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Transcript

Brad Barrett | Dual Sport Mountain Athlete · The Steep Stuff Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Guys, what is up?
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the steep stuff podcast.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, james Lauriello, and today we've got a fun episode for you guys.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: None other than my training partner and Arc'teryx athlete, mr Brad Barrett, joins the podcast.
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Very close friend of mine, brad is an absolute stud.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: He's a dual sport athlete, both on the skiing and mountain running side.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: He had a pretty exciting season as well, set in the FKT on sunshine and red cloud in the San Juan mountains, as well as having some solid finishes about the Pikes Peak ascent as well as the Telluride Mountain Run.
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: Guys, what a fun episode.
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: We dive into all kinds of really fun stuff.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: We talk about Brad's background, kind of how he got into the sport, where he's headed on the sport, some future projects that he's got working on.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: It kind of kind of breaks down.
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Um, you know just what it's like to be in that, uh, sponsored athlete life and just so much more.
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: Um, brad's a very uplifting fellow.
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Um, like I said, a very personal friend of mine, um, and just someone who I really look up to in the sport and just really, um, you know, just just a, just a good dude.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: So I hope you guys enjoy this one.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: It's a really special one for me.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Without further ado, steep Stuff Pod with Brad Barrett.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: It's time, ladies and gentlemen, we are live, brad Barrett.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Steep Stuff Podcast, brother.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: How's it going?
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: It's good.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: It's good.
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: I feel like we've been talking about this for a long time.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: We have, I think what.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: When was the first time we?
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: We talked about this the day we met, when we did battle on the incline you whooped my ass.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: And.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: I was like dude, you should come on my podcast.
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: I still remember the day.
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it was like what, back in April-ish.
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it was late march, early april.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah, march april, yeah I just remember I don't know what it was I I saw you going up and I was like, oh, this guy is fast like anybody that's ever done the incline, you just know.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah, like who's quick and who's just like gonna burn themselves out in the next hundred feet, and like you had a good pace and I was like, yeah, I have no idea who this guy is.
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: I'm going to try passing, because that's what you do.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Which you did.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: You passed me and you put about, I don't know, a minute into me, maybe a little less 30 seconds to a minute, and I could not bridge the gap.
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: Dude, I fought so hard to catch you and I was like motherfucker.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: I just remember you getting to the top and then, yeah, I don't think it was more than it was not more than 45 seconds or so yeah um minute tops and you'd come up and over and then you caught your breath and I remember, yeah, going over, and I was like, oh hey, I'm brad.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: And then sorry, I just whooped your ass, but yeah no, that was the first time we we uh crossed paths.
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: Well, dude I'm glad.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: I'm glad we finally did this we've been we've been meaning to for a while.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: I know you've had a huge season on.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: You know you've been doing a lot of projects, a lot of fun stuff, some races as well, um, so I'm glad we finally got to sit down and get this, get this done first, hopefully the first of many, so yeah, yeah, dude.
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: So for the audience that might not know, br Barrett, who's Brad Barrett?
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: Who is Brad Barrett?
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: That's a good question.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: In short, I would say, athletically, I am a trail runner and a skier.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: Those are my primary sports.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: I grew up in Colorado Springs, had a pretty athletic background throughout my childhood and teenage years and whatnot.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: Um played competitive soccer for well over a decade, um, and then, toward the end of um high school-ish my maybe junior senior year, I stopped playing.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: And what position were you?
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: I was a center back, so I played.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: I was.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: I was left back, you're left back, yeah.
• 4:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah was a center back, so I played.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: I was left back.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: You're left back, yeah.
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, so center back yeah.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: It was like D D the D.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah Me and the keeper, and that's it.
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: Um, and yeah, no, I love those days and you know I at the time when I was playing competitively, I was very much set on like, play competitively, go to college, um, and then kind of see where things go from there.
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: And then something kind of just clicked and I just didn't really wasn't enjoying it anymore, um, and for a few years into my early twenties like 2021, I didn't really have anything I was doing athletically.
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: I mean, I was still running, going to the gym, but not obviously not to like the extent that I am now Um, and then that's when trail running kind of entered the scene.
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: Um, you know, I kind of hit a.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: I hit a rough spot in my early, early twenties with some things and, um, just getting outside and getting up high really helped kind of bring some peace to things, um, and so that was very much how I got into this and that, you know, that's a whole story in it of itself, but you know, more or less that's kind of how I got into.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: It was just, you know, finding, trying to find a healthy outlet to, you know, get through some things and you know, the outdoors and climb 14 years and, and running was how I did that.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: Wow, dude.
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: So it's interesting to to me because, like, how I discovered the sport was seeing shirtless anton on a on a youtube video and running jogging through the woods, right you know, on in route to to trying to win western states and stuff.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: Like that's how the sport like appeared for me, like at what point did you realize?
• 6:19
  Speaker 1: You're like, oh, the mountains are really fun, and then this whole like running modality in the mountains is kind of cool.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: Oh man, that's a great question.
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: Um, I it.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: It happened.
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: Now that I think about it, it happened very quickly and it happened very slowly, um, originally.
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: So kind of like coming out of that dark spot in my early twenties with, with the number of things, um, you know, I found myself just running more and I come across a few people that were, um, you know, climbing 14 years and and doing some trail running and, you know, start to like join them on some things.
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: And I remember doing my, you know, really kind of like at my first real couple of like 14 years and it just clicked and I think it was just like oh, I love this.
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: And it was like that was that was it.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: It was like that's just what I wanted to do with all my free time.
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: It was like I just want to be outside, I want to, I just want to be outside and I want to get up high.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: And that's kind of initially kind of kicked off my 14 year story as far as like trying to chip through and get through all of those.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: And I think, as life kind of progressed in my own career and my own, you know, professional pursuits and the outdoors was always that escape and it was very much that place that I could go and I could decompress, and it's like the more I did that, the more I realized like, oh, I'm actually pretty good at, you know running uphill you know a lot of that's how a lot of people would.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: It's like I'm just, you know, good at running uphill and you know that was again kind of my, my healthy escape from a lot of things, yeah was was getting out and and running, especially through the mountains, like wasn't racing at the time.
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: I was just getting out as much as I could.
• 8:12
  Speaker 1: Now you're a true dual sport athlete Like you not necessarily not schema, but you do.
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: You do a heavy amount of like true back country skiing in in the winter and in the summer you're doing mountain running.
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: How did you get true back country skiing in in the winter and in the summer you're doing mountain running?
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: How did you get into back country skiing?
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: That's also a great question.
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: So again, like I again the the, the few people that I was doing just hiking with and and doing 14 years with like they also skied.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: And for me it was when I was like growing up I didn't ski and I remember like going out the very first time and like just yard sale, just just just blow up that's exactly how I just see myself doing it just absolutely blew up and then I think it was probably like the end of that first day, you know, I was I doing just fine, I wasn't fast by any means, but there was just something deep down that I was like, oh, I love this too.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: And it was just again like any moment that I had to go.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: And I remember like, oh, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do this, so like, bought the skis, bought the pass, bought everything, and it was just going as much as I can.
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: There were oftentimes I was like I was going solo, by myself, in the resort, um, in the in the resort, to just do laps, just to get better, so that when I would go with my friends, I could keep up, okay, um, and you know, there was definitely a few moments that you know the friends at the time they uh, yeah, we would get to the bottom of the run.
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: They're like, okay, the last time we skied, like three weeks ago, you were not, you're not with us the run.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: They're like, okay, the last time we skied, like three weeks ago, you were not with us, like what happened?
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: I was like, oh, I went the last couple weekends, they're just like by yourself.
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: I'm like, yeah, I'm like, yeah, I just tracked, you know practiced tree runs and you know all this stuff, just to get better, because I just loved it.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: And again it was another escape from you know, just kind of the day-to-day life, you know.
• 10:02
  Speaker 2: It was really another avenue showing me what I really love in life, and skiing happened to be a big piece of that.
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: And then from there backcountry skiing started to open up more and in the last couple of seasons that's really where I found my passion for skiing.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: Like the resorts are great, backcountry skiing is definitely um where I would prefer to spend my time yeah, it's interesting, man, I mean it translates well.
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: Like every time we we go on the incline it's do or die, like it's oh yeah you fucking whoop me dude, and I'm like sitting here like, oh, it's like you know, every week I'm like, oh, I feel so fit, I feel good.
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: Nope, nope, you've been honestly like my favorite training partner all year, like it's been, and for people that don't, I don't know I think I've dropped this on other podcasts before Like you were you and I'd say Nick a little bit, but I'd say mostly you are is like my primary training partner when we do, when you link up for runs and stuff like that, and sean as well, um, and it's just fun to kind of see like where I'm at every time you drop my ass on the incline it's like I well, first I, you know, I appreciate your, you're supporting your partnership too as a training partner and a friend and his mentor, for sure, um, but there there is a lot, and I'm not the first to say this.
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: you know, many other ski mountaineers, ski mountaineers will say that you know, spending time at altitude definitely helps, yeah.
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: And then when you drop back down and like you know, the incline is just a small piece of that and you think about, you know, you know, going up to say, like the top of Elbert and skiing down Elbert, or going to the top of Quandary and skating down quandary, the incline is just a small piece of that.
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: And so when you're doing all this volume and you're kind of training, you know, but only really training for the first, you know a thousand feet of it, 2000 feet of it.
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: It translates quite well.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: It does, it does.
• 11:55
  Speaker 1: It's impressive dude.
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: Like I said, I'm excited for our battles right now.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: We'll talk about that.
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: We'll talk about your long season, right, dude.
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: One thing I wanted to get into was I didn't want to dive too much into it at first, but now I'm kind of thinking like I think the audience would really get a lot out of this.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: It's like the 14.
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, that's been an ongoing project over the last two.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: I guess this would have been my third year, or third summer, rather, trying to knock them out.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: Um, I mean, I'm not that person.
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: I mean, well, geez, how do I say this?
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: So many people can do them in a summer, you know, and there's tons of people out there that are like, oh, this is gonna be my summer project and they just knock all 58.
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: If you, if you include um, cool brah doesn't count okay yes and no.
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: Yes and no, um, or is it going with that?
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, I was hoping to finish up this year.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: Um, just didn't have the bandwidth or the time and some weather came in, um that kind of held back, and plus I just got busy with a lot of other sponsorship stuff and other projects that I was doing.
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: So hopefully next summer um I'm able to uh finish up, if I can't um ski a couple of the peaks that I'm hoping to this winter.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: So talk about that a little bit.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: So you were not just climbing them in the summer, you were also skiing a large amount of them too, correct?
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so the toward the end of last season, um, yeah, I kind of saw this opportunity of like, okay, if I want to try and finish 14 years, I got to start.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: If I want to start, if I want to finish them this this past summer, I need to start skiing some of these things, Um.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: So I was able to ski quandary, is able to ski, um, uh, Albert, ski quandary a couple of times, but then Albert and then um, what other pieces I do?
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: I think that were the two proper 14 years I did.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: I did a number of other, like some 13 years, Um, but yeah, no, that's like.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: You know, those those are some big days and those are the days I love, where you're just out there all day.
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: You're just out there and it's just you and you and you and your partners.
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: There's something about the solace of winter that a lot of people love, and there's a way of the mountains in the winter that's hard to explain, especially on a 14 or so fucking cold dude.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: It is cold, and I mean Albert is a prime example of like got stuck in a blizzard and I forgot about that.
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: It was kind of a shit show.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: It really was.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: Um, talk about that.
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, like typical Colorado weather.
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: You know, I was seeing the day before like, okay, we're going to get, you know, probably two to three inches.
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: Okay, I'm willing to deal with that.
• 14:55
  Speaker 2: I mean my ski partner.
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: We were like, okay, you know, that's fine.
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: Well, you know, ends up snowing probably just a little over a foot.
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: Oh my God, ends up snowing probably just a little over a foot.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: Oh my god.
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: And we're just going up this thing and it's wide out in, like we're, you know no more than you know, probably 15 yards from each other at any given point, just because you can't see anything.
• 15:15
  Speaker 2: And from time to time it's like we would see other parties like off in the distance, and we're like, well, they're there, we're still here, I guess we'll keep going.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: So eventually make it up and then it's just like coming down, you still just can't see anything.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: It's white out all over.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: Are you panicking at all?
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: like do you panic?
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: I feel like I would get anxiety in that situation.
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: It kind of messes with you when you can't see more than like 30 or 40 yards ahead of you yeah and you're really just taking it like a turn or two at a time, um, and legitimately like a turn or two at a time, and you're just checking your map because you can't even see the skin track.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: You came up because the wind is blowing it away and so you're just taking a couple of turns at a time.
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: Check your map Okay, still here until you get to about tree line, and then obviously you see the trees and then you're like, okay, at least we're out of that.
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: Um, and then you can kind of, you know, pretty much make your way back down the rest of the mountain.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: As far as like freaking out on that sort of thing, like I very much think of it as it's an option sure, you know blizzard and really shouldn't be out there, so on, so forth but it's like, well, you're there, what are you gonna do about it?
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: It can either freak out and make it way worse, and that's what I would do.
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean that's.
• 16:33
  Speaker 2: The thing is like I mean, I think that's for a lot of people panic, sheer panic right, they panic and they get themselves into a bad situation and that's not just skiing.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: I can be, you know, climbing anything you know fourth, fifth class or more.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: When your brain and the adrenaline are just going, you have to be able to separate the fear and anxiety from it, from what you're actually doing.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: And if you can separate the two, you're in a much better place than most people.
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: And that's what separates a lot of the people that will go and do a lot of hard climbs and a lot of scrambles or a lot of technical skiing is they know that the terrain they're in is it's dangerous, but they accept that risk, and they know that, like, okay're in is it's dangerous, but they accept that risk and they know that, like okay, if I'm going to do this, I can't freak out.
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: I have to be composed, I've got to take it.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: You know a turn or two at a time, or a move at a time, or you know three feet at a time, whatever it is.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: You're also like one of the things that a training partner is like.
• 17:27
  Speaker 1: You're always very dude, like you're dialed into the weather like I don't I never fucking check the weather.
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: I'm like, oh, there's a lightning storm, we'll figure it out, like well but like driving to this real head jeans, like do you check the weather?
• 17:38
  Speaker 1: I'm like yep, got it right here, exactly, exactly like I don't do shit and like I know that's, that's probably very poor forum and people probably upset hearing that but like I don't know, I'm very laissez-faire if you will, but you're very dialed with that stuff, and especially on technical terrain.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: You'll just text me out of the blue one day You're like oh dude, I just did the Crestone Traverse by myself, Just having myself a day.
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: And I'm like what the fuck?
• 18:03
  Speaker 2: Where is this guy right now?
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: What's he doing?
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: That's interesting.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: What leads to that?
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: What I mean.
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: That's interesting.
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: What leads to that Like?
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: What inspires you to go out and like, go like, do those wild things by yourself, to like?
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: Is it more of like an art for you?
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: Is it more of the competition for you, like this last summer?
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: Um, I will caveat and say that in general, a person should not necessarily go out by themselves and do technical or like really technical climbing, you know?
• 18:45
  Speaker 2: I mean, if it's like first class, second class or like even you know third class, like yeah, you're probably fine.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: You know, if you've got your inReach and you've got your phone and you've, you've prepared and you've got food, water, all that good stuff, like probably gonna be fine Once you get into that more technical stuff, it's like you know, you, you, you are one slip away from something really bad happening.
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: I guess the way I justify that in my own mind is I trust that what I am doing in that moment is what I need to be doing.
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: And for me, when I go out and do more dangerous things by myself, one, I've obviously done my homework, yeah, and someone else has my plan, knows where I'm at, knows, hey, you know he's going to be checking at these times.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: If he doesn't, you know there's a margin there.
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: And then if, ultimately, if he doesn't check back in, then you know we need to go find him.
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: Well, that's what you sent me, that text.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: Hey, just so you know, this is where I'm at.
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: You're like, just just so you know.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: And I'm like, oh, okay, right, yeah, which I, you know, kind of thinking back, I probably shouldn't have said anything until I got home.
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: But uh no, another friend of mine that that specific day on the Crestones uh, he had my location, he knew exactly where I was, um, and I happened to have service most of the day out there, so that was great.
• 20:03
  Speaker 2: There is a lot of peace and tranquility, though, that comes from just doing things like that by yourself, and like some there are.
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: There are often days it's like I just need to go out by myself and do something like that yeah and I trust my skill set.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: I trust is it the need for like, like a peace and tranquility?
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: Like what?
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: What is that need?
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: That's what I'm trying to unpack and understand more.
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: Like what?
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: What drives you to want to like?
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: I just need to like, unpack that.
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: For me, like, it's a very primal thing to want to do that by yourself.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: I love that and like, but it's also like are you, is it?
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: Is it to test yourself or is it just like so I can balance myself as a person?
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: that's what I'm trying to understand probably the latter, I would say very much, balancing myself as a person.
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: Days, big days like that, solo it's not a competition yeah you know it's, that's how you know, that's how you get yourself wound up in a bad situation is, oh well, if someone so went and did it, then I can go do it.
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: I'm going to do it faster, like, okay, no, just drop that, drop that.
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: Again, for me it's very much just that clarity, and oftentimes it's like, you know, there might be something I'm trying to sort out in my own head.
• 21:13
  Speaker 2: And again, kind of going back to one of the you know first questions of like how did I get into all this?
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: Again, it was a, it was a healthy way for me to process some things yeah and that remains true to this day.
• 21:25
  Speaker 2: And then sometimes I just know when it's like I just need to go out and go do something yeah, no, I do, I do, I feel you there.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and my way of doing that just happens to be, some days, you know, a really hard climb, um, you know whether it is like fourth or fifth class climbing and again, I've worked my way up to that and I have confidence in my climbing ability and I know that if something happens, it happens.
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: I can't do anything about it.
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: I'm obviously not going to throw caution to the wind, but I trust myself, I know that's where I need to be for that day and I've definitely am doing it to you know, for for myself and no one else.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, I love that no, it's a good answer and that's kind of like there's this fine line as an athlete that like I love the competition aspect of it, like I'm I look at myself and I don't mean this to come across with the ubers or anything is like just a very serious competitor, like I love to compete.
• 22:20
  Speaker 1: That's my like, you know you very, you very well.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: Now, um which?
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: is great, but at the same time, like I don't know, it's more so when I'm in the mountains um the big mountains, where it's more art and expression and like this is more like linking up these ridges or something like that, where it was the best.
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: You know, I'm not necessarily competing against anyone, it's just, you know, how can I, you know, just express myself on this day?
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: And by doing this, I don't know, it's like strava art in a weird way.
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: Where you're, you know, I'm like, oh, this would make sense, this is logical, you know, um, and there's just still.
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: It's beautiful because in our peaks they're still, like in colorado, like there are certain mountains where you can still do that, you know for sure.
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: The song graze is a great example.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: You go play in the song graze, you can link up a bunch of 13ers and 14ers like plenty of opportunities.
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: It's, you know.
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: One thing that kind of just came to mind too is like also appreciating, really just appreciating the ability to go and do that.
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: Because there's so many people that you know they they hike one 14, or they hike one peak or two peaks in their lives, and that's it.
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 23:29
  Speaker 2: That's like their accomplishment.
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: And they're like you know they live somewhere outside of you know mountain west.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: You know they live somewhere out east or somewhere you know different part of the world, and you know one of their goals in life is like oh, I want to go to colorado and I want to climb this mountain, or I want to go to europe and climb this mountain, or you know south america or wherever, and then that's it.
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: There's like there's a number of people not just me that just go out and it's like oh, yeah, just go do it, yeah, three or four in a day, yeah, oh, yeah, and you know these people are looking at you like what?
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: Like how did you go?
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: Like, oh, I saw you park the car and got out and you're telling me that you went and did like you linked up like three or four different peaks and like, yeah, I guess.
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: So I guess, yeah, you know, and it's just appreciating the body that I have and the capability and the, the talent that I have to go do that has very much also come into play as far as why do I go do that like you know, I have this great body that can go and move and likes to be up high and likes to just move through time and space.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: Like that.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: I would be doing myself a disservice if I didn't.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: I think you'd be doing those others as a service as well.
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: I think what you do, I think like and the reason I say like doing others as a service is because those things are inspiring.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: You know, if someone sees now there's good and bad to this Like if someone sees you doing something like that, right there, the good part is it's inspiring so they could go go chase their goals and set big goals and achieve them.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: But on the flip side of it it's uh, don't go do stupid shit in the mountains.
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, don't go unprepared, don't go, you know, don't bite off more than you can chew.
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and then we've all been in a situation where we've bit off more than we can chew.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and we've all been in those situations where we've bit off more than we can chew and you know we had an accident or we came close to something that have you ever been in any like sketchy situations like that?
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: um skiing or running skiing or running the one.
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: I guess one, one instance that pops out is glissading down.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: I believe it was Mount Wilson on the El Deante to Mount Wilson traverse.
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: It was like July timeframe, so there was still a lot of snow and we had done the traverse, summited Mount Wilson coming and then came back down into navajo basin I believe and a group of us were just making our way down the snow field glissading and I started to pick up some speed and I I couldn't stop and at first I was like, okay, well, I mean I just need to dig harder with my ice accent, and I just wasn't stopping oh shit it just wasn't stopping and you know that was very much one of those things where it's like you really do start to freak out because, like you're- just you could tumble, yeah, you're just tumbling and they're like this little goalie was coming up and I'm like I don't really know what's going to happen.
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: I don't know if I can do anything.
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: Long story short, was able to stop with the aid of a friend, um, but as far as like, actually like really bad situations, you know, knock on wood, like no, I haven't yeah and maybe I have, but again, like, I'm pretty good about separating the fear and anxiety you're comfortable with exposure and stuff like that, like way more than I am right now.
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: I mean it's kind of that has come with a lot of practice and a lot of just going and scrambling more and just climbing and climbing and climbing whenever I can, yeah.
• 26:56
  Speaker 2: You know, initially it was like you know, my first real exposure experience was like whoa, that's freaky.
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: And then now it's like, you know, I kind of think, going back to that same spot, I'd be like, oh, that's nothing, but again, it's just that.
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: What do I need to do to get to that next level?
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, just hone that skill just hone the skill, just go the more volume to do the more volume.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: You do in something you know you're gonna get, you're gonna get better yeah, yeah, so you also this summer, winter summer, uh, set the fkt on.
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: What was it?
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: Was it sunshine or red cloud?
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: Sunshine or red cloud, yep.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: Dude, that's pretty, it's pretty serious.
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 27:35
  Speaker 1: Set of 14 years there in the same ones.
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: You want to talk about that experience.
• 27:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, it was great.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: Um, yeah, first set of 14 years.
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: I suppose one could categorize that.
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: As you know, it's two peaks down, um, uh, down by Lake city, um, adjacent peaks would be handies and um and compagre.
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: It's not too far from there.
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: There wasn't an existing FKT on those peaks Um, there were some pretty strong efforts from people like Jim Walmsley that had some good segments on there, um, and some other notable runners Um, and I chose to do those because one there wasn't FKT set on it and I knew that I could set probably a pretty fast time um, the year before.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: So the fall of 20, well, yeah, no, about a year ago, um, I, I had those are the first proper peaks that, like, I really really pushed on and I thought to myself when I got back to the trailhead like, huh, I wonder I just do some more training if next year I can go after this um, and so, yeah, over the fourth of july um, this year went down there, set the fkt on of those and that was just a ton of fun and that was very much, you know, a huge confidence boost to me and um, talk about the route a little bit, because it was pretty technical.
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: It was um, so I did.
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: I ended up doing it counterclockwise.
• 29:06
  Speaker 2: So you go up and you can go up the drainage.
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: Um, I'm going to get I still get these peaks flip-flop sunshine to red cloud.
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: I believe it's sunshine.
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: You go up the drainage to sunshine.
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: I might have this completely backwards.
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: Super, super, super loose.
• 29:24
  Speaker 2: Not really it's a standard way up.
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: Not very many people take it Just super, super loose, just a lot of like dirt and just like you're just trying to get traction the whole time.
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: I would recommend, like, if you go that way, whether you're running it or hiking it, bring poles.
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: The poles will definitely help stabilize and help you pull up when you need to and then you traverse over on the ridge line and then come back down.
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: Once you get up to the ridge it's pretty.
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: You go up and down a little bit, but it's relatively flat and then you can just bomb the downhill all the way back down to um, uh, the trailhead, um, so yeah, no great set of peaks definitely looking to maybe next year back.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: Go back down to that area and look for another FK D to uh to go after just cause that area and look for another fkd to uh to go after, just because that area is just phenomenal.
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: But um, san juan's are legit, man, san juan's are great, they're great, great range yeah you know, remote, just beautiful, a mixture of everything.
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they're great the only thing I would say dude, I think the songrays are more like, I like the songrays better, and the reason is is because it's just nowhere near as populated Like, it's just this is true dead and you can get so many like hard technical peaks and the climbing is so solid, yeah, yeah that that Creston conglomerate is just like so fun to play on.
• 30:45
  Speaker 2: It is, and I think a lot of that is well, I think is well.
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: I think so many things go into, uh, that range like it is it is remote.
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: I think a lot of that has to do with.
• 30:58
  Speaker 2: There aren't any major towns or cities around it crestone.
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: Creston is a funky place it's got some cults bro crestone is something.
• 31:05
  Speaker 2: Um.
• 31:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, anybody that's been to crestone will know exactly what we're talking about.
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: The vibe there is interesting.
• 31:12
  Speaker 2: It's a little wild maybe it's just out there.
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: It's just there like if you've never been to do.
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: Oh man, whatever challenger kick car center or anything over there and you go through that town that basin's so beautiful.
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: Sorry, oh, exactly yeah, but yeah, because there aren't really any major towns.
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: Like you know the swatch, you've Swatch, you've got Buena Vista, salida, leadville, which is right there.
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: You know, even in the Elks, like you've got Aspen, you've got Snowmass, you've got, you know, Marble.
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: That's pretty heavily trafficked, just from a tourist standpoint.
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: So it's like you can get remote, but not not crazy remote.
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: But no, it is.
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: I love how each range kind of has a story of its own.
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: For sure, yeah, yeah, if you get in trouble in the song grades, you're fucked.
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you're not in a good spot.
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: Not a good spot like I mean I wouldn't want to get in.
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: I wouldn't want to get in any hairy situations ever, obviously.
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: But yeah, there are definitely some ranges that if something did happen like it would be magnified for sure.
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: Dude, my buddy, my buddy, Evan, who um shout out to Evan Paul, who's a search and rescue for South Chaffee County.
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: Dude, he was out there maybe a month or two ago on the needle like 16 hours.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: He was out there for a body recovery.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, shit's real man.
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: It is, it's those thoughts to go through, not just my mind, but any, any person climbing, anything like that.
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: Um, you know, you hear the reports of, you know, people getting really, really injured or killed, and sometimes it does go through your mind when you're traversing over, especially those.
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: You know any of those traverses like, okay, when and where did this happen?
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: And sometimes it's like you just don't even want to know.
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: Cause it's like it doesn't matter.
• 32:54
  Speaker 2: I'm here, it's, it's my day.
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: I'm just going to get from point A to point B, but again it's, you know, a lot of times inexperience or lack of preparation, but you've, you know that's.
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: Welcome to Colorado, welcome to 14 years, welcome to you know.
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: Technical climbing.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's no joke.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: It's no joke at all.
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: So, dude, I want to throw it back to your some of your formative years.
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: I want to talk a little bit about cause I know where you grew up, cause it's literally the same town we're sitting in right now, right yeah.
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: Um, but I want to talk about your formative we're like, if we're like, playing on the trails in Palmer, you're like.
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: You're like, oh, I grew up on this trail, Like I was here, you know, as a kid.
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: Um, maybe talk about that a little bit.
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so grip in Colorado Springs, again primarily, you know, play competitive soccer.
• 33:47
  Speaker 2: But I mean we as a family it's like we would hike from time to time Um, and you know we would drive out you know an hour or two here or there to go camp or or take a hike, um.
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: So I mean a lot of things up by, like Woodland park, palmer lake, 11 mile, um kind of down by shelf road, um, really honestly, anything within probably an hour and a half radius.
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: I have probably been there as a kid or more recently to run or whatnot, and but yeah, no, there are a number of of trails, like even just a few weeks ago, and I'm like, oh, I think I remember this trail.
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I was talking to him like oh, I know where we're at now.
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: And it was just one of those, like man, it's been just long enough.
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: You know from childhood to this point that I have kind of gotten fuzzy on some of those memories.
• 34:40
  Speaker 2: But I'm like, oh, I know where I am now relative to this and you know, as a kid some of these places seem so big and so fast.
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: And then you know you go back as an adult and you're like, oh, it's just like a neighborhood.
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you're like I'm really like this is nothing.
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: Not so wild.
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: Not so wild, like there's a five houses over there, you're fine.
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: That's true.
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: That's true.
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: It feels I almost feel it can feel kind of similar, like when I first moved here, like years ago, a few years ago now at this point, like I'd go, I think I told you when you you ever run to the plane, crash all the way back there yeah yeah, you go to the plane crash and like that feels so out there right, it's really not.
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: No, no, it's like anytime, it's like I can still see any kind of civilization, or there's like a groom trail yeah we're really not that far from anything.
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: No, no although, dude, it's really funny.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: Actually it's not funny at all, it's crazy.
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: Shout out to Wes Thurman I don't know if he's listening to this.
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: He's a friend of the pod buddy of mine, dude, back in the day not so long ago he got lost like somewhere back behind Mount Hermon and had to spend an entire night out there.
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: Oh, wow Like couldn't figure his way out.
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: I had to spend the night like just hunker down.
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: His wife, it was like, thankfully it was like not a cold.
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: It was like I think it's september, if I remember correctly from the story, yeah, um, but then like waited for sun to come up and then like like ran his way out like that's fucking legendary dude, like I would be freaking out, like I would be you're finding me dead, I'd get eaten by a mountain lion or something, because I'd be like wandering around trying to find north, south, east and west right where west Right, where he was like really intelligent, to just like, okay, I'm going to hunker down, spend the night here, wait for first light and then figure out like, okay, where's the sun coming up from?
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: you know which, you know great, great skill there.
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: You know, don't again.
• 36:25
  Speaker 2: I'm sure he had his freak out moment but like he's a genius.
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: He's like one of the smartest people I've ever met, so it makes sense that he.
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: But even with that I mean it kind of makes me think and like, obviously you know I'll keep it short, but you know there are more and more cases of that happening, especially with you know.
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: I'll call it the development of fast and light movement through mountains yeah you know we have more and more people going out with minimal.
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: You know, myself, myself included.
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: We all do, we all do yeah.
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: Nothing more than you know a running belt.
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: We're both big belt guys.
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, a running belt.
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: And you know, two flasks, maybe one flask of water, a water filter and a few snacks and really just trusting that, it's like, oh yeah, I mean it's a great day, weather's great.
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: So yeah, I mean it's a great day, weather's great, so on and so forth.
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: It's going to be fine, um, and most of the time it is.
• 37:15
  Speaker 2: But I mean, you do get that occasional circumstance where something happens and you know, obviously, if you're out there with just a running belt or just a, you know, a running vest, you're, you might be getting yourself into, into something that you know you're going to need some assistance getting out of.
• 37:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I see a lot of that again more recently on um uh, uh.
• 37:37
  Speaker 2: What is that up by Brainerd Lake area, by Boulder, um, um.
• 37:41
  Speaker 2: You're talking about the Indian Peaks wilderness, yes, yeah, yeah, I mean number of people going up and over.
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: You know, fast and light and slip and.
• 37:51
  Speaker 1: Oh, dude, you know what?
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: Where did I read an article Maybe you sent it to me about.
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: It was like yeah, I think it was it might've been the same route that Anton was doing.
• 37:58
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was on the LA freeway.
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah, like some, some dude on the la freeway proper, I think was just like one of the side peaks or one of the peaks on it, and he, I'm not even gonna try and pronounce the peak.
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: What was interesting, though?
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: yeah this is nothing against him.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: He fell on a scree field, which is like I I wonder, I just wonder, like what happened, you know?
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so it's kind of crazy, and I do I think like they decided not to recover the body, if I remember correctly from what I understand, the last report I read, they, I, they read.
• 38:25
  Speaker 2: I think they attempted, but were unsuccessful.
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: I haven't read anything since.
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: If they're going to try and do it before snow flies or if, unfortunately, that person is going to rest there for a little while longer, that's crazy man, there's some serious consequence there are.
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: I think it's super important to know again be be confident in your ability but also the people that you go with yeah you know, you got to know that the people you're going with you got to know yourself, you got to know yourself and know the people.
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: Like like, for instance, like when I went after, uh, that record a few weeks ago and I was like dude I blew myself up.
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: This ain't happening, happening.
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: We're turning around like I'm going down because you know you just want to be, especially above 13 000 feet, like if I'm bonking that hard and falling all over the place because I literally just destroyed myself, right?
• 39:16
  Speaker 1: What am I doing here?
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: You know?
• 39:18
  Speaker 2: like go home yeah, I mean, the mountain's going to be there.
• 39:22
  Speaker 2: You can come back the next week or a couple weeks later, whatever it is, but, yeah, knowing your limits and then knowing the limits of the people that you're with and knowing that the people you're with are also really experienced like that, yeah, and knowing that the people that you're going with are showing up in the way they need to, that you know, mentally, emotionally, physically, they, they're all there and you know, and they're stoked to go and they're excited to go and that's not yeah, I can.
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: those kinds of climbing partners can be really hard to come by yeah, you know, especially getting more technical things and even just trail running at distance, you know, finding people that have that fitness.
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: So yeah oh yeah, you know, being grateful for those friends and that community of people that understand that and they show up the best they can is really a blessing this might be a hot take.
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: I'm kind of curious because, like anton, got a lot of flat like, I think, to me unnecessary flack for his record on the LA freeway.
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: From what I read in the article, I can't remember the source of who wrote it and where it came from.
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: Was it outside, I can't remember.
• 40:17
  Speaker 1: I don't want to say that I can't remember.
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: I can link it in the show notes, but I just wanted to get your take on something like that, like, do you think that was unnecessary flack?
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: I thought so.
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: I'm like dude, if you have the ability to go do something and you want to go do it and you have the fitness and it inspires, you go fucking do it.
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: In my opinion, right you know what?
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: like I, I think you need to be smart about it.
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: I think you need to be prepared.
• 40:39
  Speaker 1: People have to remember like anton has been in the game a long time, like one of those what he's doing.
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: He knows what the fuck he's doing and there's a lot of folks out there that know what they're doing and I think that that's where you have to make the smart, educated decision.
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: It's almost where I almost get annoyed with social media because I think it inspires people.
• 40:58
  Speaker 1: While I love the inspiration and I want people to be inspired to go do hard things, not everybody's going to be Anton, not everybody's Brad Barrett, not everybody's me.
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: You know any of these folks that are out there doing wild shit.
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: You know like almost just be you know, just be smart, right, I think those kinds of objectives, you know I, I think, go for it.
• 41:23
  Speaker 2: I think I I'm again still trying to figure out how to describe it and hopefully there's somebody else out there that can describe it better than I can and hopefully, in in time, as I develop as an athlete, I'll be able to hone in on it.
• 41:38
  Speaker 2: But something deep, I think, really something deep inside you tells you that you can, and it's just this inner belief of I know that I can do this really hard thing, um, like the la freeway or the world, or yeah, you know nolan's.
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: Shout out to the world.
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: Shout out to david hedges right, who's smashed and demolished that record yesterday?
• 41:59
  Speaker 2: phenomenal.
• 41:59
  Speaker 2: Um yeah, so anything you know high alpine, you know traversing stuff, like that, I think the person really does know they've it's, it's, it's goes beyond just a physical ability of like physically I know I can go do this yeah it definitely taps into more of an emotional state of I feel called to do this yeah and especially someone like anton that's been doing this for a while.
• 42:22
  Speaker 2: He knows what he's getting himself into well, I think it's confidence.
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: I think largely for sure a lot of confidence like and that's the same thing for racing, you know, yeah, um, once you tap into that higher level of confidence and belief in yourself, you could do things that you wouldn't normally be able to do in a lot of ways, your headspace is in just a totally different area yeah yeah interesting.
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah, interesting, yeah, that was you know, dude, it's.
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: It's interesting.
• 42:49
  Speaker 1: I think this, uh, I don't know, it's just crazy to see how the sports evolving and seeing.
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: Like it's crazy too, cause, like 10 years ago, this like wasn't a conversation, it was just like, oh, be careful in the mountains.
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: And now I see articles being written about our athletes all the time, like weekly.
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: I almost get defensive cause like I claim them as our athletes.
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: It's our sport, you know, like community, yeah, right, our community.
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: So that's why I ask, very curious, yeah no, I get, I don't.
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: I mean, I totally support it.
• 43:14
  Speaker 2: If you've done your homework, you're confident in it, you've scouted the line, um.
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: And if you choose to have a support crew, that, um, they're where they need to be at certain checkpoints.
• 43:26
  Speaker 2: Go for it, yeah.
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: So, dude, I'm going to pivot a little bit.
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: You signed a, you signed a contract last year.
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: You're working with, uh, arc'teryx, how's?
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: How's that so far?
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: Oh, it's been great yeah.
• 43:37
  Speaker 2: Um, yeah, I mean, talk about a, a, a dream come true for sure.
• 43:42
  Speaker 2: Um, they've been absolutely great to work with and, um geez, even just from, not only just like athletically, but just the community that it has provided and that has been so inviting to me.
• 43:54
  Speaker 1: um, it really has been a blessing yeah, well, I mean, you're like a great fit for them, dude, you're multi-sport athlete, you're a mountain runner.
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: Every time I used to see photos of you, it's on these crazy ridges, like you just like fit the bill so well yeah.
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I know it's been great, um, you know, and I again with the community aspect of people that are willing to go out and do those things and show up the way that they, um, they need to.
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: And you know, I really owe a lot to, um, johnny Morsecato and and Connor Cook for really kind of like taking me under their wing and advocating for me, um, and even just beyond advocating, but just being good friends and being there to bounce ideas off of and really, at the end of the day, like, just go do things with.
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: Like, both of them are phenomenal athletes in their own right.
• 44:48
  Speaker 2: Um, you know, they very much saw a lot of potential in me, um, and so I really am thankful for them and their, their mentorship, with all this and knowing.
• 44:59
  Speaker 2: You know not even athletic.
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: You know, aside from athletics and you know skiing and running, but how do you navigate?
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: Some of you know what does it mean to be a part of a brand and, like, you know some of the do's and don'ts, so that's been great to have their, their leadership.
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think people don't realize like it's not just, it's not just showing up and winning races or or, or, you know, competing.
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: There's a lot more to it.
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: There is maybe talk a little bit about that, like, maybe talk a little bit about that like on, like community, and like what that, like what that entails.
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, um, you know, I would say in general, I mean, every brand is got its nuances, whether it's Arcteryx or it's Rab or it's Las Vertiva or, um, you know, patagonia, or whoever you're associated with.
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: But there there is a lot of you know there's a lot of planning.
• 45:45
  Speaker 2: I'll put it that way yeah, lot of you know there's a lot of planning.
• 45:48
  Speaker 2: I'll put it that way.
• 45:48
  Speaker 2: As far as you know, initially, you know they will ask you know, well, what projects do you want to do?
• 45:52
  Speaker 2: What have you accomplished in the past?
• 45:54
  Speaker 2: What do you?
• 45:54
  Speaker 2: Where do you want to go?
• 45:55
  Speaker 2: Um, and so you got really have to think okay, what's obtainable, what do I actually want to go do and what do I have time for?
• 46:04
  Speaker 2: Cause, I mean, a lot of us are still working full-time or part-time or whatever it is.
• 46:08
  Speaker 2: There really are just kind of like a small percentage of people who are doing this like full-time.
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: Right very few.
• 46:16
  Speaker 2: There are a number of people that are still working, and so you have to really think about okay, what can I feasibly do and really put a good effort toward, and then double down on that and do the best that you can deliver.
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: And it breaks down from again, like you're saying.
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: You know I'm not going to just show up, for you know, tell you ride, mountain run, and you know, give it a go Like I mean I could and I probably could do pretty well, but no, it was like no, I want to do this, I want to do well, I want to train.
• 46:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 46:43
  Speaker 2: And so the you rain, yeah, and so that you know the training that leads up to that and then you know, let alone other projects that involve a lot more planning, especially if there's a crew involved, like there's a lot that goes behind it.
• 46:53
  Speaker 2: It very much can be a full-time job, depending on where you are with it and where you want to go with it.
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, it's interesting and it's so I don't know.
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: It's been really fun like training with you all year and like getting cause like I'm a I'm the last you know athlete for La Sportiva and just getting to like not share notes, but it's just interesting hearing the nuances between, like, what different brands do you know, everybody's a little bit different, you know.
• 47:17
  Speaker 2: Right, I mean, yeah, every brand's different.
• 47:19
  Speaker 2: Every brand has got you know what is their mission and vision and what is it that they want from their athletes and what is it what direction do they want to go in the coming years?
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: yeah, that plays a huge part into it yeah and I know with arcteryx it's definitely, um, you know, been more into the trail running space, especially over the last couple years.
• 47:39
  Speaker 2: But this has been really like kind of like a first year with the release of a couple of new shoes that they've really been trying to push into that space.
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: What is the Norvan and what's the other one?
• 47:48
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, you've got the, the Norvan, um, which is kind of like the more long distance shoe, the Salen, which is the new shoe that came out this past spring, and then the Alpine vertex, uh, which is more of like a scramble rock climbing shoe.
• 48:02
  Speaker 2: So think like, um, you know you're going to go climb pyramid or you're going to go do you know some?
• 48:08
  Speaker 2: You know Ellingwood Ridge, um, you know something that you can run in, but something that's also got a pretty beefy, um like approach toe to it as well, um.
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: So yeah, that's.
• 48:20
  Speaker 2: You know, with the release, release of those shoes, they've definitely um are pushing more into the trail scene, which I'm super excited about, especially going into next year.
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 48:28
  Speaker 2: You know now that I kind of know what's going on and I'm getting better understanding as to where I'm falling in the spectrum.
• 48:35
  Speaker 2: Um, you know, I I obviously want to contribute as much as I can to that trail running scene.
• 48:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, um, and so it'll be exciting to see where the brand goes with that and where the athletes go with that and how.
• 48:47
  Speaker 2: You know, like you were saying earlier, you know kind of how does that compare to like a formal running brand like Las Portiva or Scarpa?
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's true.
• 48:56
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: And it's very different, like different and different brands have different goals, like we were talking about this before the podcast, like performance marketing versus brand marketing.
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: Like what type of story versus you know, from a brand marketing perspective, are these brands trying to tell you know?
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: And like who are they behind?
• 49:09
  Speaker 1: And things like that Sorry, my dogs are jumping all over you.
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: Um, yeah, so it's just you know, it's just interesting.
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: Like I don't know where, where things are headed, and just watching these brands develop and grow and being a part of it.
• 49:22
  Speaker 2: So it is, and I mean I think ultimately a lot of brands are are aligned on the same uh front.
• 49:29
  Speaker 2: As far as helping, um, you know, the high Alpine runner, I think is really where things are going.
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 49:39
  Speaker 2: Um and have been going for the last couple of years is you know, people are getting just quicker and faster and more efficient.
• 49:44
  Speaker 2: And how, you know, how does the, you know the, the equipment that they're developing, help support that.
• 49:49
  Speaker 2: And then how does the brand and the community support that as well?
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: yeah, it's interesting.
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: So arcteryx sponsored the tmr, the telluride mountain run, this year, which you went to go compete at dude.
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: What was that experience like that?
• 50:01
  Speaker 1: Must have been pretty fun.
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: I, like literally all of my friends, were at this race.
• 50:04
  Speaker 1: It was great.
• 50:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely a race I would totally go back next year and do this year.
• 50:10
  Speaker 2: I thought it was super special in that.
• 50:13
  Speaker 2: Well and this is controversial it rained the whole time.
• 50:17
  Speaker 2: It rained the day before it rained the day of, it rained the day after.
• 50:21
  Speaker 2: It rained during the race, it rained after the race.
• 50:24
  Speaker 2: It was just a slog.
• 50:26
  Speaker 2: I mean, there was not one dry part of that race.
• 50:29
  Speaker 2: With that being said, something about just having a stormy race made it special.
• 50:38
  Speaker 2: The course itself, whether it was raining or not, um, or rainy season or not, phenomenal, whether you're doing the 13 mile or the 24 mile or the 40, I mean, tell you right, it's just such a special town.
• 50:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah, by itself it's beautiful.
• 50:54
  Speaker 2: So, then, to have this just amazing course in this race, there is very much, it's a lot of things that it's a perfect brand fit for our tarics, as far as you know kind of their roots and where they got started and you know how, you know Alpine environment, um, the course itself was great in that you just every, every aspect of it was just absolutely beautiful.
• 51:17
  Speaker 2: You didn't go one step without just like wanting to take a picture of something, um, so you know it was great, uh, a lot of fast runners in all three, all three categories dude showed up.
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: Man, like you had some serious competition on your hands.
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: Like kim smith was there, it was quite a few, quite a few fast lads and ladies there, there were, which is great, yeah, um yeah, good, they got a deep field like this year.
• 51:44
  Speaker 2: So I think anytime again in a race setting like that, you know, you can kind of get yourself up against some of those guys, male or female, is great, because it really shows you where you're strong, where where you're weak where you need to work on things.
• 51:58
  Speaker 2: Um, you know, for me in that race and just in general, it's like I'm a great uphill climber.
• 52:04
  Speaker 2: Once I get above like 12, 5 I'm not sure what it is, but it's like.
• 52:11
  Speaker 2: Once I get above that, I'll just open up and I'll just go.
• 52:15
  Speaker 1: Well, it's schemo, I guess, because back country skiing you're always year round you're.
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: You're above that altitude right, and so it's.
• 52:22
  Speaker 2: You know, that's something I'm I'm curious to explore a little more in the off season.
• 52:25
  Speaker 2: Here is you know, how do I hone in some of that lower elevation fitness while continuing to maintain and build that upper elevation fitness?
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 52:35
  Speaker 2: But TMR, you get all of it.
• 52:36
  Speaker 2: You know you go up and you go down, you go up and you go down route, and I say proper 24 um in that this year they had to make a detour and end up being like 22 and a half just because, of some mudslides, but so the proper 24 mile route.
• 52:55
  Speaker 2: You would have gained about 9 000 feet wow um still end up gaining about 7 500 it's pretty solid still yeah yeah, and I mean nothing, nothing is paved, it's, it's rugged.
• 53:08
  Speaker 2: I mean you're on ski road to single track, to service road again to um.
• 53:14
  Speaker 2: You know, just really loose, shaley um rock.
• 53:20
  Speaker 2: You know you get a little bit of everything wow, that's super cool yeah yeah, I mean, we were talking like man.
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: I'd love to put like a like.
• 53:30
  Speaker 2: If I was to create a race like a vk would be dope to put there, oh for sure, just go up straight up the resort, go up the gold steps, yeah, um, yeah, it'd be a great race, and I mean part of the tmr course for the 13 mile shares.
• 53:42
  Speaker 2: The gold steps or gold, no, no, gold Hill, yeah, yeah, something like that.
• 53:48
  Speaker 2: Um, but just, yeah, a very unique feature of um the resort there.
• 53:53
  Speaker 2: Uh, but yeah, I know you get a ton of gain and just a very, very short amount of distance.
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, are you going to go back next year, you think?
• 53:59
  Speaker 2: I for sure Um, if our tariff sponsors it again, I'll definitely go, I'll probably.
• 54:04
  Speaker 2: I'll probably stick with um the 24 mile.
• 54:09
  Speaker 1: That's so far.
• 54:11
  Speaker 2: It is so far.
• 54:12
  Speaker 2: I mean it is, I mean it's definitely on the the top end of what I would ever, ever want to properly race.
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
• 54:21
  Speaker 2: Um, but again, I don't know, the chorus is just special.
• 54:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 54:26
  Speaker 2: And I would love to give it another go and see if I can, you know, take off another couple couple slots, couple spaces, yeah, and just get some improvement.
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah and you will.
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 54:36
  Speaker 1: It kind of lines up, I look.
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: I mean I know no dates been set for this year, but like I'm kind and already looking like seeing like where is that august slot gonna be?
• 54:45
  Speaker 1: And I think it might contradict with, like cirque series alta, which I do plan to go back to do.
• 54:49
  Speaker 1: So I might not be there next year we'll say, we'll say, right, we you know.
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: Well, it all depends on it's gonna go down.
• 54:56
  Speaker 2: No, I would say yeah, definitely.
• 54:57
  Speaker 1: I mean, I think you would love that 13th mile oh I yeah, I'm a little bummed I didn't go this year.
• 55:01
  Speaker 2: I feel like I would have a good day like that you definitely would have placed yeah I mean you have a ton of background in that type of race where you're just going straight up and coming right back down through all the cirque series stuff.
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you would have done very well, you know, dude, there's and I'm starting to put together now and figure out, like what I want to do next year and like, kind of now, getting back into training, because I found a december race I want to do oh nice and I and I'm just like you know, I don't know.
• 55:27
  Speaker 2: I think next year.
• 55:28
  Speaker 2: I'm like I have so many ideas, but at the same time it's like what are you thinking about?
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: What can you publicly disclose on the podcast that you think you're?
• 55:36
  Speaker 2: going to do Publicly disclose, okay.
• 55:38
  Speaker 2: So this is definitely more of a tease, if anything.
• 55:40
  Speaker 2: But speaking of David Hedges and the world there, um, speaking of David Hedges, um, in the world, there is a Ridgeline and I'm not going to say anything more than it.
• 55:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, don't give away too much beta.
• 55:52
  Speaker 1: I know what you, I know what Ridgeline.
• 55:54
  Speaker 2: I will say it is in a swatch area, um, that I want to give a good effort on um, to my knowledge, again, it has not been properly traversed.
• 56:07
  Speaker 2: I'm sure that somebody out there has probably done a section of it or maybe has done the whole thing, but you know it was never properly properly recorded or, you know, kept track of Um.
• 56:19
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, I'm I'm excited to get like proper eyes on it beginning of next season to scout it properly with some friends and um see how I'm going to link up this ridgeline.
• 56:29
  Speaker 1: Do you think you're going to scale a little bit of it this this winter?
• 56:32
  Speaker 2: See some of it actually, as you bring it up, I mean, I think like a lot of that area is skiable.
• 56:42
  Speaker 2: Um, I'd like to, yeah, definitely over this winter, hoping to spend some time, um kind of, in this similar area skiing.
• 56:51
  Speaker 2: Obviously, the conditions are going to be very different snow versus, you know, dry yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm sure it goes.
• 56:59
  Speaker 2: Oh, I bet it goes what skiing or or dry I'm thinking both.
• 57:04
  Speaker 2: So dry again I'm trying to give, but not be too much of a tease here, but there's going to be a lot of elevation gain and a lot of elevation loss.
• 57:14
  Speaker 1: I would have never guessed it being in the mountains yeah, but like so.
• 57:18
  Speaker 2: But I mean it's going to be similar terrain as the world, yeah, or anything like that, yeah yeah, I think it's a good.
• 57:24
  Speaker 1: It's good and I like I said we're not giving anything away here, but like is that going to be your, your summer project?
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: Do you think like that's going to be the big one?
• 57:32
  Speaker 2: That'll definitely be the big one.
• 57:34
  Speaker 2: Um, you know a lot of it just depends on you know a number of things.
• 57:38
  Speaker 2: Like you have any races that are like bucket list races that you kind of want to get into or do so again.
• 57:50
  Speaker 2: If tmr comes up again and this other project come to fruition, I definitely want to do both of those.
• 57:56
  Speaker 1: As far as another race, I'm not 100 sure but do you think you'll go back to this pike's ascent and try and lower that again?
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: Try, I don't know, really no we should just go hammer it one day, because I'm pretty sure like if we go and hammer it I could probably coast you into the 240s, I think, something like that I think you won't see, and that's the thing.
• 58:18
  Speaker 2: Is like one thing I have maybe faster.
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: I think we could probably go, I think with your fitness dude I was hoping to break.
• 58:26
  Speaker 2: I was hoping to finish at like 250 ish.
• 58:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, um, didn't happen this year and that's what I've again learned as my first full season kind of here as an athlete is like where do I fall on the spectrum?
• 58:37
  Speaker 2: And it's like I can wholeheartedly say that the fkt space, doing things solo at high Alpine, at B, you know just big days in the mountains, that's where I thrive.
• 58:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 58:51
  Speaker 2: In a race environment.
• 58:52
  Speaker 2: Racing's fun, but it has it's.
• 58:55
  Speaker 2: It's gotta be the right race.
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: So like.
• 58:57
  Speaker 2: TMR.
• 58:57
  Speaker 2: There's something special about that that I again.
• 58:59
  Speaker 2: I would totally go back and go back and do as far as the ascent goes.
• 59:03
  Speaker 2: I will caveat this with like it.
• 59:07
  Speaker 2: As far as the ascent goes, I will caveat this with like it is a phenomenal race.
• 59:09
  Speaker 2: I don't discourage anybody from doing it.
• 59:10
  Speaker 2: I think you should.
• 59:11
  Speaker 2: I've done it twice now.
• 59:14
  Speaker 2: I don't really feel a draw to go back and do it a third time in a row.
• 59:18
  Speaker 2: Maybe in the future I'll probably give it another go.
• 59:21
  Speaker 1: I think we should just run it for fun one day.
• 59:23
  Speaker 1: And just to see just to answer that question, I like I said I think every year I mean, obviously you've improved so much, but I think you could run so much faster on that, of course, and I think I think a lot of it too.
• 59:34
  Speaker 1: Dude, the shitty part about that weekend too was like and I was just talking to sean about this yesterday because he got sick up there and, dude, the barometric pressure fucked everybody up and that's why you saw, like, the finishing time, I think Joe ran two, 10 to 11.
• 59:48
  Speaker 2: Probably, had the pressure been different, he probably would have ran two, oh eight to a nine, like if not faster and seeing some of the more scientific aspects of racing, like we were talking about barometric pressure, like I don't know enough about that to really weigh in and say one way or the other as much as like I sometimes just revert to like okay so what are you going to do about it?
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: Those are the cards you're given.
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: Right, right, you got to just make.
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 1: You got to make lemonade with what you're given.
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, right, yeah.
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 2: But I mean, with that being said, like from a scientific level.
• 1:00:23
  Speaker 2: I'm sure there is data there to warrant you know.
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 2: Hey, you know the top.
• 1:00:29
  Speaker 2: You know 15 people probably would have finished.
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 2: I don't, you know, I don't know.
• 1:00:31
  Speaker 2: Two, three minutes, five minutes faster yeah, no, 100.
• 1:00:33
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's what the science says the least.
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: I mean, according to my.
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: I even talked to joe after the race.
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 1: He said the same thing to me, like and I've had multiple people say talk about the barometric pressure being like a massive, because sean said it to me even yesterday when I saw him and he was like dude, I think with the barometric pressure he's like I think it was like 15, 16,000 feet up there which you know.
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 2: Okay, you take that into consideration.
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 2: It's like oh well, if it's in theory 15, 16 000 feet, I did pretty well.
• 1:01:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, everybody did pretty well 100.
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 1: Well, dude, I've read on 14 or so like I was thinking, because we were talking about quandary before we did the podcast and I was thinking about the last time I was on quandary and I just felt like fucking garbage, whereas like there was like and I was as fit as I've ever been right, whereas like the summer before I ran quandary and and like hammered it, it's probably just like those little things like pressure like makes so much of a difference, you know I think they do and I think, yeah, the type of running that you do also factors into that.
• 1:01:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that makes me think I want to do a little more research, so I'm a little more versed in that.
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 2: As far as how does that impact a person in their performance?
• 1:01:40
  Speaker 1: oh, check, check it out, I mean your body.
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: You're morphologically, or I don't know if morphologically is the right word Physiologically.
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you're changing as you go up because you're experiencing all the different altitude zones, which is wild.
• 1:01:53
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I mean, your body in certain areas thins down.
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 2: Yeah, You'll definitely notice that if you're wearing a vest or a belt, you know you start.
• 1:02:00
  Speaker 1: Oh, bro, I get skinnier every time I run.
• 1:02:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, no, but it's like yes, and I'm wearing a vest, my belt will get looser.
• 1:02:06
  Speaker 1: I'm like oh, this is really cool.
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 2: Right yeah, the whole science part is really pretty intriguing, though.
• 1:02:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:02:12
  Speaker 2: But as far as like actual races for next year.
• 1:02:16
  Speaker 1: TMR and this project.
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 2: And project and if I have the time, bandwidth and I haven't, um uh, burned all my matches, as they say, I might try and sneak in either another fkt or a cirque series race.
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 2: Maybe I can cirque series race ago.
• 1:02:31
  Speaker 2: I think you'd smoke out.
• 1:02:32
  Speaker 1: I was telling you, dude, like alta is a party, there's good looking ladies out there we can introduce you to like it'd be a fun, fun, go brother, see, like I would just see I would I would do a cirque series race just for the fun of it yeah just because it's like a great community of people dude, you learn how to like.
• 1:02:48
  Speaker 1: That's the one thing I will say about competing at it this year and all those races was like I got my ass whooped so many times.
• 1:02:55
  Speaker 1: But like you learn how to actually race right and like you, you start to make don't know.
• 1:03:01
  Speaker 1: It helps me very quickly close the gaps and figure out what gaps I need to close.
• 1:03:05
  Speaker 1: Uh, to just make my game better, you know to get better at the sport, you know.
• 1:03:10
  Speaker 2: Right, which I think is is important as a runner, whether you want to strictly race or you strictly want to do.
• 1:03:17
  Speaker 2: You know FKTs and projects Right, right.
• 1:03:19
  Speaker 2: I think it is important as a runner to get yourself into a race environment every once in a while just to see what's out there, see what other people are doing.
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 2: You know how do you stack up against.
• 1:03:32
  Speaker 2: You know some of the best.
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I mean, did you run Albert with Aaron and Chris, like I did, to see that and you're like fuck, I know.
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 1: Well, that's the thing is.
• 1:03:38
  Speaker 2: It was like on the I did see that and you're like fuck, I know.
• 1:03:39
  Speaker 2: Well, that's the thing is.
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 2: It was like on the again the uphill, I was great, yeah, like yeah, I mean we had a great day, like you know, uh, went up just fine, but, yeah, coming down I mean their speed coming down I was smoked, yeah, on the topic of those two, again like a huge thank you to Chris and Aaron too, for just being kind of those, those mentors in this space, especially toward me.
• 1:04:06
  Speaker 2: I mean, chris is definitely, in more ways than he knows, mentored me and given advice that really opened up my perspective to traveling through the mountains, whether it's in dry conditions or in snow, um, and just continues to be an inspiration to so many, as well as Aaron.
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, their profile has like really evolved this year, like they're like kind of famous now.
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 2: Well, and that's the thing is like they've worked for every ounce of it.
• 1:04:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, a hundred percent, dude.
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 1: I feel like Aaron gets a new FKT every day, like literally like Aaron gets a new FKT every day.
• 1:04:38
  Speaker 2: Just open up Strava and it's like, oh, I feel proud of my, like you know, 10 mile run.
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: Well, you know what's crazy?
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: And Aaron is out there.
• 1:04:44
  Speaker 1: I'm like oh okay, the crazy thing is too, is like she's so talented but like dude, there's stuff that like I'll have to like taper for that she'll just go and fucking get like not tapered, and just for fun.
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 2: I just think it's just the volume again.
• 1:05:04
  Speaker 2: You know, as a full-time runner, I mean you have the time and the energy to put toward that, yeah, and you know.
• 1:05:08
  Speaker 2: So their baseline is just naturally going to be higher, so much, higher than you know, a lot of us.
• 1:05:13
  Speaker 1: But you know what?
• 1:05:13
  Speaker 1: I can't speak as much for chris because I don't know him as well as I know aaron, but I would definitely say because aaron's a teammate of mine what I admire about her is like her ceiling dude, like she will continue, like if she let's say, let's say next year she goes for Nolan's and smashes it, or like Colorado, which she will, she's going to get it, but like she will probably redefine, I think.
• 1:05:34
  Speaker 1: I think she's like one of those, one of those characters that will probably like redefine what it means for women on the FKT scene, maybe like in the short trail or something like, like, almost like what Tara Dower this year did with the Appalachian trail, which is so crazy Like.
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 1: I could definitely see Aaron having one of those performances, or men maybe many, you know she's certainly capable of it.
• 1:05:53
  Speaker 2: I think so, cause I mean again Aaron, from what I know of her in the, you know, limited time.
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 2: I've, I've spent with her.
• 1:06:05
  Speaker 2: Um, you know she runs cause she just loves it, you know, and she loves to push herself and, again, loves to be up high and loves to challenge herself.
• 1:06:12
  Speaker 2: I totally agree, you know, I think it's going to be.
• 1:06:15
  Speaker 2: You know, she breaks through some of those records and then it just opens up so many other doors.
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 2: I think the same, the same thing with Chris you you know, and for each of us, it's like we're each going to come through certain, you know, challenges that are really hard to achieve, but once we push through those, it's just going to open up so many other opportunities.
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 2: On that, what?
• 1:06:36
  Speaker 1: what do you when it's all said and done, like?
• 1:06:38
  Speaker 1: What do you want to be proud of when you leave the sport?
• 1:06:40
  Speaker 1: Oh man that's a new question, right, you didn't see that one coming.
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 1: That is a new question Um am I guinea pig?
• 1:06:50
  Speaker 1: Yeah, what do I want?
• 1:06:52
  Speaker 2: to be proud of when I leave the sport.
• 1:06:53
  Speaker 2: Um, like, what's something you want to do when it's all said?
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 1: and done?
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 1: Like, is it a performance?
• 1:06:56
  Speaker 1: Is it the way you treated others?
• 1:06:57
  Speaker 1: Is it the community that you made Like?
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 1: Like, is it a performance?
• 1:06:59
  Speaker 1: Is it the way you treated others?
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 1: Is it the community that you made?
• 1:07:02
  Speaker 1: Like what is it like when it, when you caught, when you hang up the hat and they're like whenever you leave arcteryx or you move on or whatever you know?
• 1:07:10
  Speaker 1: Like when it, when you decide that you don't want to do this anymore?
• 1:07:13
  Speaker 1: Like what is it that you want to look back on and be like fuck, I'm fucking proud of that I think in in the few seconds I've been able to kind of think about this.
• 1:07:22
  Speaker 2: Sorry, you're all good Gotcha, I think um one is did I inspire other people?
• 1:07:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:07:30
  Speaker 2: Cause I think that's been the biggest.
• 1:07:31
  Speaker 2: One of the biggest motivators for me is seeing other people go out and do things and then just the accountability behind it, cause a lot of people talk about, oh, I'm going to go do this or I'm going to go do that, and they don't remember how much time, effort, resource it takes to go do something.
• 1:07:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:07:49
  Speaker 2: Those who say I'm going to go do this and then they follow through and have the discipline to go do it.
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 2: Those are the people that are inspiring.
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 2: So I want to be one of those people.
• 1:07:59
  Speaker 2: That's like when people are like, oh yeah, back when Brad did whatever, I want people to be inspired or I hope that brings a smile to people's faces because, you know it, it inspired them and it's a.
• 1:08:13
  Speaker 2: It's an example of follow through and discipline, I think too.
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 2: The other thing is did I use my talents that I was gifted with in the way that I needed to?
• 1:08:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:08:27
  Speaker 2: You know whether it's skiing or running?
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 2: Did I use, you know, just the God-given talents that I have for good, Whatever that looks?
• 1:08:34
  Speaker 1: like it's a good thing you didn't use them for bad.
• 1:08:37
  Speaker 1: If you turn to the dark side, so I'm fucking with you.
• 1:08:40
  Speaker 1: I don't know, right, yeah.
• 1:08:44
  Speaker 2: But I think, yeah, those are the two things.
• 1:08:45
  Speaker 2: Um, and then again did I help push the community in a in a positive direction.
• 1:08:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:08:48
  Speaker 2: You know cause it's like as this continues to develop and we're already seeing this there are some bumps that are appearing and some um, some some challenges that athletes are going through um with some of their efforts, um, I hope to have, even if it's just a little bit, you know, um set a good example and create a a healthy, level community for people to be part of.
• 1:09:13
  Speaker 1: Like I say this is your friend.
• 1:09:14
  Speaker 1: Like you are one of the kindest, most like, uplifting and positive humans.
• 1:09:19
  Speaker 1: I know, like, if I'm like'm like because I you know me I'm all over the place.
• 1:09:23
  Speaker 1: I'm a wild boy.
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: So, like you know, like you, um, you're very level-headed and you are very good with um I don't know like I'll bring things like I I'm very obviously because the podcast I'm very in tune with the sport, so I'll bring things to you that like maybe we hadn't talked about or something like that, like some crazy wild shit that's going on, whether it's mike's and sari's fkt on the grand that everybody is humming and hauling over and you're.
• 1:09:47
  Speaker 1: But you always have like a positive projection on things, which I appreciate no, and I I appreciate that.
• 1:09:53
  Speaker 2: I mean, I think that's, I'm glad to know, and just even the limited time that I've had in this space to date that that is the example I'm setting.
• 1:10:03
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:10:04
  Speaker 2: Again, it's like we all have our challenges in life and and things we wish we could do better or go back and fix um, uh, or handle differently.
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 2: I mean, sometimes that's not the case, but what you can do is look forward and say, okay, what did I learn from that experience or that situation is look forward and say, okay, what did I learn from that experience or that situation?
• 1:10:24
  Speaker 2: How am I going to be a better person from it and help that next person through that difficult situation?
• 1:10:28
  Speaker 2: And that again goes beyond just being able to run uphill fast or you know you know ski down a really you know technical mountain.
• 1:10:37
  Speaker 2: It's the people that you know you're in community with yeah.
• 1:10:43
  Speaker 2: With yeah, I mean when you're back at the trailhead, when you're at home, when you're at work, who is there supporting you, and people like yourself have are amazing with that thanks, man, and I mean more and more people need that kind of support you know what's cool, one of the things I was thinking about.
• 1:10:59
  Speaker 1: this is a little unrelated, but also kind of related.
• 1:11:01
  Speaker 1: It's fun seeing like this, like a big group of your friends kind of like, come up at once Right and like so like now we train and connect and like I got you connected with Nick and now like the three of us are kind of like doing our thing on this ascent in the sport, whether whatever that looks like, you know it's fun to watch like everybody sort of like start to make their success.
• 1:11:23
  Speaker 1: Like nick is a great example too, because like nick's gonna pop off so soon and like he's so fast before you know it, like you know, he's gonna be one of the bigger names in the sub ultra that like nobody knows about yet, but like very soon will.
• 1:11:37
  Speaker 1: Uh, and you're yourself as well, you know.
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 1: So it's just fun to see, like for me, like all my friends start to like make it and like watch this thing grow and like kind of grow in the sport.
• 1:11:48
  Speaker 2: It's kind of dope no, I totally agree, um, and it's fun to see each person own their lane, so to speak yeah you know.
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 2: And so in this instance, like nick is a phenomenal racer yeah and, like you said, it's only a matter of time before he isn't where he's consistently in that top five oh yeah, top three.
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 1: Oh, dude, he's, he's got the tools 100, he's got he and he's got the mental game.
• 1:12:11
  Speaker 1: Like it's just, like he just needs to put it together like one or two more times and like everybody's gonna know who the fuck nick too, says you know?
• 1:12:19
  Speaker 2: I mean, the thing is like like he's a great human too.
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:12:22
  Speaker 2: Like you know, the few times I've gotten out to run with him, he's pushed me.
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:12:27
  Speaker 2: And I pushed him.
• 1:12:28
  Speaker 1: Oh, dude, he's put me in the pain the last two times I've run with him.
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 1: You saw I was hurting on Blodgett, I was like, and he see you later.
• 1:12:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's cool Cause it's like I think what I admire more than just the how do I explain this is when you're in community and everybody has their lane and everybody's respectful of that.
• 1:12:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:12:54
  Speaker 2: And they see that it's like I don't you know, as of right now, I don't look at myself as that person that's going to be crazy good at formal racing yeah I will do races because it's again.
• 1:13:05
  Speaker 2: It's good to see where you stack up against some of the best, um, but for me it's like my heart and my soul are really at that high alpine yeah away from everyone else, which just it's very more about the soul, like soul enriching.
• 1:13:19
  Speaker 1: Is there any?
• 1:13:20
  Speaker 1: And on that topic, is there any like routes?
• 1:13:22
  Speaker 1: Like worldwide, that like call to you, like the world like?
• 1:13:26
  Speaker 1: Is that something you'd be interested in doing at some point in time?
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 1: Because I feel like that's your jam dude right, you know that's.
• 1:13:32
  Speaker 2: Oh man, that's a great question.
• 1:13:34
  Speaker 2: Um, there are definitely peaks and whatnot.
• 1:13:39
  Speaker 2: Um, even, like you know, in norway I would love to go ski yeah I'd love to push more into that, for sure.
• 1:13:48
  Speaker 2: As far as like proper light and fast movement on foot, oh, I'd love to get down to like south america, um, and you know, see what I can do above, because I've never been above, whatever albert is, you know, 14, well, what is it?
• 1:14:05
  Speaker 2: 14?
• 1:14:06
  Speaker 2: 4, 14, 3 yeah, I don't know, it's something like that, something like that, you know it's like I haven't been above that, um, but I have this sense in me that I'm still going to be strong.
• 1:14:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I might be even stronger.
• 1:14:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, again, kind of going back to that, like once I get over that 12.5, it's like it's game on well, the thing is too.
• 1:14:24
  Speaker 1: That really interests me is like there's a niche in our sport for that now, where you can like, you can make a career like look at tyler andrews dude, and like chris fisher, aaron, they're all making careers out of this.
• 1:14:35
  Speaker 1: Like tree line, super high altitude racing fk, I shouldn't say racing more super high altitude fkts going after these big peaks and like it's yeah, it's super doable.
• 1:14:46
  Speaker 1: So, like you can, the path now where it might have not been there before.
• 1:14:51
  Speaker 2: The path does exist now, which is cool I think it does and, um, I also think it's interesting too because, kind of thinking about chris here for a second, he loves to ski as well yeah um, and is not only can he ski, he's a very good skier, um, and so it's like how does that?
• 1:15:08
  Speaker 2: Even that niche and that's something that I'm super excited about, even for myself is like I always have something to do year round yeah it's also knowing how to balance that too, because running is very different than skiing.
• 1:15:19
  Speaker 2: Um, but doing more of that high Alpine skiing, mountaineering thing like oh man, I could talk about that for three hours, they just go on and on Um but you live in the right place, so oh, I love it.
• 1:15:32
  Speaker 2: I mean absolutely great place for it.
• 1:15:34
  Speaker 2: But yes, there are definitely these, these, um, smaller corners that people are really starting to develop.
• 1:15:41
  Speaker 2: Um, it'll be cool to see you know where.
• 1:15:44
  Speaker 2: Where does that go, you know, two or three years from now, let alone like a decade from now.
• 1:15:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.
• 1:15:50
  Speaker 1: It is wild and it's cool to see.
• 1:15:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, 100%, like what's cause, like I don't know, like I said maybe four or five years ago, like that wasn't a niche in our sport where you could like make a living or make a career.
• 1:16:01
  Speaker 1: Five years ago like that wasn't a niche in our sport where you could like make a living or make a career.
• 1:16:03
  Speaker 1: And now you see, because that was always I don't know more on the mountaineering aspect of it, but now you see these, you know these runners, with these, with this insane fitness, being able to like translate that well into this running slash, high altitude, mountaineering and and making a go at it.
• 1:16:16
  Speaker 1: So it will be fun to see, like that next class kind of, because you're young, dude, dude, you're only in your twenties, so you're like part of that.
• 1:16:23
  Speaker 1: Really, I speak like I'm old, I'm only 33, but like, uh, I should have brought my cane with me, but only, um, you know, see, this next class of folks come up and you know.
• 1:16:34
  Speaker 1: And the other thing too is interesting is like, um, you know, whereas, like most of our peers, more or less ran cross country and track, it was like you're a soccer player.
• 1:16:44
  Speaker 1: I was a soccer player, I don't know.
• 1:16:47
  Speaker 1: Nick was a fucking golfer that's right how was that possible?
• 1:16:51
  Speaker 1: I think he's that fit from I don't know whatever he's got the it is genetics, oh genetics.
• 1:16:57
  Speaker 1: And hard work, yeah, discipline for sure but like it's just interesting seeing people come from, like out their backgrounds or like other.
• 1:17:03
  Speaker 1: You know, they're not necessarily a cross-country runner or a track and field athlete, um, whereas like that's kind of the niche from, uh, from europe.
• 1:17:10
  Speaker 2: You know, most europeans don't run in college, they just grow up skiing and become really fit in the mountains, you know that, and I mean just two different cultures, as far as you know how they take care of themselves and the mindset and you know just really how they treat their bodies, is very different in parts of the world and how they train versus here.
• 1:17:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:17:31
  Speaker 2: And you know in America, where you know sometimes we have more than we know what to do with and sometimes that can kind of work against us.
• 1:17:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, dude.
• 1:17:39
  Speaker 1: So another over an an hour, like an hour 15 in yeah is there anything, anything you wanted to get to?
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 1: Before I get to like my ending questions?
• 1:17:48
  Speaker 2: um, I don't think so.
• 1:17:50
  Speaker 2: I mean, this has been great yeah um well, it's the first of many, so we'll be having quite a few of these in my mind, it's very much like again going back to what we talked about earlier being that person that if they say they're going to go do something, go do it, and that was very much my goal Even coming here to do this podcast is.
• 1:18:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, you asked me multiple times for.
• 1:18:09
  Speaker 1: I did somewhere like please come like what are we doing this?
• 1:18:12
  Speaker 2: We're doing this and I was like, let me get past the, the sense, we've got some things to talk about.
• 1:18:16
  Speaker 2: You know, I'm not the only one who believes this.
• 1:18:19
  Speaker 2: There's a lot of athletes out there it's like man, I want to be that guy.
• 1:18:23
  Speaker 2: That's just like, okay, well, does he do anything?
• 1:18:25
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:18:25
  Speaker 2: And you know, and it's like I'm still very new to this community and to this sport and sure, I mean I had a great summer season, um, and I've done quite well, um, and but I'm also that perfectionist that always wants to do more, yeah, so I, you know.
• 1:18:41
  Speaker 2: Going back to your question, it will be exciting, you know, who knows, maybe you know nine months to a year from now, to kind of come back and be like, oh, how did said project go?
• 1:18:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know how did tmr round two go?
• 1:18:53
  Speaker 1: or you know whatever else I choose to get into it's funny, up until the summer I I I wasn't like necessarily super stoked on my summer season, like I felt like it was good, but like I did get a result in there that I was like really stoked on.
• 1:19:07
  Speaker 1: And when I interviewed with sportiva in the past, when I interviewed for other like sponsors, like the question, one of the questions that always came up was like yo, what was your like, what is the, what is your greatest accomplishment that you're the most proud of?
• 1:19:21
  Speaker 1: And I would always say like it hasn't happened yet.
• 1:19:23
  Speaker 1: And I I still to this day almost when I'm like reset, but I finally got one.
• 1:19:27
  Speaker 1: Oh nice, so I I will.
• 1:19:28
  Speaker 1: What is it?
• 1:19:29
  Speaker 1: I?
• 1:19:30
  Speaker 1: I was for my the ranking in the in the pro the pro ranking for the search series.
• 1:19:33
  Speaker 1: I was I was fucking stoked on that yeah, um, but for you, I would challenge you to think about that, like continue to search for something you are so proud of and stoked, so that way, when you do get asked that question again, you'll be able to either answer it or say like it hasn't happened yet.
• 1:19:49
  Speaker 1: You know, I don't know.
• 1:19:50
  Speaker 1: It's something I'd been searching for for a very long time.
• 1:19:53
  Speaker 2: That's a good one, and let's circle back to that the next time I'm on, because that will give a lot more time to kind of think about that, even though I have ideas in my head okay, I want to give it some time to develop yeah, no, like I said, think about it yeah, all right, let's get into some ending questions.
• 1:20:09
  Speaker 1: Let's make this fun.
• 1:20:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, bro, I'm gonna switch these up.
• 1:20:12
  Speaker 1: We're not.
• 1:20:12
  Speaker 1: I'm not doing any like inspiring shit I want to hear what's your walkout song, bro?
• 1:20:17
  Speaker 1: Let's think how much do you weigh?
• 1:20:18
  Speaker 2: uh like 160 162 all right.
• 1:20:22
  Speaker 1: So let's say you're, you're, you're lightweight.
• 1:20:24
  Speaker 1: Let's put it that way so you're, you're walking out, you got a lightweight fight or you're gonna go to a race.
• 1:20:29
  Speaker 1: What's your walkout song?
• 1:20:34
  Speaker 2: oh, geez um, what's your, what's your?
• 1:20:37
  Speaker 1: okay, so one song that's like every time we're hanging out, you always listen to electronic music, so that's what I figured.
• 1:20:42
  Speaker 2: Yeah, some, some shit like that I definitely go through these phases where I'll have like two or three songs that I just absolutely go after, yeah, and just play all the time I do, I do the same and then you know I'll hear new stuff, and then that gets in the rotation.
• 1:20:55
  Speaker 2: One song, though, that over the last couple years that is just stuck in there is by odessa the called um the last goodbye it's your walkout song yeah, that's what is it, is it?
• 1:21:06
  Speaker 1: like so I have to listen to this later.
• 1:21:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you can use it as the as the uh cover music.
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 2: Oh, dude, that's good, all right.
• 1:21:12
  Speaker 1: So this was that was kind of what I was thinking was starting to bring that question in for when I, um, when I make reels and when I do stuff like on the for the podcast.
• 1:21:21
  Speaker 2: Oh it's a good one, all right, yeah, I'll send it to you.
• 1:21:23
  Speaker 2: Um, I'm, it's a fairly popular song, I mean I'm sure I've heard it, I'm sure that yeah, everybody's heard it in a commercial or whatnot, but uh no, I just that song.
• 1:21:33
  Speaker 2: Without a doubt there's something about it, just I don't know I've been on a g easy kick lately.
• 1:21:37
  Speaker 2: He's great too, dude.
• 1:21:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, he, yeah, um, yeah, he's got some great music, especially some of his older stuff yeah, the opportunity cost song was actually like really hit with opportunities.
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a great song what's that last album?
• 1:21:50
  Speaker 2: things in the dark or something like that.
• 1:21:52
  Speaker 1: I don't know his last album.
• 1:21:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, great artist yeah, interesting, very interesting all right.
• 1:21:58
  Speaker 1: So that's gonna be your walkout song.
• 1:21:59
  Speaker 1: I'm impressed.
• 1:22:00
  Speaker 1: I was thinking like Eminem or some crazy shit, I don't know.
• 1:22:02
  Speaker 1: Dude, how do you define success?
• 1:22:07
  Speaker 2: How do I define success?
• 1:22:08
  Speaker 2: Oh man, I think you might relate to this too.
• 1:22:12
  Speaker 2: You know, as a highly driven person or actionist, like that's hard.
• 1:22:15
  Speaker 1: I know we have a lot of these deep conversations, so I figured you'd so.
• 1:22:18
  Speaker 2: I figured you'd.
• 1:22:19
  Speaker 2: Oh man, I'll try it, let's see.
• 1:22:19
  Speaker 2: How do I keep it to a couple of sentences here?
• 1:22:22
  Speaker 2: How do I define success?
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 2: I think more or less like if you are doing what you need to be doing at this moment, and that's different for everybody.
• 1:22:35
  Speaker 2: You know, some people are called to be a parent.
• 1:22:36
  Speaker 2: Some people are called to be, you know, a leader within their company.
• 1:22:39
  Speaker 2: Some people are called to, in our instance, be an athlete.
• 1:22:42
  Speaker 2: You know, a leader within their company.
• 1:22:44
  Speaker 2: Some people are called to, in our instance, be an athlete.
• 1:22:45
  Speaker 2: If you were doing that and you're going all in and you're giving it everything you have, whether you come in first place or you come in, you know 80th place or whatever it is, but you just know deep down in your heart that you gave it your all.
• 1:22:56
  Speaker 2: You can't ask for anything more you're supposed to be doing it, yeah that's just what you're supposed to be doing at that time in your life, cause that's going to change throughout seasons of our lives, you know, cause what I'm doing right now is probably going to be you know at least somewhat different 10 years from now.
• 1:23:10
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 1:23:11
  Speaker 2: I could have a family, I could have kids, and success is going to look different.
• 1:23:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:23:15
  Speaker 2: Then than it does now.
• 1:23:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, you could be like a serious adult dude holy shit fuck that.
• 1:23:30
  Speaker 2: No, um.
• 1:23:30
  Speaker 2: Who inspires you, dude?
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 2: Who inspires me?
• 1:23:31
  Speaker 1: yeah, oh man, I've got a list of people.
• 1:23:32
  Speaker 1: All right, go for it, throw it off, I think it's.
• 1:23:34
  Speaker 2: I think it's split into two groups because skiing and running okay um running, uh, chris fisher yeah, okay, all right, um, chris fisher, aaron tun, um, who else you know?
• 1:23:50
  Speaker 1: I think you know people like anton are a huge inspiration to people that just go out and do it dude anton, like I just listened to finn the shout outs of finn's podcast, the single track that he just had him on.
• 1:24:03
  Speaker 1: Did you listen to that?
• 1:24:04
  Speaker 1: Not yet Dude Anton's like such a contrarian.
• 1:24:06
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 1:24:07
  Speaker 1: Like.
• 1:24:07
  Speaker 1: Every time I hear that dude talk, I'm like man, I want to be more like you.
• 1:24:10
  Speaker 1: Like he's just like a very like.
• 1:24:12
  Speaker 1: He doesn't give a fuck, like he really does not care what anybody thinks.
• 1:24:16
  Speaker 1: He just if something inspires him, he just goes out and does it and he's like well, you know, this is cool.
• 1:24:21
  Speaker 1: And then everybody makes a big deal out of it, but he's not.
• 1:24:24
  Speaker 1: He's just like well, I did this because I liked it.
• 1:24:26
  Speaker 1: I like to do this Right.
• 1:24:29
  Speaker 2: You know, I think there's as to why he doesn't give.
• 1:24:33
  Speaker 2: That's hard to say.
• 1:24:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 1:24:36
  Speaker 2: Where is that stemming from?
• 1:24:36
  Speaker 2: I don't know him personally, I don't know but I can't admire that he just sets his mind and does something yeah and so, yeah, from the running space.
• 1:24:46
  Speaker 2: It's like I mean, the list is long like again, like even fellow athletes, like like johnny and connor, like those guys get after it too, and again it's like they, you know, can probably race any number of races and be within that top five percent yeah which is phenomenal.
• 1:25:05
  Speaker 1: Oh yeah, like that, it's like it's great.
• 1:25:08
  Speaker 2: And again, it's like you know, they're also mentors as well, and, um, yeah, it's from the ski side.
• 1:25:15
  Speaker 2: That's interesting, um.
• 1:25:16
  Speaker 2: There's an individual, um, his name is nikolai schirmer, I think I pronounced that correctly.
• 1:25:24
  Speaker 2: He lives in norway.
• 1:25:25
  Speaker 2: Phenomenal skier, skis for black crows and neurona.
• 1:25:29
  Speaker 2: Um, uh, some of you have probably heard of him.
• 1:25:33
  Speaker 2: He's just a phenomenal skier.
• 1:25:35
  Speaker 2: Uh.
• 1:25:36
  Speaker 2: There's also like a couple, like more underground athletes, um, raid has a skier named paul davis, um, and he lives out in aspen snowmass area, um, and very much has his own way of moving through the mountains and skiing and just because just goes out and does it, yeah, it's just phenomenal skier, um.
• 1:25:59
  Speaker 2: And then, of course, like cody townsend, um, about michael worth.
• 1:26:00
  Speaker 2: That's a good skier, um, and then, of course, like cody townsend, um, what about michael?
• 1:26:04
  Speaker 1: worth.
• 1:26:04
  Speaker 1: That's a good one oh geez.
• 1:26:05
  Speaker 2: Michael worth is great, cody townsend's great.
• 1:26:07
  Speaker 2: I mean anything like ski las pertiva plug right, yeah, exactly, michael worth is a phenomenal athlete.
• 1:26:12
  Speaker 2: I I really like cody townsend from the aspect of he's had so many different careers.
• 1:26:18
  Speaker 2: You know, he's been a free ride skier, he's been a ski racer, um, and now more into the mountaineering thing with the 50 project.
• 1:26:28
  Speaker 2: You know, I really love just his drive to not be beat and to just keep pushing himself, because I, you know, I am in no way, no way comparing myself to him, but I again, I hope that I have those challenges to develop and pivot from one thing to the next, and I think he's a great example of somebody within the ski world that has done that and he leads with, just a great example yeah um, and so yeah, those are.
• 1:26:56
  Speaker 2: I mean list is long, but those people that kind of come to mind I like that you're inspired.
• 1:27:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah, do what you take on the aliens on the aliens yeah, the aliens you got the fkts out there, or yeah, um are you believer?
• 1:27:13
  Speaker 1: are you not a believer?
• 1:27:16
  Speaker 2: I don't.
• 1:27:16
  Speaker 2: I'm very much I believe when I see something okay I have not seen an alien with my own eyes well, what?
• 1:27:22
  Speaker 1: what about like UFOs and shit?
• 1:27:23
  Speaker 1: I don't think of all the runs we've been on.
• 1:27:25
  Speaker 1: I don't think I've ever asked you this.
• 1:27:26
  Speaker 1: I don't think we've ever talked about this.
• 1:27:29
  Speaker 2: I would not be surprised if there is some kind of you know piece of technology or spacecraft that we just don't know about and we don't know where it came from, because I think came from, because I think we as a society are so guarded from so many things, yeah, that are just existing, that you know we just don't know about, whether it's the government doesn't want to know us about it or certain communities and societies don't want us to know about it.
• 1:27:52
  Speaker 2: So I don't want to say that, like aliens aren't real, but again, like until I see one, I'm like whatever it's, a little green man shows up and right waves to you.
• 1:28:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, fair enough you know, beams me up scotty, what um what's your take on, dude?
• 1:28:11
  Speaker 1: what's your?
• 1:28:12
  Speaker 1: What's your take on ai, especially because, like I don't want to call you the younger generation, but like you're a little bit younger than me and like ai now is like not taking over, but it's, it's more used in our jobs on a daily basis.
• 1:28:23
  Speaker 1: Like, what do you?
• 1:28:23
  Speaker 1: What's your take on that?
• 1:28:24
  Speaker 2: So AI, I think it's a phenomenal tool if used within ethical reason.
• 1:28:30
  Speaker 2: I just think in general, as a society and whatnot, like we're getting better about that Great tool.
• 1:28:39
  Speaker 2: I think about it kind of more from like a sport perspective.
• 1:28:43
  Speaker 2: Like I know that literally today, strava came out with something ai related really.
• 1:28:47
  Speaker 2: Um, I forgot what it was called.
• 1:28:49
  Speaker 2: Um, I'll have to look at the news article I was looking at, but basically analyzing your running and your performance and how to improve upon that and using ai to do that.
• 1:28:58
  Speaker 2: Um, so I'm curious to see how does that help athletes in general?
• 1:29:03
  Speaker 2: yeah as far as, like you know, how does that relate to us as a society?
• 1:29:07
  Speaker 2: I really don't know, because I think it could go really really well or really really poorly.
• 1:29:14
  Speaker 2: I'm a little worried.
• 1:29:16
  Speaker 1: I think we're all fucked.
• 1:29:18
  Speaker 2: I'm not gonna lie.
• 1:29:19
  Speaker 2: I mean, there's definitely going to be things, you know, a decade from now, that we're like, oh that's creepy, that thing is doing this thing for me.
• 1:29:27
  Speaker 1: Well, here's the problem.
• 1:29:28
  Speaker 1: Like, I think, that I'm more concerned about people and their jobs um, you know, dude, I'm more concerned you know, I was thinking about this the other day because I do think deeply on this pretty often and it's not so much the ai, it's the human's usage of the AI, like.
• 1:29:43
  Speaker 1: So this was something that was brought to my attention recently that was just so interesting.
• 1:29:46
  Speaker 1: Is that, like it's going to get so powerful in the next few years that, like you could literally, let's say, the United States hates TikTok, right, and they've been trying to ban it, which is like a big thing that they've been discussing.
• 1:29:56
  Speaker 1: You know, in three years time, once you have that ability, like it wants ai, if we, let's say, achieve sentience or let's say it gets a little more powerful than it is now, let's say they ban tiktok, you could literally just ask your phone to create you a tiktok right yeah, just bananas, dude it is and it's like, and that's something that's like I don't even have the brain.
• 1:30:16
  Speaker 2: Well, we're a bunch of process, we're a bunch of like fancy chimps anyway.
• 1:30:19
  Speaker 1: So if you think about it, it's like we can barely handle instagram, let alone let alone that like the that level of power right um, yeah, I don't know.
• 1:30:30
  Speaker 1: I'm a little worried, like as far as like what we do and like the jobs thing is credible as well, and I know I've debated a little not debated but I've had this discussion with just about every person that's come on the podcast in the last few months and you know, like a lot of people bring up like great examples of medical like breakthroughs and expertise that we can use, and I think that's so true for like longevity and like cancers and whatever like there's.
• 1:30:54
  Speaker 1: There's going to be tons of medical breakthroughs with it.
• 1:30:56
  Speaker 1: So the good that comes out of that is great, but I think the the bad is going to outweigh because it's like all right, it's not just like the elevator operator's job goes away.
• 1:31:05
  Speaker 1: It's like literally once I think, does become sentient, and like accounting or anything like oh yeah, I mean my, I work in corporate finance like that's fucking gone.
• 1:31:14
  Speaker 1: Um, and like any person that's like a white collar skill position like you're you're in some shit yeah, so it's like I don't know what.
• 1:31:27
  Speaker 1: Okay, yeah, yeah, so we're, yeah, it's, it's crazy.
• 1:31:31
  Speaker 1: So yeah, um, yeah, dude.
• 1:31:34
  Speaker 1: So all right, I think that's the last one.
• 1:31:36
  Speaker 1: Let's close this out.
• 1:31:37
  Speaker 1: It's been an hour and 35 minutes.
• 1:31:39
  Speaker 1: There you go.
• 1:31:40
  Speaker 1: So all right, dude, thanks for coming on the podcast.
• 1:31:42
  Speaker 1: I'll plug your Instagram in the show notes and we'll call it a day.
• 1:31:45
  Speaker 2: Thanks, brother, appreciate it, thank you, and thank you for all you're doing for the trail community.
• 1:31:49
  Speaker 1: Oh, dude, much love.
• 1:31:50
  Speaker 1: Thanks, brother, absolutely.
• 1:31:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, what'd you guys think?
• 1:31:54
  Speaker 1: I told you this would be a long time and it was just really fun to finally get to sit down and just have the world hear Brad's story and get to learn more about him, his motivations as an athlete and just what he plans to do with the sport, which is pretty incredible.
• 1:32:16
  Speaker 1: Guys, before you get going, do me a favor, hop on Instagram and type in underscore Brad B-R-A-D, barrett B-A-R-R-E-T-T.
• 1:32:24
  Speaker 1: Give him a follow, send him a DM, slide into Brad's DMs and let him know what you guys thought about the episode.
• 1:32:30
  Speaker 1: Send him some words of encouragement.
• 1:32:31
  Speaker 1: I know he's got a really fun, kind of I wanted to say schemo, but I know he would correct me for saying that Not backyard country, backcountry skiing season that he's got planned for the winter, if it ever snows in the Scott for second state of Colorado it's been a little notoriously hot, um, but yeah, that said, give Prada follow, send him a DM, let him know what you thought about the episode and send him some, uh, some words of encouragement.
• 1:32:57
  Speaker 1: I know he would really appreciate that.
• 1:32:58
  Speaker 1: Before you guys uh tune out, do me a favor, hop on Apple or Spotify, either one, maybe both.
• 1:33:06
  Speaker 1: That'd be great.
• 1:33:07
  Speaker 1: Give us a five-star rating and review.
• 1:33:08
  Speaker 1: I'd really appreciate that.
• 1:33:09
  Speaker 1: It's how we can get this out to the world and it's how we can continue to cover the sport of sub ultra and you guys can learn more about people like Brad, as well as all these amazing athletes across our amazing world.
• 1:33:22
  Speaker 1: I wanted to say country, but now I'm going to say world, because we've got some worldwide folks now in there, which is pretty wild.
• 1:33:29
  Speaker 1: So, guys, have a great rest of your week.
• 1:33:31
  Speaker 1: On Friday, I've got a special episode dropping with none other than Mr Jeff Kuno.
• 1:33:35
  Speaker 1: Fucking stud.
• 1:33:37
  Speaker 1: Love Jeff Kuno.
• 1:33:38
  Speaker 1: Really good athlete, just slept on Amazing athlete and you guys need to hear his story, thank you.