Nott began climbing in 1989 in her hometown of Vail, Colorado. Early on, she dedicated her attention to ice climbing and led a climb on a free-hanging icicle called the Fang within her first year of climbing. Throughout the 1990s, Nott focused her efforts on a number of technical ice climbs, particularly in the Canadian Rockies, such as Acid Howl on Mount Stanley, British Columbia; the Replicant on Mount Rundle, Alberta; and the first ascent of the Glass Onion, a difficult rock and ice route in southwestern Alaska. She later traveled to Patagonia to climb Fitz Roy, and to the French Alps. Nott met New Zealand climber Karen McNeill at an American ice-climbing competition. In 1998, Nott and McNeill paired up for an expedition to Peru to climb Taulliraju; in 2001, they climbed Shivling together in India's Garhwal Himalaya. Nott climbed the Eiger in 2003 with her boyfriend John Varco, and became the first American woman to complete a winter ascent of the mountain's north face. The same year, she and Varco made an unsuccessful attempt to claim the first ascent of the North Spur of Kalanka in Nanda Devi National Park, India. In 2005, Nott and McNeill reached the summit of Mount McKinley in Alaska via the Cassin Ridge.