The Winter Solstice isn't just another day on the calendar—it's a milestone for those of us who live for winter. While everyone else is counting down the days until spring, we're out here celebrating the shortest day of the year.
This one's for you—the ones who set seventeen alarms for powder days, the bell-to-bell skiers who squeeze every last run out of the mountain, the spring skiing die-hards who are still sending it in April.
Make a Sunrise Mission Worth It
The solstice is the longest night of the year, which makes the sunrise that follows it feel especially meaningful. Watching the light return from somewhere high on the mountain—whether you've skinned up before dawn or you're catching first chair—is a way to mark the turning point of the season.
Ways to honor solstice sunrise:
- Skin up with your crew: Organize a dawn patrol with your trusted ski partners. There's something powerful about moving through the darkness together in silence.
- First chair ritual: If uphill isn't accessible, claim your spot at the front of the lift line and ride up together as dawn breaks.
- Solo reflection time: If you prefer solitude, take this sunrise for yourself. Use the climb or the quiet chair ride to set your intentions for the season ahead.
- Make it accessible: Not everyone can do a big mountain mission. A sunrise walk in your local park or even watching from your window with intention counts. What matters is marking the moment.
Gather Your People
Winter solstice celebrations across cultures have always been about gathering your community. After your sunrise mission (or instead of it, if that's not your thing), create space to connect with the people who get it—the ones who understand why winter matters and who show up for each other on powder days and spring slush and everything in between.
Ways to gather with intention:
- Potluck with purpose: Invite everyone to bring something hearty and warm. As you eat, go around the table and have each person share one thing they're grateful for from this season so far and one hope for the months ahead.
- Support women-owned: Source ingredients from women-owned businesses, BIPOC-owned farms, or local co-ops. Make your celebration an act of supporting the community you want to build.
- Create space for all bodies: Remember that not everyone's relationship with food is simple. Offer variety, label ingredients for allergies, and focus the gathering on connection, not consumption.
- Include your non-skier friends: Winter community isn't just for people who ski or snowboard. Invite the friends who support your mountain obsession, even if they don't share it.
- Make it a tradition: Commit to gathering on the solstice every year. Let this become a cornerstone of your winter, something your people can count on.
Set Your Winter Intentions
The solstice marks a turning point—the moment when we begin the slow return to light. It's the perfect time to get clear on what you want from the rest of your winter, both on and off the mountain.
Reflection prompts for your solstice intentions:
- What do you want to feel this winter? Beyond the goals and accomplishments, what emotional experience are you seeking? Joy? Freedom? Connection? Strength? Name it.
- What lines or runs are calling you? Maybe there's a line you've been eyeing, a zone you want to explore, or a skill you want to build. Write down your mountain goals.
- How do you want to show up for your community? Think about the ways you can be a better friend, mentor, or ally in your mountain community. Maybe it's inviting someone new into the crew, or speaking up when you witness exclusion.
- What needs to shift? Is there something holding you back from your best winter? Fear? Self-doubt? Lack of time? Name it honestly so you can work with it.
- What are you committing to? Maybe it's 50 days on snow, or a daily gratitude practice, or calling out casual sexism on the lift. Whatever it is, state it clearly.
Write your intentions down. Put them somewhere you'll see them regularly—on your bathroom mirror, in your ski bag, on your phone's lock screen. Check in with them throughout the season.
Create Moments of Stillness
The solstice is about balance—the still point before the light begins its return. For those of us who are constantly in motion, who fill our calendars and push our bodies, stillness can feel uncomfortable. But winter offers us permission to rest, even briefly.
Ways to practice solstice stillness:
- One minute on the mountain: At the top of your favorite run, before you drop in, take sixty seconds. Feel the cold air, notice the silence that comes with snow, and acknowledge where you are.
- Evening ritual: Light candles as the sun sets (the longest sunset of the year). Sit with them for just a few minutes. No phone, no distractions. Just you and the darkness and the light.
- Body scan: After your ski day, before you shower, take a moment to notice how your body feels. Thank your legs, your lungs, your heart for carrying you through the mountains. Notice any pain or fatigue without judgment.
- Breathwork: Try box breathing (inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4) while looking out at the mountains or the winter landscape. Just three rounds.
- Solo time in nature: Even a short walk alone can be restorative. Notice the quality of winter light, the way snow changes sound, the tracks of animals who move through the landscape when we're not watching.
Honor the Land and Those Who Came Before
The winter solstice has been observed for thousands of years by Indigenous peoples across the world. The mountains we ski on, the land we celebrate on—it all belongs to someone. Taking a moment to acknowledge this isn't performative; it's necessary.
Ways to practice land acknowledgment and reciprocity:
- Learn whose land you're on: Use resources like native-land.ca to identify the Indigenous peoples whose traditional territory you ski on. Learn their names, their history, their present-day communities.
- Go beyond acknowledgment: Find Indigenous-led environmental and land protection organizations in your region. Donate, volunteer, or amplify their work.
- Support Native-owned businesses: Seek out Native artists, outdoor brands, and businesses. Put your money where your values are.
- Educate yourself: Read books by indigenous authors about their relationship with the land, winter, and the places you love. Listen to indigenous voices talking about climate change and land stewardship.
- Advocate for access: Support efforts to make outdoor spaces more accessible to BIPOC communities and remove barriers to mountain access.
- Practice reciprocity: What are you giving back to the land that gives you so much? Consider participating in trail maintenance, mountain cleanups, or conservation efforts.
This work isn't a one-time solstice activity—it's ongoing. But the solstice can be a reminder to check in with your commitments.
Create Your Own Solstice Tradition
The most meaningful traditions are the ones you create yourself, the rituals that reflect your values and your community. What do you want the winter solstice to mean for you?
Questions to help you build your tradition:
- What matters most to you about winter? Is it the physical challenge? The community? The connection to nature? The silence and space? Let that guide your tradition.
- What do you want to remember each year? Maybe it's gratitude for your body, or appreciation for your crew, or commitment to showing up fully for the season.
- How do you want to feel on the solstice? Grounded? Celebratory? Reflective? Connected? Design your tradition around the feeling you're seeking.
- Who needs to be there? Some traditions are solo practices. Some require your closest friends. Some are open to whoever shows up. Be intentional about who you include.
- What makes it sustainable? A tradition you can actually maintain year after year is better than something elaborate you'll do once. Keep it simple enough to repeat.
Maybe your tradition is a solstice ski with the same group of women every year. Maybe it's writing a letter to yourself about the season ahead. Maybe it's a donation to an organization that aligns with your values. Maybe it's all of these things. Make it yours.
Looking Forward, Staying Present
After the solstice, the days start getting longer—slowly at first, then more noticeably as we move through January and into February. But longer days don't mean winter's over. For those of us who really love winter, the best is still ahead. February powder. March corn. April skiing that makes everyone else question your sanity (let them).
The solstice reminds us to stay present. This day, this storm, this run—they're all happening right now. The season will end eventually, like all seasons do. But right now, you're here. You're strong. You're part of a community of people who choose winter, who show up for each other, who know that the mountains make us better.
