Interview: Christa Nash-Webber on a Career in the Outdoors and SAR

Apr 22

A conversation with search and rescue volunteer and outdoor educator Christa Nash-Webber on building a career in the backcountry, why women-only spaces change everything, and passing the spirit of adventure to the next generation.

The outdoor world is shaped by the women who challenge expectations, open new paths, and make space for others to follow. For decades, the industry has been built around narrow ideas of who belongs outside, what adventure looks like, and who gets to design the gear, lead the trips, and tell the stories.

Through our "Women Adventurers Who Inspire Us" series, we highlight the voices of women who are expanding that definition.

One of those voices is Christa Nash-Webber, a search and rescue volunteer, outdoor educator, and SheJumps leader based in Bend, Oregon. Christa has spent her entire career working outside, from leading Outward Bound programs and running Stanford's Outdoor Leadership Program to guiding kids through adventure sports across Asia. Now, she puts her backcountry medicine skills to work in SAR, helping people when things go wrong in the wilderness. Recently, she summited Grand Teton alongside her 14-year-old daughter on an all-women SheJumps trip, a full-circle moment that captures everything she believes about the power of women in the outdoors.

In this conversation with AdventurUs intern Caren Ensing, Christa shares how the outdoors shaped her from childhood, why women-only spaces create safety and confidence, and how adventure carries over into every part of life.

Q. How has the outdoors personally made a difference and had a positive effect on your life?

Ans: I grew up in a suburb of Seattle, so I associate wonderful childhood memories with being outside. From backpacking in Mount Rainier National Park to waterskiing on Lake Sammamish, it was a big part of my life growing up. It has brought a spirit of adventure that teaches me to look after myself and seek solace in nature. This is something that I am trying to instill into my kids.

I've spent my entire career working outdoors, and I love the variety that brings. I can give back to my community, and I've developed a diverse skill set over the years.

Q. How did your career in the outdoors begin?

Ans: When I finished college, my now husband and I moved to New Zealand and did a year of ski bumming. We both had entry-level jobs, then he ended up getting a job offer in Hong Kong. I started working at an international school, and I loved teaching and working with kids, but not being in a classroom. After doing an Outward Bound instructor training program in the Boundary Waters, I worked at Asia Pacific Adventure, where I took kids from all over the world to do outdoor sports in Asia.

I came back to the U.S. for grad school, and after that, I ran Stanford's Outdoor Leadership Program for freshmen. Afterward, we moved back to Hong Kong, and I continued to work for Asia Adventure. We moved to Bend in 2018, and the outdoor-ed jobs felt saturated, and I wanted to do something different. I tried out for Search and Rescue because I wanted to see if my skills translated. In outdoor-ed, you're constantly trying not to have kids get hurt, but in SAR, you get to use skills when someone's risk management has already failed. I like being able to help someone once they are hurting and lost. Now, I primarily do that and work with SheJumps.

In college, I originally wanted to be pre-med, but I became a psych major because I hated lab science classes. I am still really drawn to medicine, though. I got my Wilderness First Responder certification 25-years ago, and my EMT certification, so emergency backcountry medicine is what I enjoy. Being in a hospital every day would not suit me, but hiking to someone with a broken femur is exciting. So in some ways, I found my way back to my original path.

Q. Who introduced you to the outdoors?

Ans: My parents. They went to the University of Washington and met through Husky Snow Sports, where they were both ski instructors. I was forced to ski as a kid, along with camping and backpacking. As a kid, I did not want to go, but I'm glad they made us do it, because now it is a huge part of my life.

Q. What inspired you to make your passion for the outdoors into your career?

Ans: I'm an Enneagram seven, which is kind of like the Myers-Briggs personality test. It means I'm adventurous and always seeking novelty. I remember when my husband and I were getting ready to graduate from Davidson, we had a whiteboard, and I was trying to figure out, "What am I going to do with my life?" All of my answers were that I was going to write for Outside magazine, be a mountain guide, and things like that. I never wrote down that I wanted to be a lawyer or a consultant. I knew I wanted a life of adventure. I realized that I needed to change throughout my career and in my day-to-day.

Q. Why do you think women's only outdoor groups and stories are important? And what do you think is particularly powerful about women in the outdoors?

Ans: One of the most impactful experiences I've had was my junior year of college. I studied abroad in Tanzania in a wildlife ecology and conservation program. Totally randomly, all twenty-two of us were women. It was a really wonderful, powerful experience. There was no competition for boys; we didn't shave our legs or our armpits; and for three months, we just didn't care. That was 1999, and I just saw six of those women recently. Those relationships were really formative.

I think there's a huge power because the walls come down, and women are much better at being vulnerable with one another when there are no men involved.

Recently, I climbed Grand Teton with my 14-year-old daughter on a SheJumps program, which is all women. I felt so good bringing her into that space rather than a random group where some random dudes may have doubted her abilities or made it competitive. This space was so encouraging, welcoming, and totally believed in her power. She ended up being one of the first ones up to high camp, because she felt so safe and comfortable.

Q. What does adventure for all of us mean? And what does inclusive outdoors mean to you?

Ans: To me, it means providing a space and activities for everyone. There is a silly 'challenge by choice' saying, but I think that is a powerful thing to provide for people. There's a lot of lingo and sentiment out there that if you don't have the right gear, you can't 'talk the talk' or you're not welcomed into certain spaces. To be inclusive is to introduce people to all of the vernacular and make sure everyone has the gear that they need. Then, to challenge people where they are at. We do women's rides with SheJumps, and we split into three groups where it is 'No drop'. So even if you have not ridden a bike in two years, we make sure you're getting challenged and having fun, just like the people who ride together every single week.

It's about meeting everyone where they're at and hopefully taking them somewhere new, but within their stretch comfort zone. We don't want to freak people out or slow down those in a different place. Everyone should go somewhere new within their skill set because we all have a right to recreate, and no matter color, shape, size, or sexual preference. White men have long dominated the outdoors, and I love working with organizations pushing to change that.

One thing that's important too, and that AdventurUs is great at, is making sure people can see role models who look like them. We had a movie night featuring Nexus, starring Brooklyn Bell and Michelle Parker, who are heli-skiing in Alaska. It's not often you see a black woman skiing these couloirs in Alaska, because these films aren't in the studio or TGR films we see. Elevating these kinds of stories and putting these women out there for young girls to see is so important.

That's the thing, too - having adventures and pushing yourself carries over into other areas of your life. It builds confidence and makes you feel like even if something is uncomfortable or hard, you can power through it. Learning to power through the uncomfortable, whether that be in social situations or in a career, is huge.

Q. How do you separate the outdoors as both a passion and a profession?

Ans: I have some boundaries around what I keep as my passion and what I keep as my profession. After I get home from a long mission, the last thing I feel like doing is going outside. I've always thought about whether I would want to do ski patrol, but I decided that skiing is one of those things I want to keep for myself because it is my happy place, and I want to preserve it.

I also just love to be outside, though. When I have a seven-mile hike where I have to trudge through the rain to go and get someone for SAR, that is fun for me. I know it is not for everyone, but I like the type-2 suffer-fest where you are going to help someone.

Q. What is your most memorable experience outdoors?

Ans: Something that is really full circle is that at nineteen, I summited Kilimanjaro with a group of women after my abroad program. Then, when I did the Grand with my 14-year-old daughter recently, I felt like I was initiating her into a really cool club where she is going to get to have some of the incredible experiences I have had.

Q. Who's another woman in the outdoors that inspires you?

Ans: I just watched Mountain Queen on Netflix about Lhakpa Sherpa. In the film, the first woman to ever summit Everest and make it down was Junko Tabei. She went on to summit a number of other mountains. There are so many badass women in the U.S., but there is also a culture of empowering women in male-dominated careers. That doesn't exist in Nepal or Tanzania. I think the places where women are groundbreakers and doing really hard things despite facing such an uphill battle are really cool.

Q. What does the outdoors mean to you in one word?

Ans: Joy.

Q. If you were stuck on Groundhog Day and you had to wake up in one outdoor spot every day, where would it be?

Ans: Mount Rainier National Park.

Q. What does women supporting women mean to you?

Ans: Encouraging and pushing each other to experience something new, together.

At AdventurUs, we believe there is adventure in all of us. As a woman and LGBTQ+ owned adventure travel company based in Bend, Oregon, we create inclusive outdoor experiences designed to help women connect with nature, build community, and challenge themselves in new ways. From domestic retreats to international trips, our team of certified guides and trip leaders brings professional expertise and genuine heart to every journey.

We welcome women of all ages, backgrounds, and skill levels, and we're committed to breaking down the barriers that keep people from getting outside. Stories like Christa's remind us that the outdoors becomes richer and more powerful when more voices are part of it.