XAN MARSHLAND

Every time someone new learns our story, this grin gets bigger.

Wasatch Range, UT. Photo: Carson Meyer (@carsonmeyerphoto)

I grew up in Northern California in a household where environmentalism and a love for the mountains were ingrained in me from the time I learned to walk. Gravity and speed came into the picture as soon as I learned to ski at age 4.

That said, bikes were the mode of thrill seeking I was most able to access during my youth, and it wasn’t until my young adulthood on Colorado’s front range when ski touring truly took center stage. I’ve done my best to play catchup ever since, making countless happy, bizarre, and stupid memories in the backcountry. To this day, my greatest friendships have grown out of human powered exploits in the woods.

As a young adult, I temporarily laid my environmental science degree to the side and charged headfirst into the outdoor industry, beginning by writing for a gear review publication, and quickly leveraging that experience into a full time gig as US brand manager for a boutique mountain bike brand.

In summer of 2018, I teamed up with Matt Sterbenz and Checkerspot’s science team with a daunting mission ahead of us: launch a new brand to empower skiers with the first biobased materials developed specifically for backcountry skiing.

Long story short, we pulled it off. I credit the passion, resolve, and mutual enthusiasm of our entire team - and a few late night metal playlists when it was crunch time. Launching WNDR Alpine has truly been one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Today I help operate WNDR Alpine in Salt Lake City and serve as the bridge between Checkerspot’s and WNDR Alpine’s communications channels. If I’m not on a mountain, you can usually find me writing words, editing words, and spreading the good word - through our Stories page, publications we work with, and our own video content.