

Placed in an oxygen tent for months, he was eventually adopted by the Scully family and raised on Riverbottom Road in Ellensburg.

“It was my mom’s sister who pointed at the really sick baby and said, ‘You need to get that one,’” he says.

From the start, Logan’s life was shaped by challenge. Chronic asthma, severe allergies, and countless hospital visits dominated his early years.

“I tried to do sports, but it was always hard medically. I was allergic to everything,” he says.

That led to a degree of social isolation, made worse by bullying during high school. But the first spark of empowerment came when his mom signed him up for a local karate class at age 7.

“I loved that it was individual,” he says. “It wasn’t about being physical; it was about discipline, memorization, repetition.”

It became a formative influence, as did the Ellensburg Alternative School at Michaelson Hall, where a teacher named Bill Swain redefined Logan’s understanding of education.

“He let me learn through curiosity. I’d sit in on college classes and write about them. It saved me. I wouldn’t have graduated without him,” Logan says.

It was at that school that he met his lifelong friends — Ryan, Liam, and Mike — who would later become anchors in his journey through work, travel, tragedy, and joy.

After high school in 2012, Logan bounced between dishwashing at Bar 14 and working at a café in Roslyn, where he rubbed shoulders with an eclectic crew of local hippies.

“I didn’t want to go to college; I just wanted to work, be free, travel,” he recalls.

That desire for experience led him to a job aboard the Empress of the North, a paddlewheel cruise ship notorious for running aground.

With long solitary stretches onboard, Logan discovered Taoist and Buddhist philosophy in a café in Astoria.

“That was a huge turning point,” he reflects. “It changed the way I thought about everything.”

After the cruise job, Logan joined a trail crew and later fought wildfires. Despite his asthma, he found strength and purpose in the intensity of the work.

“That’s when I felt physically capable for the first time,” he says. “I realized some people just need something intense to feel calm in other areas of life.”

He discovered rock climbing through a fireline partner named Micah.

“We’d go climbing on our breaks, and I fell in love with it,” he says. “It became my thing.”

The next leap came unexpectedly. When Logan found out — just days before a new quarter — that his three best friends were enrolling at CWU, he didn’t want to be left behind.

“And CWU had a climbing wall,” he laughs.

He scrambled to enroll and started pursuing a degree in philosophy and religious studies in 2013.

“Studying Eastern philosophy, writing fiction and nonfiction — I loved it all,” Logan recalls.

He built a tight-knit community at the climbing wall and eventually convinced a skeptical hiring manager to give him a job.

“He made me write a portfolio of every climb I’d ever done. Later, I found out no one else had to do that,” he jokes.

In 2015, just as he was finishing his undergraduate degree, life took another turn: Logan’s partner Liz told him she was pregnant.

“I had this plan to live in a van and climb every day. Then everything shifted,” he remembers.

That news led him to enroll in CWU’s master’s in athletic administration program to prepare for a more stable future.

“I was definitely the black sheep in that program. All football coaches and me, the philosophy major and climber,” he says.

But he made it through, with the help of mentors like Melissa Robertson, and juggled being a new parent, coursework, and part-time work. His son, Lachlan, was born in December 2015.

“That time was hard, but also very beautiful,” he shares.

As the climbing slowed, Logan turned to a new form of movement training: hand balancing, animal movement, and zone-one mobility — an adaptive fitness method he still uses today. That shift also sparked a new passion within Logan: coaching.

He started training others, including faculty, staff, and even CWU students competing on American Ninja Warrior.

“Helping people build confidence in their bodies is incredibly rewarding,” he says.

After a stint working with developmentally disabled residents at the Yakima Valley School in Selah and managing a climbing gym in Yakima, Logan returned to CWU.

“It was a hard choice, but ultimately, this place felt like home,” he says.

He now leads the Outdoor Pursuits and Rentals (OPR) program, teaching climbing, guiding trips, and mentoring students.

“I love this work,” he says. “I feel like I’m still learning every day. I get to share my passions and see students find theirs. Some of our students are pretty eclectic, like I was. I don’t know if they would have a community without OPR.”

Logan and Liz now have two children: Lochlan, 9, and Louie, 3. Each summer, the family takes off to explore a new national park. Liz works in environmental education for the Franklin Conservation District, teaching kids about natural resources.

But one of the most emotional turns in Logan’s story came in 2023, when his best friend Ryan passed away from cancer on Christmas Day.

“We were like brothers. Now we’ve started a foundation in his name,” Logan says. The Ryan Bury Foundation— with “Be Excellent to Each Other” as it’s tagline — provides immediate financial help to families in crisis, inspired by the tattoo Ryan had on his arm.

Every Friday, Logan still plays Dungeons & Dragons with Liam and Mike. They remain a tight-knit crew, bound by decades of history and shared purpose.

“Losing Ryan brought us even closer,” he says.

Asked to choose a favorite word, Logan doesn’t hesitate: “Adaptable.”

“Being good at something doesn’t always help. Being able to adapt is what makes the difference,” he says.

Logan’s life has been anything but linear. It’s been a winding road of illness, wilderness, philosophy, deep friendship, and a refusal to follow any path but his own. But at every turn, he has chosen curiosity over comfort, community over isolation, and growth over fear.

And through it all, he’s never stopped climbing.

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Author Staci Sleigh-Layman is the former Associate Vice President of Human Resources, who retired from CWU in August. She completed a series of CWU employee features earlier this year, and they are running periodically on Central Today.