Winter Stoke, Sore Muscles, and the One Planet We Get

Healthspan isn’t just about years—it’s about the life you can live in them.

I’m just a 50-year-old dad who really wants to keep skiing with his kids for as long as humanly possible… and also wants there to be winters for them to ski in.

That’s really the throughline of my life and of Experience Momentum:

healthspan, human connection, and the health of our planet all braided together.

And it’s why we’re so excited to host our Winter Stoke-Off again next Friday, December 12th, benefitting Protect Our Winters (POW)—a nonprofit that turns passionate outdoor people into climate advocates to protect a future with clean air, clean water, and, yes, actual winter.

But before we get to ski ergs, wall balls, and a guided ski touring trip in Norway… let me back up.

The Beautiful Chaos of Family Skiing

As a parent of four, Kelly and I have had the privilege of skiing with our kids season after season. I say “privilege” very intentionally, because if you’ve ever tried to take multiple kids skiing, you know:

It’s a lot.

Picture this:

• One parent trying to get everyone into boots, layers, helmets, gloves.

• Someone is always too cold… then five minutes later too hot.

• Tears because it’s too early. Or because the socks feel “weird.”

• Coolers of food being hauled in and out of the lodge.

• Midday mission back to the Boomer van to walk the dog and reset the chaos.

In the early years, before the younger kids were on skis, we’d tag-team it:
one parent getting a few precious laps on the hill while the other pulled the little ones in a sled, played in the snow, and tried to keep everyone happy(ish).

It wasn’t convenient.
It wasn’t Instagram-curated.
But it was ours.

We kept choosing it—weekend after weekend, winter after winter—because we wanted to be:

• Together

• Outside

• Using our bodies

• Creating memories that would outlast the cold fingers and cranky mornings

Now, every winter, this is just what our family does. The kids look forward to it. The complaining has mostly turned into inside jokes and chairlift conversations.

The investment paid off.

Pinch-Me Moments in the Alps and Dolomites

This past April, for my 50th birthday, we got to live out what honestly felt like a dream.

We loaded up the whole crew—Kelly and our four kids—and went to Europe. We skied the Austrian Alps and the Italian Dolomites, home of the upcoming Winter Olympics.

There were so many pinch-me moments:

• Watching our kids carve turns with massive rock spires and jagged peaks as the backdrop

• Sharing espresso stops and apple strudel instead of just granola bars and hurried lodge lunches

• Riding lifts together and realizing: We built this. One cold, chaotic weekend at a time.

It wasn’t lost on me how special that was—how many things have to line up for a trip like that to happen:

• Health

• Time

• Finances

• And, honestly, a planet that still has reliable snow in these places

Trips like that are exactly why I care so much about healthspan—and why I care just as much about climate.

I Want to Ski With My 5-Year-Old for Decades

Healthspan:

Here’s the math:

I’m 50.
I have a 5-year-old.

I don’t want to just make it through a few more ski seasons. I want to be skiing with this little dude in 10, 20 years. I want future me to be the older guy on the mountain still chasing his kids and (eventually) grandkids.

That’s what healthspan means to me—not just how long you live, but how long you can actually do the things you love with the people you love.

So my habits are less about perfection and more about staying in the game:

• Sleeping consistently (even when life is full)

• Eating decently so I have real energy, not just caffeine and sugar crashes

• Moving daily—some days hard, some days gentle, but always something

• Meditating regularly so my nervous system isn’t stuck in go-go-go all the time

And just in case this all sounds too polished:
there is hardly a day when something on my body doesn’t hurt.

Kelly and I joke about it: we just find what doesn’t hurt and move that part.

Because at Experience Momentum we say, “Motion is lotion.”

Newton backs us up on that:

An object at rest stays at rest. An object in motion stays in motion.

If you’ve ever come home from work, sat on the couch “for just a minute,” and then somehow lost the rest of the evening… you know what I’m talking about.

That’s why I’m so passionate about movement. Not for six-packs, but for:

• Energy

• Presence

• Memories

Our Playground Is Also Our Life Support

In winter, the environment literally becomes our playground.

The snowpack that lets us ski, snowboard, sled, and snowshoe also:

• Feeds our rivers and reservoirs

• Keeps groundwater levels up

• Becomes spring water for crops

• And ultimately impacts the water we drink and the ecosystems we rely on

When winters get shorter and snow seasons get weirder, it’s not just our ski days that are at risk—it’s our communities, our water, and our future.

That’s why our partnership with Protect Our Winters means so much to us. POW’s whole mission is to turn passionate outdoor people into effective climate advocates, protecting the places and lifestyles we love from climate change.

And it’s why Experience Momentum is proud to be:

• A 1% for the Planet partner

• A Certified B Corp

• And a POW Brand Alliance partner, joining other companies who are using their businesses and communities to move real climate solutions forward.

For me, it’s simple:
The health of our bodies and the health of our planet are directly connected.

So… What’s the Winter Stoke-Off?

It’s basically all my favorite things rolled into one night: a sweaty, fun team workout, good people, and raising money for an environmental nonprofit doing real work.

Since 2019, we’ve been gathering for winter stoke, this year we will bike, ski erg, and do wall balls in teams—pushing hard, laughing, and suffering together. Because working out with people does something powerful:

• you push a little harder

• you feel less alone

• you remember how good it feels to belong to a group all moving in the same direction

On top of the workout, we’ll have food and beverages, time to connect, and an epic raffle—including a guided ski touring trip in Norway, Crystal Mountain lift tickets, Seattle Torrent Women’s Ice Hockey tickets, and more gear and goodies. All of it supports Protect Our Winters and the work they’re doing to protect the outdoor playgrounds we love.

If you’re part of the EM community—or just someone who cares about your health and this planet—I’d love to invite you to join us on Friday, December 12th in Fremont from 6-9PM. Move your body, connect with people, and help support our winters. You don’t need to be an elite athlete. You just need to show up with a willingness to move, to connect, and to care.

Thank you for being part of the EM family.

This holiday season, my hope for you is:

• Take care of your body so you can keep doing the things you love.

• Take care of our one planet so future generations can keep enjoying winter.

• Keep redefining what’s possible in your health, your relationships, and your impact.

I’ll see you on the ski erg, on the bike, or maybe one day… in the Dolomites or Norway.

- Shanon