How did Abby Burt land such a lofty position?

by Janet Hurley . photo by Corinne Krogh

Abby Burt’s life has been a bit squirrelly this year. As branding and marketing leader for Navitat Canopy Adventures in Barnardsville, she helped roll out the billboards with Chester A. Corn, the company mascot, a squirrel. Burt, 28, says the cute critter in a harness helped create a buzz that’s keeping Navitat ahead of its original first-year projections: Since May 15, Navitat has had more than 13,000 visitors at its totally tree-based course in Moody Cove. It got a USA Today mention as one of the ten best zip line tours in the country.

Growing up in Omaha, Nebraska, Burt started her professional life with both feet firmly on the ground. “After a year in a cubicle,” Burt says of her stint in marketing with Union Pacific Railroad, “I knew I had to get out.” She took a marketing job at Cascade College in Portland, Oregon. That’s where she met her husband, Dylan, who worked as a canopy guide in Alaska. By 2007, Abby and Dylan were married, living in Ketchikan and Juneau, Alaska. Both worked for the canopy tour company on sites designed by John Walker of Bonsai Designs. Dylan managed them while Abby did marketing. In 2009, Walker and several partners started a new canopy tour venture, Navitat. The Burts leapt at the chance to help create and manage it—and moved to Asheville last year, sight unseen.

What was so attractive about this opportunity here in Asheville? In Alaska, Dylan and I were working seven days a week together, which was okay during the season. But between December and March, we sat side by side in the office. We needed a better balance of work and life.

What’s one of your favorite stories about a visitor? Hmmm. There are so many. Early on, there was a gal—a baby boomer—who wanted to check this off her bucket list. We have a lot of people like that. When I saw her after, she was near tears and told me that this was one of the most exciting and moving experiences in her life…Then there was the 86-year-old woman who did the tour. And the three-generation family group. There are so many.

What was your first experience like on a canopy tour? My first time was in Alaska. Those courses are built in Western Hemlocks and very high. There’s a lot of sway. I remember deciding that I just had to trust the people and trust the gear.

Were you afraid? No, I can’t say that. Before that I’d bungee-jumped—I was already a thrill seeker.

Was that your most memorable experience on a canopy tour? No, and this is the truth: It was the first time I did the tour here at Navitat. The leaves were off the trees, I was 205 feet off the ground, I could see all the way to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Craggy Pinnacle. It took my breath away.

For more about Navitat’s zipline tours, check out www.navitat.com.