The Powder Of Positive Thinking

Three days in the Canadian Rockies with CEO whisperer and self-help guru Matt Mosteller

- Tim Johnson

You’ll like Powder Matt—he’ll make sure of it. Even if you cringe at first. His motivational speeches can sound like something borrowed from an inspirational poster but delivered in the voice of a fiftysomething ski bum. One day, after a hike, over coffee at a long wooden table, he tells me about a childhood mentor who taught him how to ski. “I realised I can soar,” he recalls. “That person gave me the wings.” I would have scoffed at the sentimentality if his positivity weren’t just so darn charming.

Powder Matt was born Matt Mosteller, but in our interactions he always identifies himself as Powder Matt, whether in person or over email. For 30 years he’s been connecting business, political, and cultural leaders with the great outdoors, hosting self-help retreats on snowy slopes, wild rivers, and steep mountain paths for three or four days at a time. (Trips range from $500 to $15,000.) These outdoor adventures often mix people with different occupations (actors, bankers, pro athletes) to get them out of whatever mental or emotional rut they’re in, and they’re peppered with Mosteller’s unique brand of snow-driven positive thinking. “Powder is the lubricant that brings people from a variety of backgrounds together to connect, share joy, and do good,” he tells me. “That’s why powder is such a powerful part of my life.”