How to have a powder day

Skiers and snowboarders love to practice their craft in the mountains immediately following a heavy snowfall. The light snowflakes form what is known as powder. Although still enjoyable to ride long after the snow is compacted, powder is preferable for skiing. Powder quickly disappears through melting, and compaction as other skiers move over the snow.  Powder days are those hours that you can be in just the right place, at just the right time to experience these perfect conditions. 

“How do you set up your life and work to be here today?” That is my question to anyone riding the lift with me on my first trip to Wyoming, USA. One was retired. Another owned a moving company. The baggy jacketed 40 something snowboarder wouldn’t answer the question but said he lived on the edge of Snow King resort and was fighting to return the area to community ownership and access. Many are on vacation from the east coast. 

We were all  there on a beautiful powder day. Deep snow on the mountain awaiting perfect turns and the floating feeling, surrendering to gravity, and enjoying the ride on the way down. 

Constructing the conditions for a powder day
But how can we set up our lives and work to ride powder? Powder days happen when the universe decides it should snow, a lot, at the place where we happen to be at that moment.  We can enjoy those days if we have assembled the right gear, skills, fitness, commitment and time availability to make those turns at that moment, on that day, at that particular part of the mountain. 

For those Social Sector Titans out there that don’t ski, or ride a snowboard, this can apply to any other sport, or avocation where everything comes together into a perfect moment. It can also apply to those feelings of flow, connection to the universe, and synchronicity that can happen in work, with family, or listening to music. We can’t manufacture or schedule this convergence of events in advance. But we can  break down this moment into the components that will increase the likelihood of a powder day in our lives. 

Time flexibility and empty space - If we work all the time, there is not space for a powder day. We need to make space in our work and life planning, to allow for time to recharge, to be in the zone where a powder day could happen. This could be the mountains, the beach or  wherever you are right now.  The physical and mental space away from a normal routine makes a potential powder event possible. 

Financing the expedition - We need to conquer the fear of money and set up our financial lives to pay for the things that we need. For me this involves a 50% after tax savings rate invested in broad market index funds, so that I’m on the road to financial independence. A high savings rate also allows for an emergency fund for financial shocks and a specific savings account to fund expeditions that increase the chance of a powder day.  

Research and expedition planning - We must set aside time at intervals to plan our expedition. This could be once per week to check flight deals, or maintaining and updating a list of powder locations with ideas on hotels, guides or yurt options. These outings can be a solo endeavor, or one planned with others. Digging into the lives of today’s mountaineers or the journals of the 1800s era explorers, expedition planning figures prominently in their approach. While we glorify the moment at the top of the mountain, pushing off into the deep powdery snow, we forget the thousands of hours it took to create that moment through purposeful planning and logistics. 

Physical training - Riding powder is hard. A physical training program all year allows us to maximize our impact at work through enhanced focus and reduced sickness, while also allowing us to pursue the powder for longer and more hours each day. Getting out there consistently every week and moving the body makes us  physically ready.

Persistence mindset - If we identify the components of a powder day and build them consistently into our lives, we are preparing ourselves for those grace moments that make a positive difference in our lives. No outcome is guaranteed but we can concisely practice a set of focus areas, or disciplines that makes us compatible with those moments. 

Grace and serendipity - Call it luck, grace or divine intervention, there is an element of chance. Sometimes the powder comes, and sometimes it doesn’t. While we can’t control the snow, we can increase the likelihood of being in the high mountains at that time of year and make that window of chance as broad as possible. And then hope that grace hits with a big snow storm. 

Paying attention to the now- Those who experience these moments of transcendence say that they are simply aware that these experiences exist, because they have had them before.  ‘Powder moments’ can’t be manufactured, but those who are paying attention are more likely to grasp that moment when it arrives.


Making it work for you
So what constitutes a powder day for you? Are you a skier or snowboarder who identifies with this concept? Or do you love days around a pool with your kids when the weather is just right? Or is your idea of a perfect moment the day that a work project ends well, and gives exponential value to the people that you serve? 

We can have many types of powder days, but we have to know what they are. We need to define those essentialist moments that matter to us above all else, and then work backward to bolster the systems and practices that increase our likelihood of riding the perfect powder day. 

Happy Trails!

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