Regan Nelson grew up in the mountains of Sun Valley, Idaho, where a lifelong love of movement and the outdoors began. She has been an athlete her entire life, competing as an alpine ski racer through high school and college. Since then, she has continued to compete across a range of endurance and mountain sports, including road cycling, cross-country skiing, ski mountaineering (skimo), and trail running.

She followed that passion into both her academic and professional path, earning her BS and MS in Exercise Physiology. Regan then spent six years at Nike, working in the Sports Research Lab, apparel innovation, and on a business focused on training the eyes and brain for sport.

In 2010, Regan left Nike to start her own consulting business, creating the flexibility to travel and spend more time in the mountains. Since then, she has led consumer insights and innovation projects for both emerging and global brands, including  Nike, REI and Columbia Sportswear.

While that work remains a meaningful part of her life, Regan was looking for a greater sense of purpose. The next chapter needed to feel both exciting and a little uncertain, but also deeply meaningful. In the Fall of 2025, that led to the creation of Sky Mountain Adventures.

For most of the year, you can find Regan at home in Sun Valley with her husband and daughter, XC and backcountry skiing, trail running, hiking, and peak bagging.

Her life motto, from Ends of the Earth by Lord Huron:
“What good is living the life you’ve been given if all you do is stand in one place?”