I recently attended WinterStrong 4. This event is held every year in a undisclosed location. I’ve spoken of my good friend Bert Sorin before. Bert and his father (Pops) are at the pinnacle of sports performance with their company, Sorinex. It’s not uncommon to see their equipment in elite training facilities. The cater to the military, NFL, NBA, colleges, and numerous other organizations.
Sorinex has two gatherings a year for their friends and clientele. The two events are WinterStrong and SummerStrong, and I have been lucky enough to attended both.
The winter event is definitely in my wheelhouse. This year, they invited some of the best athletes, outdoorsmen, military, and industry professionals to attend a two-day event. This event included classes on outdoor survival, shooting, hunting, and weight training. It was a day and a half of training that concluded with a team event.
The team event was a run, shoot, lift course. Teams were chosen playground style, and you were forced to work together with both friends and people you had never even met before.
It all started off with a plunge in Bert’s pond. Let’s just say that the water is very cold this time of year. You do have the opportunity to dry off and put on dry clothes, but then you have to start a 2.5 mile run. At specific locations, you had to shoot a bow, a gun, or do a physical task. This was a test of endurance, strength, and skills, and teamwork paid dividends. It was really cool to see people from all walks of life come together for a singular cause.
The most important element of this weekend, to me, was how they promoted hunting. They tied all aspects of weight training and fitness to hunting.
The weekend was topped off with what The Flip Flop Guy threw down on the grill. He prepared ten venison hindquarters, using his secret sauce combined with wine, salt and pepper. He applied the seasoning with a freshly made rosemary brush. It was truly an experience.
The highlight of the weekend was that we had two Congressional Medal of Honor recipients in attendance. It was truly an honor to be in their presence.
