Where the Wild Shaped Me
Norene Christensen, PT, DSc, CEO, WPT-FR
Four Pines Physical Therapy
I’ve never been someone who sits still. As a kid, I disappeared into the woods and lakes near my home, coming back only when I had to. That need to explore, move, push boundaries, and to see what’s beyond the next bend has followed me my whole life.
In middle school, I started working at a fruit and vegetable farm. The days were long, dirty, and exhausting. I loved every minute of it. Working with my hands, feeling the weather change on my skin, and seeing the direct results of my effort planted something deep in me: the belief that hard work and connection to the land mattered.
After physical therapy school in Boston, I took my first job in Baltimore. But one ski trip out West changed everything. The mountains lit something in me I couldn’t ignore. I gave notice, packed up, and moved to Utah— and that’s when my real education began.
Utah became my classroom. I learned to backcountry ski, mountaineer, snow-machine, climb, mountain bike, and navigate remote desert terrain. I surrounded myself with people who lived and breathed the mountains, people who understood risk, preparation, and respect for wild places. Wanting to be more capable when things went wrong, I earned my EMT certification and joined ski patrol as a volunteer. I gained skills and confidence but still felt there was more to learn.
I rode my bike through Alaska, and a year later moved to Ketchikan where I sailed, sea kayaked, explored, and found myself part of a tiny climbing community. With medical training and mountain experience, I stepped into the role of High Angle Rescue Team Leader for our local SAR. Alaska further shaped me physically, mentally, and emotionally.
But the mountains of the West still had my heart, so I returned and made Jackson, Wyoming home. While dreaming of my own physical therapy clinic, I’d paddle out onto Jackson Lake or hike deep into the Tetons with a notebook in my pack, creating a business in the quiet spaces between mountain and water. I built a successful physical therapy practice, raised a family, and for a while, the long backcountry missions took a back seat.
But the mountains have a way of calling you back. And after more than two decades, I’m back with renewed energy, passion, and appreciation for wild places. I love my solo missions just as much as adventures with close friends. I feel fortunate to have a strong body, a healthy respect for risk, and the ability to push myself physically and mentally. The mountains are both humbling and empowering. They make you feel strong, alive, small, and grateful all at once.
When I discovered the WPT-FR pathway through Wilderness PT Educators, I knew it was exactly what I’d been searching for. The course was real, raw, and intense— unpredictable scenarios, high-stakes decision making, and skills that matter when it truly counts. It has given me the tools and confidence to respond when things go wrong, whether deep in the wilderness or everyday life. To take action and care for myself and others.
Today, six of the thirteen physical therapists in my clinics have earned their WPT-FR, and are involved in SAR, covering high school sports, and other community events. That mindset— preparedness, confidence, and responsibility— is now part of who we are as a team.
The backcountry has shaped my life through teaching me resilience, humility, and trust in myself. And now as I step back into the wild, I’m sharing the lessons I’ve learned through @thebackcountryceo, connecting what the wilderness teaches to leadership and ownership.
I’m excited to continue learning, growing, and collaborating with the incredible team at Wilderness PT Educators and to keep merging my passions for movement, medicine, and wild places.
