Three Olympic medals. A mountain of injuries. And now? Dove Men+Care, saunas, and maybe one more run for gold.
Mark McMorris doesn’t slow down.
He’s fresh off a flight from Europe, up at 5:45 AM, easing himself back into the Pacific time zone. Before most people have poured their first coffee, he’s already done a little work, knocked out a few interviews, and has a gym session lined up. After that? A few runs on the mountain, some training, a sauna-ice bath cycle—“which I really, really love,” he says, physio at 6:30, and then a four-on-four hockey league game with his brother. “It’s the home opener tonight,” he adds, as if that’s just part of a normal Tuesday.
McMorris has been going full throttle most of his life. He’s racked up three Olympic medals and a record-breaking 24 X Games medals, more than any other snowboarder in history. Now, after more than a decade at the top, McMorris is thinking differently about longevity, recovery, and what it takes to keep pushing without breaking down.
“When I first learned about the Dove Men+Care skin endorsement, I thought it was quite witty and something that people would get a kick out of, but at the same time, be informative,” he added.
For the campaign, McMorris sports a large (temporary) tattoo across his chest bearing the Dove Men+Care logo. And it looks real enough to make people ask questions. “It is not permanent, no,” he says with a laugh after I ask him directly. “My skin’s feeling better than ever.”
The partnership makes perfect sense for McMorris, an athlete whose career revolves around exposure to winter, snow, and harsh elements. “They went straight to the source—to my skin—to show my commitment to Dove Men+Care Body Wash. It’s been a fun partnership,” he explains.
McMorris keeps a TSA-sized bottle of Dove Men+Care Body Wash with him while travelling and isn’t shy about finding a shower between flights. “You’ll catch me showering in the lounges here and there when I’m jumping across the pond.”
It’s the kind of attention to detail you’d expect from someone at the top of their game, but McMorris still doesn’t come off like a hyper-disciplined machine. He’s easygoing, grounded, and still sounds like the same guy you’d hang out with after a day on the mountain. The difference now is intention. In his 30s, every routine, from training blocks to recovery rituals, has a purpose. The contest season runs from September to April, packed with “week in, week out” competitions and long-haul flights. The workload hasn’t eased, but the way he approaches it has.
“I’ve been injured a lot in my career,” he says, not as a complaint, more like a fact of life. “It kind of comes with the territory. But it’s made me stronger, and it’s made me appreciate what I get to do more.”
Some of McMorris’s injuries could’ve ended his career—or his life. But nothing’s slowed him for long. “Some months are more laid-back, but it never really stops,” he says. Spring means a focus on strength, mobility, and staying on his board. The injuries are still there in the background, but there’s a new balance to how he talks about his body now. And maybe, a plan.
Snowboarding doesn’t often reward longevity. It’s a sport that turns over fast, favouring youth, fearlessness, and fresh legs. But McMorris isn’t done. “I think I’m just really intrigued by how far I can take it on the competitive side,” he says. “I really want to go to a fourth Olympics. That would be an amazing feat—no one who was at the 2014 Olympics with me will be at the next Olympics,” he adds with a smile. “It would be really cool to come home with some hardware.”
Still, he’s not just chasing medals. He’s chasing the feeling—the reason he started. “You have to make sure you’re doing it because it’s fun and you’re enjoying pushing yourself,” he says. “If those two things are missing, go back to the drawing board.”
When I mention McMorris & McMorris, the reality show he filmed with his brother Craig for MTV in 2013, he laughs. “I was like 19 at the time,” he says. “It was really, really quite something.”
Could something like that come back? “I don’t know what the team’s scheming up right now,” he says. “But it seems like we’re always doing something.”
Right now, that “something” includes reminding people that it’s not always about pushing harder or going bigger. Sometimes, it’s about taking care of yourself. “You can’t start too early with skin care,” he says with a smile. “Get on it now, and stay consistent.”
And when asked to sum up his favourite Dove Men+Care body wash, he flashes a smile: “Fresh.”
And then he’s off—probably back to the gym, the mountain, or that hockey game. After all, Mark McMorris doesn’t slow down.
But he knows exactly how to recover.
