Nathan Ward

• Title: Gear Tester/Writer
• Email: ntw@nathanward.com
• Location: Salida, CO
• Social Media Links:@nathan_t_ward

Expertise

• Topics of Expertise: Mountain biking, fly fishing (freshwater and salt), paddling (kayak, sup), hiking, camping, photography, filmmaking, remote international travel.
• Years in This Expertise: 30
• Number Of Products & Number Of Hours Expert Has Tested: 300+ products, 1,000+ hours

Experience:

As an adventure writer/photographer/filmmaker, Nathan Ward worked on projects in over 40 countries on six continents – climbing peaks in the Andes and Himalaya, bikepacking across countries, fly fishing remote rivers worldwide, traveling with indigenous tribes, paddling big bodies of water – and photographed/filmed it all.

Career Highlights

• Emmy Award Winner for Directing and Cinematography – mountain bike and murder mystery documentary – The Rider & The Wolf
• Best of the Decade in Paddler Magazine for feature story on paddling Hovsgol Nur, a huge lake in northern Mongolia.
• Promoting adventure and conservation in the Kingdom of Bhutan
• Mountain biking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal before this historic Himalayan trekking route was destroyed by roads.
• Bikepacking across sections of Tibet, Australia, USA, Borneo, Nepal, Bhutan, India, Ecuador, Chile and many more.

Education & Certifications

• Education: University of Chicago, Rocky Mountain School of Photography
• Years of Writing: 30
• Certifications: BA Public Policy and Environmental Science
• Previous Publications: National Geographic, Outside, Bike, Powder, Adventure Cyclist, Travel + Lifestyle, Action Asia and many, many more

A Word From Nathan Ward 

After university, at age 22, I found myself looking out the 32nd-floor window of a high-rise office in the financial district of Hong Kong. We were analyzing the possibility of the Chinese domestic market opening to life insurance sales…blah blah blah. Every workday ended with the sunset shining on a range of faraway mountains in China, and I would think, “I’m 22. I should be out there in the world. I’m just toiling in this office. What am I doing?”

I quit, traveled until my money was gone, and returned to the USA to save money for photo classes and a camera. Fast forward a year and I found myself back in Asia, except this time I was ticking off mountains and rivers rather than printing out office forms. What started as a desire to travel turned into a career. 20+ years later I’d told stories and made films all over the world. My cameras were magic keys that opened doors everywhere I went. If you can tell a story, almost anyone will let you in.

Today I am still at it, skiing and snowboarding with my teenage son, saving dollars for saltwater fly fishing trips, hiking deep canyons, promoting conservation of open spaces, and still howling at the moon.