Latest / The Steep Stuff Podcast / Julian Carr | Cirque Series Founder

Transcript

Julian Carr | Cirque Series Founder · The Steep Stuff Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up, guys?
• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast.
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, James Lauriello, and today we've got a fun one we're going to dive right into.
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: None other than Julian Carr joins the podcast.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Widely known as one of the greatest free skiers of our generation and as well as the founder and operator of the Cirque series, joins the podcast to talk all about all kinds of fun stuff.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: We dove somewhat deep into Julian's ski background, how he started the Cirque series.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: We also talked a lot about some of the new future plans for the Cirque series, talked about Julian's five, 10 year plan and just some of the really fun things coming down the pipeline.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: And we also were able to announce a fun little race, a new Cirque series race that's going to be on the East coast.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: That we kind of dove into as well.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: That's going to be on the East coast, um, that we kind of dove into as well.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Uh, that's going to be the first year of running that Cirque series race, so really excited that, uh, you heard it first on the steep stuff podcast, um, for the new Cirque race.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: So, guys, without further ado, um, really appreciate Julian's time for coming on the podcast.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: It was such a great conversation, Um one, I hope we'll.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: We'll have many, many times over especially with the new partnership between the Cirque Series and La Sportiva going forward Just a really exciting time to race this series and just be involved.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: So yeah, guys, I hope you guys have a great rest of your week.
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: I hope you enjoyed this one and, without further ado, Julian Carr, it's time.
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: Thank you.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen, we are live, julian Carr, welcome to the Steep Stuff Podcast, my friend.
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: How are you, gentlemen?
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: We are live.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: Julian Carr.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the Steep Stuff podcast.
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: My friend, how are?
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: you.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: I'm doing great Stoked to chat with you.
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: Thanks for having me on.
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, man, I'm glad we were finally able to do this.
• 2:40
  Speaker 1: I know we spoke a little bit about some of the start lines over the summer at the Cirque Series.
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: I did a bunch of races last summer and, yeah, just really excited to kind of talk to you.
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: I feel like you're like this perpetuator of stoke for the sub ultra aspect of our sport.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: Um, so, yeah, yeah, um, before I get carried away, um, why don't we talk a little bit about you and your background and kind of dive into that?
• 3:05
  Speaker 2: Okay, cool.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's awesome to be chatting with you.
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: It was so cool to see at the races and, um, it's really fun to have the Cirque series project and be part of that greater um mountain running ecosystem.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: Um, obviously part of the longer trail races.
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: Ours are obviously a little bit shorter, but um, yeah, it's, it's a blast, but um, yeah.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: I grew up in.
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: Salt Lake City, utah, and you know I grew up camping and going on long hikes basically with my dad my entire childhood, since I can remember Lots of hikes in the Uintas and lots in southern Utah and I mean they were like big 10 to 14 hour days and we just bring one hit pack each with two liters of water, one orange each and mustard sardines and cracked pepper crackers, and so I just really fell in love with finding a rhythm.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: I wasn't, I never did track.
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: Um, I wasn't, I never did track, I never did, um you know, any kind of uh, organized running, uh, my entire life, um, I did lots of sports but I just always loved settling into finding your breath and covering ground in nature and um, having that sense of direction, sense of landmarks, um sense of destination, usually by visual.
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: I was never really looking at how far we were going, mileage wise.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: It was more of a feel and more of a relationship with nature kind of a thing.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: So I definitely thank my dad for that.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: He really passed all those things down to me, which was great and it was all subtle.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: It was just part of my upbringing, right.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: So next thing, you know I'm playing tons of sports and hiking way less and really focused on other things.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: And then, as I aged and really you know and you find yourself and you realize what's important to yourself.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: And you find yourself, you realize what's important to yourself.
• 5:06
  Speaker 2: Luckily I found.
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: You know, finding your breath in nature has been a constant in my life and it's certainly as big as it is now than it ever has been.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, it's cool to me that I can look back and be like, oh yeah, I can totally see why I love this.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: It's a big part of my childhood.
• 5:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, dude, do I appreciate that that intro?
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: So you I I gotta be honest with you I'm not really like well versed in the skiing world, whether it be free ski or schemo.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: I'm learning more about schemo as we go, but obviously you know you weren't.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: You made a name for yourself like wasn't big, big in schema, was more in free ski.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: Is that correct?
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I've had a professional ski career, kind of in the extreme skiing category, for like 15 years now, which is pretty cool and again being out in nature a lot.
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, it's insane.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: I'm just curious because, like you, have this insane ski career, even like Davide from La Sportiva.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: We talked about you a little bit ago the last time I had him on the podcast and it's just interesting to where I can see this beautiful marriage between your background in skiing and then some of these just beautiful aesthetic lines that we have on the Cirque series.
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: So it just kind of makes a lot of sense to me.
• 6:21
  Speaker 1: On the fastest way up the mountain and kind of the most aesthetic and beautiful way down the mountain is the kind of makes a lot of sense to me on, you know, the fastest way up the mountain and kind of the most aesthetic and beautiful way down the mountain.
• 6:27
  Speaker 1: As to kind of how you created these, these races.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: So I kind of want to wind it back a little bit.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: Obviously, we all know you are the RD for and the creator of, the Cirque series, but I'm just kind of curious like how did, how did the idea for this get started?
• 6:40
  Speaker 1: And like where, where did that come from, if you will?
• 6:46
  Speaker 2: Sure, uh, I mean, I'll give you the long winded answer which I love telling, um, cause usually, you know, I give the short answer.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: But, um, you know, I was fully, um, you know, at the height of my ski career, basically when I started the Cirque series, and every summer I was going to Chile, argentina, and skiing for a month or two, um, or, and if I, if I did find myself in the US, I was mountain biking, I was wake surfing, um, and just kind of hanging out until winter came around again, um and so, anyway, it all traces back to this really cool dog I got.
• 7:28
  Speaker 2: I, uh got this rescue, not on purpose at all, like I didn't think I had a lifestyle that would support getting an animal, um, but I got this really cool puppy, uh, founder, and she was the coolest dog ever.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: I grew up with dogs, um, and never had my own.
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: So suddenly I have my own dog, I'm responsible for this creature and it's amazing where.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: I take her on a few mountain bike rides.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: She's loving it, um, but it's like 14 mile ride, she's crushing it.
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: But I'm like man, if I keep taking her on these big rides, she's gonna be pretty beat up by the time she's four or five years old.
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: So I live by the trailhead to Mount Olympus in Utah and that hike for people that don't know it's like a five mile round trip.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: You get 4,000 vert and it's very much straight up straight down.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: There's exposure, there's places where you use your hands and I started doing it quite a bit and the dogs loving it and, luckily, right off the bat, some buddies of mine that do forest firefighting.
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: They were like hey, just so you know we see that you're doing Mount Olympus all the time.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: There's a stream almost halfway up and that's kind of our benchmark.
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: You have to be able to get to that stream in under 30 minutes or else you can't be like on our firefighting crew.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: So me, coming from professional skiing, where I was bootpacking or touring frequently and I consider myself in plenty good shape I was like, oh, I'm sure I'll be able to get to that stream in 30 minutes, no problem.
• 9:04
  Speaker 2: So next time I hiked it, I just hiked it as fast as I could to the stream and um looked at my time 31 minutes.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: So I was pretty pissed off because I was like I can't believe I didn't do it under 30 minutes.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: But that kind of gave me the motivation to it led me to falling in love with mountain running and that incremental progression of when you graduate from hiking fast to jogging, you know, uphill, and that's a monumental difference.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: And slowly, throughout that spring, when I got this dog, throughout the summer and into the fall, I was hiking Mount Olympus like four, five, six, every day of the week.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: I was, I was totally addicted and my dog was loving it and I got my time down to twenty two, fifty one.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: So I got way into it and at the time I thought it was pretty fast, or I felt in great shape.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: That's what was important to me and I went into the next ski season in better shape, um, than I'd ever been.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: It was, it was amazing.
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: So here I was, like having these mountain experiences, I thought.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: I thought that the uphill was so beautiful, it so challenging, it took everything.
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: I got to dig deep and, you know, hit that red line and keep getting faster, um, and then the downhill took so much agility and strength, um, and I try to invite my friends to come do it with me and they're like I'm not really a runner and I was like well, this is, this is different, this is like not quote unquote running this is like a really cool, fun, dynamic mountain adventure.
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: You're treated to views, you get a pulse on your fitness.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: Um, the downhill is fun.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: So anyway, I was fully all in on on mountain running and um.
• 10:59
  Speaker 2: From that, the whole winter goes by and spring comes around and I'm still like hiking Mount Olympus quite a bit in the snow throughout the whole ski season.
• 11:09
  Speaker 2: I'm still way into it and a buddy of mine, his wife in the spring, was like, hey, I see you're always mountain running, come do this trail run race in Moab with Parker and me, and I was like, well, is there any vert?
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: She was like, well, not really it's Moab.
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: And I was like, well, is there any Bert?
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: She was like, well, not really it's Moab.
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: And I'm like, well, I'm all right, like I'm not really running.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: You know, I like going up to a peak and back down.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: She was like, well, I signed you up, just come out, hang out, we're in camp.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: I'm like, all right, I'll go.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: So we go down there, me and my buddy are up, you know, tipping a couple back the night before, and just show up groggy eyed and get to the start line and you know, first of all look around from getting the bib and all that the night before, and there's, you know, 400 people in this race.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: We all paid like 100 something bucks and we get to the race the next day.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: Um, there was like a seven mile, 10 mile and like a 15 mile.
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: I did the seven mile and I got second place.
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: So I was pretty stoked.
• 12:10
  Speaker 2: I thought it was like pretty fast.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: And anyway, we finished the race and uh, I'm looking around and there's just no production value.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: And there's all these interesting young people at this race.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: They're finishing the race.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: They don't really have a reason to stick around, so they kind of wait for their friend and just leave.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: And I'm looking at the organizers and I'm like good for them.
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: They just, you know, 400 people here cost something, a hundred or something bucks.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: They barely spent any money on this.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: I'm like they just pocketed quite a bit of money.
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: I don't know if anybody's going to really come back, because there's no reason to.
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's a beautiful race but just there's no production value.
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: We were like the only car that like backed our car up, popped the tailgate, had like a cooler full of beers and like rooted people through the finish line.
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: I was pretty shocked, but it's kind of the back of my head.
• 12:59
  Speaker 2: I was like huh, note to self, like this could have definitely been better.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: Um produced.
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: And then at the time I was an athlete for gopro and they were like, hey, we're doing the gopro mountain games, come hang out.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: and if there's any events you want to do, let us know, so I looked at all the events and I noticed a 15k mountain run.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: So I was like sick, I'll sign up for that.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: So I go to that.
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: And it's the opposite.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: The production value is through the roof.
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: But then the course design suffers.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: There's no sense of destination, there's no sense of accomplishment.
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: They literally just ran us around in figure eights and the Aspens until we hit that mileage mark and then brought us back to the finish line.
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: So again, I was like huh, that's a massive missed opportunity.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: Like it was such a fun race, it was so well produced, there's so much energy, but the experience was lacking hugely.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: I thought um and it's the Sage candidates and the Joe grays and all those guys were at this race.
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: So I quickly realized that my false dream that I was going to be a fast guy in that sport.
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: Quickly I got confronted with reality.
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: I was nowhere near the start of the pack but I was still excited about the sport and the idea of competing.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: So I got home and Googled some races that fit that criteria of Mount Olympus Because I was like, well, neither of those races hit the mark on production or course design, like let's find something else.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: So after googling the whole space, I found, you know, all the amazing ultras and all the heritage races like western states and hard rock and and leadville, everything down the line.
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: I saw the.
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: Spartans and Mud Runs and Relay Races and all the marathons and the Mom and Pop 5Ks, nothing in the lower 48, zero.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: That was like seven miles, 3000 vert hitting a peak and back down.
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: I was so beyond shocked that not only could I not find plenty of them in utah, I thought I'd find a bunch in utah alone.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: I hadn't couldn't find a single one on the entire lower 48.
• 15:11
  Speaker 2: So in the back of my head I was like man, I should start like a wasatchics and have a race series where we do Olympus and Beacon Peak and like Granger and stuff like that.
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: So it was just kind of this fleeting idea in the back of my head.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: But after two years of that being in the idea in the back of my head, I was on this really fun ski project in Iceland and we had hiked to this beautiful Kuar you know it was about 3000 vert got to the top first, waiting for the rest of my group for about 20 minutes and I had this uh um, west facing perch just watch the sunset on the Arctic ocean.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: I felt so good Cause I just got some exercise.
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: I had this beautiful view and I just had this nice sense of clarity.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: I was like I'm going to start the this race series.
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: I'm doing it.
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: This is just such a primal feeling that I know doesn't exist in the racing space and it needs to.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: You know, I'm like, I'm a big fan of it.
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: I know others will be drawn to this and so, anyway, that was the uh spring of 2015.
• 16:21
  Speaker 2: And that summer we did Alta, snowbird, crested Butte and Deer Valley for our first races, um, and obviously kept going on from there, and it's crazy now that obviously we're going to 2025.
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: So this is our, our 10 year uh situation.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: But that is the long, long, long answer to how they started.
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: But bring it all the way back to my amazing dog.
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: If it wasn't for her, lexi her name is Lexi Um, you know, absolutely would have never started these races if I wouldn't have, you know, somehow ended up with that dog.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: Wow, man Shout out to Lexi.
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: And it's amazing, the legacy that, like I said, in 10 years, what you guys, what you've created, it's very different to me and it's very unique because as an athlete quote unquote kind of a professional athlete in the sport, I get to travel to a lot of races, I get to do a lot of different things, but there is nothing to me.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: That is like the Cirque series.
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: Let me ask you this?
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: Listen, thank you, because as an athlete, these races Last year was my first season of going to a bunch of them and racing them.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: It's just curious to me because it is very unique and very different than any other race.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: In the scene it seems like people are borrowing ideas from you.
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: You're not really borrowing ideas from anybody, if not, you're just maybe pulling ideas from different sports.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: Can you talk a little bit more to the production value that you create at these races to keep these people here race and kind of make it just a giant party, if you will?
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: Sure, you know again, a bit of that comes from my scheme background and you know operate and skiing is pretty vital.
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: You need to get together with your friends that you just adventured with all over the mountain for the entire day.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: You want to have a beverage after and talk about it and high five and have that celebration atmosphere about you know, being in nature for that long and and it's a it's a very potent experience, so it does require celebration.
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: So, uh, it's interesting because, other than those two races I did the GoPro mountain games and the Moab event.
• 18:38
  Speaker 2: I didn't check it out or investigate or research any other events.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: I just knew what I wanted to create and I knew that it was something that I wanted to be inclusive.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: I wanted professional athletes to feel seen and recognized and to be challenged as well and to be well rewarded and just have it be something that everybody's high-fiving each other and we're all somebody to peak together, big, mass start and it's something that will absolutely whoop your butt but it doesn't last that long, so when you come back down you can recover, you're good, you can celebrate and it's short enough that the event duration isn't massive so that there's no fatigue on the event organizers, the staff and the sponsors that are there and the venue, um, so it all just kind of came together perfectly for the length of races I was looking to produce and obviously, having all ages, all abilities, I knew that, you know, that'd be a big part of it.
• 19:40
  Speaker 2: It wasn't going to just be runner types.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: Um, you know, what I realized pretty quickly was a lot of uh kind of veteran mountain runner competitor types, uh frankly told me it wasn't going to work.
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: Really Wow, yeah, they said that they're too short.
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: They said that people put the value of what they're willing to spend on the length of the race and they're like anything under 10 miles, just no one's going to see the value in it and it's just not going to work.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: And so it's kind of crazy to hear that from you know, these veteran trail runner types, as I was trying to build this thing.
• 20:18
  Speaker 2: But again, I think any person that creates something, they're always going to encounter, um, obstacles and really just gave me more fuel, cause I was like, well, I think I'm doing something a little different and, uh, let me show you, you know, know.
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: So it really made me more resolved just hearing those kinds of things.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: And obviously I had plenty of other, uh, well established mountain runner types that were a big fan of it.
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: They're like hey, we see what you're building, this is awesome.
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: So I definitely have plenty of guys that were excited about it too, but it was pretty crazy that I did have a good amount of people being like we don't know about this.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: Um, so from having that kind of opera vibe that I got from skiing um to me, you know, it's very simple to have a good party and that's well, amplified music, a professional uh pedigree announcer and lots of great sponsors that can enhance the atmosphere and make it a win-win.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: Luckily, I have lots of experience in my ski career of, you know, having great relationships with companies and kind of have influence on what they're looking for.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: So I knew it would be a great event that companies would be excited about as well.
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: And then, yeah, our announcer we've had the same guy for a long time and he comes from a due tour, x Games, et cetera Goldie shout out to Goldie.
• 21:45
  Speaker 2: And then obviously, our sound system is amazing and I curate the playlist because I don't want it just to be high energy nonsense the whole time, or just EDC or just stuff that is just like fatigues people's ears.
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: You know, I want it to be a real chill list that has plenty of energy but knows how to chill out as well.
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: Um, so to me it was all elementary.
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: I was like I think I see very clearly how to put together a fun event.
• 22:11
  Speaker 2: So obviously I think you can endorse the after.
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: Races is, uh, just as fun as the race itself.
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: So I've always tried to make both uh, you know, unquestionably super fun.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's, it's amazing and, like you said too, I think the interesting thing to me is that it's not just trail runners we're bringing in here, like it's.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: You're getting members of the ski community, especially in the areas of the Mountain West where you have these races, For instance.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: You can even count Alaska in this, where you have this hardcore subculture of mountain runners.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: And then in Utah you've got this amazing ski community that's coming out In Colorado.
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: It's the same thing for A-Basin.
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: It's this amazing ski community on top of an amazing mountain running community that you kind of bring together.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: So it's not just this like ultra or trail running groups, it's, it's people from it's very approachable, from people of multiple types of sporting or multiple modalities.
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: So that's, I feel like that's really what makes it work too and makes it interesting.
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: So totally.
• 23:15
  Speaker 2: I love the mix of personalities and backgrounds, um, and obviously I love the runner types that are there too, because, uh, having professional athletes and guys like you there is super fun for you know, the mortals that can watch and see how far you guys get ahead of us and just to comprehend the level of fitness is super fun for the majority of the racers and then I know it's fun for the guys winning it and the girls winning it because I think they're used to just being around their peers or they're used to being in a type of race where it's a bit longer.
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: So that atmosphere just isn't really possible.
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: So suddenly they're in an environment where people are fanning out on them.
• 24:02
  Speaker 2: So I can tell it's a pretty fun dynamic for the professionals as well.
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: And really, you know, our average age is now 29.
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: We have more of the 18 to 30 crowd than we do of the 40 to 50 crowd, which is pretty awesome.
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: Obviously our biggest crowd is the 30 to.
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: You know, 25 to 35 is by far our biggest little sweet spot.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: But it's just fun.
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: Like I've seen lots of people get married from needing a Cirque series.
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: I've had people bring their newborns.
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: Now people get married from meeting at Cirque series.
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: I've had people bring their uh, newborns.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: Now, um, you know, having the youngest competitor now at six oldest is 82.
• 24:45
  Speaker 2: Wow, uh, just to have a place where everyone feels seen and recognized and comfortable and celebrated.
• 24:49
  Speaker 2: You know, um is important to me too, cause I don't I really I think I've always had an issue with, like gatekeepers or people that vibe or, you know, elitist mentality.
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: I just have never aligned with that.
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: So I've always tried to make the races as friendly as possible and warm and welcoming as possible to everybody because, like I said, we're all hiking at one peak together or a few peaks, but we all have that same sense of accomplishment.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: You might have done it an hour faster than me, but we both, you know, put our red line fitness to the test and we both had the same experience.
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: Um, so it's just fun to get in this finish line and see and feel that sense of shared accomplishment.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: Um, and just see people so stoked uh, to me is like all the motivation I need to like keep putting the energy into produce great races.
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, let me ask you this.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: So one of the things, especially as an elite and from what I like, what I've heard from other elites, like, for instance, I've had Joe grain here a couple of times we've talked about the Cirque series, cause I always seem to bring it up because I love the race series and one of the things that he always comes back to is, like, you know, it's a lot of hard work for an hour, hour and a half, but it's great prize money.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: Can you talk a little bit about your, your view on the prize money and cause that's, that's a huge deal that attracts, you know, solid, elite fields to your races?
• 26:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, um, that was always part of it.
• 26:16
  Speaker 2: I was like I want these to be inclusive, but I also want the fast people to be well rewarded.
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: Um, I want it to be a fun challenge and I know for them it's much shorter than what they're used to doing, so to put their time into attending our races, which might not be precisely in their wheelhouse and obviously kind of you know, in a landscape that there are no other kind of uh, complimentary events that um would give high value to sponsors wanting their athletes there or media paying attention to it.
• 26:54
  Speaker 2: You know, like the, the common denominator is good prize money, um, so we've always, from the get-go, always had equal prize money for both genders and always try to make a really fun awards ceremony and, uh, you know, good cash and also just good prizing.
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: Um.
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: And yeah, having guys like joe gray there, he came to our 2015, our first summer um.
• 27:19
  Speaker 2: He came to our crested butte event.
• 27:21
  Speaker 2: He emailed me like a month prior and he's like, hey, see what you guys are doing here, this is awesome.
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: He's like I'd love to come out to your crested butte race.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: So he came out to that and, man, he's one of my favorites.
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: Um, he's such a class act, such a professional, obviously one of the one of the best this sports ever seen.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: Um, and you know, massive shout out to those types um coming to our races and so I want them to feel like it's worth it.
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, no, I love it.
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: And like he's always I mean before my series this year for the, for the races I did I was definitely picking his brain, trying to get some strategy, trying to understand a little bit more.
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: The dude is a consummate professional, one of the best to ever do it, probably the best.
• 28:05
  Speaker 2: Absolutely Shout out.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: Joe Gray.
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: That's right, hey.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: So one of the big things I'm excited for for 2025 is you guys just announced a huge partnership with my sponsor, La Sportiva.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: I know we're as not just I could speak for the athletes as well Like we're all super excited to, obviously, you know, be partnering with such a fun brand and, you know, being able to race your races next year Super excited about that.
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: I know the press release went out.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: I had Davide talk a little bit about it from the La Sportiva side the last time he was on a couple weeks ago, but maybe from your side can you talk a little bit about what that partnership means to you and just your excitement for that moving forward.
• 28:43
  Speaker 2: Totally.
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: I mean, la Sportiva is just such a competent company in the space, it's the real deal.
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: So to get aligned with, you know, a company that's part of that core fabric of the sport, is just such an honor.
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: So to build something and have a company like La Sportiva be excited to partner with us in such a major way is such a sense of affirmation to what we're doing.
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: And I can't wait, cause I think we're both going to just amplify, um, what we're doing.
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: Um, and obviously all the personnel at La Sportiva is amazing, um, they first reached out to me a couple of years ago, so this conversation has been going on for quite a while and, uh, um, davide, or however you pronounce his name, him and I have developed a friendship over the last five or six years, cause he's been coming out and doing our races and he always makes a point to come over and we have great conversation and just his enthusiasm is incredible.
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: So he got ahold of me what a half a year ago and he's like dude, I work for La Sportiva now.
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: He's like they told me all about how things are, you know, kind of progressing with our conversation and maybe partner, and I was like, yeah, dude, this is such a great fit.
• 30:07
  Speaker 2: Um, and obviously I'm based in Colorado now and they're based in their North America at least, uh, headquarters is in Boulder, so, um, there's so many cool synergies so I can't wait to get the shoes onto as many runners as possible and obviously have their athlete presence.
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: Having you guys there is going to be so cool, um, and I think it's just going to add another level of credibility and uh, um, just kind of having that cool factor of such a cool brand being a part of what we're doing and obviously the, the vibe, the presence, um, having La Sportiva representing at the races is going to be, um, so fun.
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: I think the brand kind of discovery for a lot of the beginner types to the sport are going to learn so much about the shoes and obviously gravitate towards the company.
• 31:00
  Speaker 2: So I can't wait to get that company in front of quite a few beginners that come out to our races so they'll be getting into the right kind of shoes right out of the gate and be able to hang out with guys like you and the rest of the cast.
• 31:13
  Speaker 1: So yeah, I'm pumped, it's going to be fun.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: Yeah, especially dude we got, I mean, with the new prodigio pros dropping around the time the races are going to start, plus the new maxes.
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: It'll be fun to see.
• 31:23
  Speaker 1: Uh, I just get shoes on people and just kind of see people's eyes when they get to run in the pros and get to play with some of the new stuff that they've got coming out.
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: It's going to be fun.
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: I can't wait Our Steve White, the Cirque series.
• 31:43
  Speaker 2: He was always wearing the prodigios this summer and he's like dude, these are it.
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: And I finally got on a pair a few months ago and right away I was like, oh wow, these are it, this is sick.
• 31:51
  Speaker 2: On a pair a few months ago and right away I was like, oh wow, these are it, this is sick.
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: So I can't wait to see the gen twos.
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, you'll like them, they're, they're dope.
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: So, dude, let's.
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: Uh, I mean, this is something we talked about a little bit pre pre-show.
• 32:02
  Speaker 1: Um, I've had a couple of people kind of allude to me and give me some info on two new races that are going to that haven't been announced yet, that you will be announcing in the next couple of weeks.
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: Uh, maybe can we talk about those, cause they're in a kind of a new geographic area that you guys haven't been before.
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: That I'm really excited for.
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: Um, I'll let you.
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: I'll let you take it away on that.
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: Yeah, man.
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: So you know, over the years, um, um, I've really had to pump the brakes on like expansion because I've had quite a few opportunities to grow the races to quite a few places and I was like, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: Like we already have six races or seven races.
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: That's a lot for having a mountain run race series.
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: I'm like we are already um paving kind of pioneering new ground, um and doing it well.
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: So I'm like let's just focus on that.
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: But obviously, while doing that, for the last three or four years, um, we did go to Europe.
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: We produced race in Engelberg, switzerland, for a couple of years, and you know, obviously the mountain running scene is so big over there that, uh, I was like you know what?
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: We should reel this back and expand in the U?
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: S to the regions that we've been looking at for for years, and obviously the top of the list has always been the Northwest, um, something up in Washington and something out East, and you know I'm so stoked to say that we did add Crystal Mountain, washington and that's on the website right now.
• 33:38
  Speaker 2: We launched registration a month ago or so and that is already off to a killer start.
• 33:44
  Speaker 2: Registrations are coming in like crazy.
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: Everyone there at Crystal is so cool on their team and obviously the view of rainier from over there is, you know, mind-boggling, absolutely world-class.
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: So so thrilled to have the crystal mountain race and, yeah, we are putting together um the web pages we speak, so I'm glad I can get the pre-word out here.
• 34:07
  Speaker 2: But, um, we are going out East.
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: We are adding a couple of races out there and June 7th 2025 will be Cannon Mountain, new Hampshire, and obviously anyone that's ever seen that place right on brand for a Cirque series real steep, really cool cliffs all around and, uh, again, it's about just under seven miles with like 3 300 views.
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: They're insane, um, so beautiful and everyone there is amazing on their team.
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: And I'll keep the second location under wraps for now, just so people um keep checking back, but I will get both the new east races added to the website in the next month.
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: But, yeah, june 7th, cannon mountain and we got one more Sweet.
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: That'd be perfect for June 7th too.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: Just to not to not to.
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: You know, hype it up a lot but, like you know, a lot of guys are going to be out there Guys and gals far away.
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: So stay for a week, enjoy the area and, you know, get to go play the following week at Canon.
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: It'll be dope.
• 35:14
  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're, we're stoked on that.
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: Um, definitely great timing with how that worked out, um, and soon it looks awesome, so I'm sure they're going to bring out a big, big crowd.
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah.
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: On that topic of soon a P and like mountain running championships, it was really exciting this year.
• 35:29
  Speaker 1: Although I missed it, it was the day I got married, so I had a good excuse.
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: Good excuse yeah.
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: But, snowbird, this past year you guys had the US mountain running champs.
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: I just thought that was really exciting that we finally got one at a Cirque race.
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: Do you anticipate something?
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: Maybe in the future, moving forward, that's something you're going continue to target is us championship races for, like world's qualifiers with the cirque series um, yeah, I think that we're always interested in how it can be, you know, part of that greater community.
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: I think that, you know, the greater media of mountain running, to a certain extent, is so Euro focused.
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: That, um, you know, we have a lot of amazing races in the U S, we have a lot of amazing heritage and we have incredible mountains.
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: Um, so, you know, having marquee events like that, um, I think are really important to telling the story of what the U?
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: S has to offer to be part of that international landscape.
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: So, um, yeah, I think that the more and more we can kind of develop that narrative and, uh, place that emphasis on the marquee events we have in the U S, uh, you know, I think it's super important.
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, On that.
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: On the topic too, especially for snowbird, this was the first year I noticed that you guys had done specifically for that one I can't remember if it was with Mountain Outposts or who you did for like a live stream.
• 36:54
  Speaker 1: It was the first one where you guys had a live stream and kind of had drones and that did that whole thing.
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: Is that a production that you think you might maybe bring in house and do something like that moving forward?
• 37:03
  Speaker 2: Is that something you'd be interested in or I think that, again, that's another way to build um interest is having um livecast.
• 37:15
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: And yeah, it was mountain outpost, but team's incredible Shout out to Zach Marion, Um, so him and I are still talking.
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: We absolutely plan to partner with mountain outpost again.
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: Um, you know, in a perfect world we have all of our races in the lab cast, but I think it's going to be a slow burn on which ones we choose to be the ones we want to show off to the world, and I think Zach and his team is getting better and better at what they do.
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: And yeah, absolutely, I think it's a high priority for us to make sure that we can be able to let people see what's going on real time, Cause obviously, recaps are challenging and we have great photographers, awesome videographer, but to have a really dialed team with great on air personalities people can tune in and check out as totally different ball game.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting too, cause it's like something that I've kind of like as as an athlete and as a podcaster in the space especially specifically dedicated to sub ultra.
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: One of the things I ask all the time, whether it be to race directors or athletes or whatever it's how can we tell better stories and help tell the stories of these athletes?
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: And I think that's one way from the racing perspective and race side is to to help with that is to have something like that, like a live stream or something in that case, to better be able to better market it to the wide world.
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: You know it's makes it absolutely.
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: Um, I think mountain outposts is obviously setting the standard and, um, yeah, I think the mountain community should just be so thrilled and grateful that there is a company like that that exists, um, because it's hard work, it's uh, it takes a lot of personnel, uh, the production is a lot and obviously it's live um, so I tip my cap to them, and it's really exciting to see all the other races they cover as well, because I know I always tune into them, cause I think they do a great job.
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, For sure, Dude.
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: Last year I was at Brighton and I got my ass whooped at that race man.
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: Great race.
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: So, so technically, it was my first Cirque race so technical, so hard.
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: Um, I was a little bummed you guys weren't bringing it back for 2025.
• 39:30
  Speaker 2: Is it something you might bring back in 26?
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: Is that on the radar?
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think so.
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we're just seeing how the all the dust settles with adding these new races and we already had three in Utah and yeah, you know, but that is such a cool race that uh, um, I absolutely plan to bring it back.
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: Um, it's too cool.
• 39:43
  Speaker 1: It's like, like you said, it's uh it's a butt kicker.
• 39:46
  Speaker 2: There's four peaks in that race.
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: So hard, so hard.
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to Alyaska this year.
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: Can't wait for you to try that one out.
• 39:54
  Speaker 2: It is, it is.
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: I'll put that one up there for any race on the planet.
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: It's so cool, dude, how did you get the helicopter out there?
• 40:14
  Speaker 2: Oh, again, it goes back to my um ski connections.
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: The uh previous marketing manager there, um, and a photographer I've worked with quite a bit are based obviously out of uh girdwood and we already had a pretty good relationship with the heli company up there and, uh, they just know how, they know what we're doing, they support it and just have this ongoing dialogue to to have that as a resource and have it be a last minute kind of thing too, based on the weather, um, so we've had the heli for about half our races up there because it's obviously a weather thing and, yeah, anytime it's clear enough, we're definitely going to have that heli up, doors off, uh photographer hanging out the door with a harness shooting everybody.
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: So it adds a whole new experience element to the runners that obviously aren't used to a heli with the doors off, with the photographer hanging out and shooting them.
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: That was so cool.
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: What is it like?
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: I've had this question for a long time just because I know you.
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: Obviously these are all at ski resorts.
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: What is it like trying to get like a new race established at one of these places?
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: Like how like is the permitting like super complicated, like how does the process even work?
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: Like trying to get a race set up at one of these places?
• 41:25
  Speaker 2: yeah, I mean the production fundamentals are pretty heavy lifting between the venue safety, obviously having your own ops and logistics, all the sponsors and the prizing course aspects, the conservation course, maintenance aspects, and obviously there's other factors like forest service, whether it's landowners, approval, all the insurance requirements.
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: So it's a it's a heavy lift for sure, and that's why I say being a race series with six or seven races is already quite substantial because most race.
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: Most races in the space for one weekend.
• 42:09
  Speaker 2: They might have five or six races, but it's at one venue.
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: They have all year to plan it.
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: Um, still monumental, uh effort to put on some of these other marquee races like run the rut and broken arrow and all that stuff.
• 42:23
  Speaker 2: I know what it takes.
• 42:24
  Speaker 2: So, um, yeah, just having multiple races, lots of different locations, with all the materials that are part of it and, uh, all the various channels of people you need to communicate with it's, uh, it's a lot.
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: But, like I said, when you're in the finish line and seeing people just beaming with happiness, um, that's when you're like, yep, all the work we put into producing these races as well worth it.
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, uh, that's pretty cool.
• 42:50
  Speaker 1: What are you thinking um for the future?
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: I know obviously you can't divulge a ton of information.
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: It's just that, like, do you think you'll go back to Europe at some point in time?
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: Do you want to like what's your master plan?
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: Like, how many of these things do you think you could put on in a summer in the United States?
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I mean the master plan is, in five years we'll have 10 races along the uh, the west, throughout the northwest california and obviously the, the rockies, and then have five to ten races out east and like five races in europe.
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: I mean, holy shit that's definitely, uh, the master plan.
• 43:29
  Speaker 2: Um, we'll see what that slow burn looks like, but that's absolutely the ultimate, because the way we look at it is, we'd want to have, like this is all just spitball, but have some kind of east coast oriented point system and then the whole west point system oriented thing and then, based on leaderboard, we'd fly out like the top 10, both genders, to like a big final out in europe or something like that.
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: So I definitely love us mountain running.
• 43:58
  Speaker 2: I feel like we can kind of carry that torch as far as being the coolest series and, um, hopefully, you know, all the elite athletes keep valuing what we're doing so we can build that kind of a future, um, cause it takes them too.
• 44:11
  Speaker 2: And, uh, you know, and, and obviously, stay true to the all inclusive vibes, make sure everyone feels seen and make sure we're putting out content that makes the beginner types feel seen.
• 44:22
  Speaker 2: But obviously we want to show off leaderboards and all the cool athletes that are coming out.
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I do.
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: I think you're so well positioned to to do something like that, especially because, like, what goes to my mind for a final because this is actually a question I had for you closer to the end was the final question, like I don't know when I think of, like the golden trail series right, they're primarily Europe, right, and then they have their final, but like no one's doing anything in the United States.
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: Like, yeah, there's a golden trail U S series, north American series, but I mean, for lack of a better term, like they've got a few races, but it's it's not as big of a thing that it could be Right If we had something in the U S that was.
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: You know, you're just well positioned to be able to do something like that.
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: I would love to see that.
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: It'd be pretty sweet.
• 45:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we want to keep building that kind of story and having that be something that's highly valued, that that obviously we put out there and that athletes are seeing as cool and want to put their time and energy into Cause.
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: It's important, I think, like I said, the U S landscape, I think that we're definitely as cool mountains as anywhere and we have marquee events, so you know, that's one thing with, like, the national championships, it's like we have all these cool anchors that we can build heritage on and, you know, hopefully, cirque series is something that we're doing that, like I said, we're 10 years into it now, so we're starting to be able to have that kind of continuity, to be a part of that global ecosystem.
• 46:01
  Speaker 2: And obviously it takes media too, like media needs to pay attention to what we're doing out here and, and I think, uh, things are starting to happen and I think interest from the us is huge.
• 46:13
  Speaker 2: I think, in general, the mountain running segment in the outdoor industry is probably the fastest growing uh industry, like um activity in the united states, probably.
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: So there's a lot of cool things happening in the space and you know, obviously it's super fun to be part of it and, uh, hopefully we can keep you know, having that kind of storytelling, that the future is real bright for media, cirque series and and things that people are really excited about being in the U?
• 46:42
  Speaker 2: S for mountain running and not just looking at when they can go do something in Europe, you know.
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I agree, I agree, and that's the thing.
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, europe is great, but we just have so many.
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: I mean nothing against them, it's just like we have so many opportunities here that we don't want to shake down in our backyard.
• 46:59
  Speaker 2: You know not to take anything away from europe.
• 47:02
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's europe, it's, it's mountain and that's uh it's different games, as cool as it gets like they are super bowl and they should be.
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: Um, the alps are incredible and it's been a celebrated sport for a long time, but there's just.
• 47:15
  Speaker 2: You know, we need more going on in the us is all because we do have very cool races, we do have cool events.
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: Uh, we do have a ton of us athletes, obviously, that are doing very well in international competitions.
• 47:27
  Speaker 2: So, um, we just need to shine the light back over here a little bit too, yeah, and obviously keep it on europe too, because that is that is the place like, same as skiing, like, if I want to go skiing, um, my favorite place in the world is alta on a deep day, but, you know, for the culture and for the coffee and the trains, and Europe is just so amazing, the mountains are so cool.
• 47:53
  Speaker 1: Yeah, on the topic of skiing, because Davide sort of alluded to this to me when I was talking to him a couple of weeks ago Is there potential for a Cirque Schemo series in the future, something like that, because that's what he wants.
• 48:05
  Speaker 2: That's another thing we've had lots of requests for, and what I always say is, you know, I am like, so I punch in in May, like April May, and I am, you know so, all in on producing these races until the last race.
• 48:24
  Speaker 2: I punch out in, like you know, late September, and then obviously I have to put together the next year's schedule and update all the website and all that kind of stuff.
• 48:33
  Speaker 2: So things don't really calm down until around November.
• 48:36
  Speaker 2: So there's a six month window where I'm kind of you know, 60, 80, 100 hours a week kind of a thing, because that's the attention it requires to put on the races to the degree that we do.
• 48:49
  Speaker 2: So when the winter comes around, I'm skiing.
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: I don't play, I'm not producing races, but with that said.
• 48:57
  Speaker 2: I always say the answer isn't no, like who knows, because I do see a massive potential to throw a really cool winter based cirque series.
• 49:07
  Speaker 2: But right now, anytime winter comes around, I am not uh not working on producing races.
• 49:14
  Speaker 2: I'm skiing.
• 49:15
  Speaker 2: I still ski professionally.
• 49:17
  Speaker 2: So I'm looking at what I can be doing on my various projects as a skier.
• 49:22
  Speaker 2: So it's it's my time to not be, uh, head down producing races, but who knows, we'll see.
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the economics of it need to work too right, because it's like it's not like you're having what.
• 49:35
  Speaker 1: What do we get for running like three to seven hundred athletes per race and in a lot of you're not getting that in schema.
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: You'd be lucky if you got what a hundred, if you will so well who knows?
• 49:45
  Speaker 2: Like I said, I think schema is also a hugely growing category.
• 49:49
  Speaker 2: You see it, at all the trail heads, like 10 years ago, there's maybe one or two guys.
• 49:54
  Speaker 2: Now you go to these trail heads and there's dozens and dozens and dozens of people.
• 49:58
  Speaker 2: Guys, now you go to these trail heads and there's dozens and dozens and dozens of people.
• 50:01
  Speaker 2: So I think, with the right event, there's certainly uh expectations of far surpassing a hundred people.
• 50:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, and it would be cool, something I would love to see in the future.
• 50:09
  Speaker 1: It'd be dope Dude.
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: Cause you live in Colorado.
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: I live in Colorado.
• 50:13
  Speaker 1: We only have a basin as a race I.
• 50:16
  Speaker 1: This is a question I've been wanting to ask you for for a long time.
• 50:18
  Speaker 1: Do you think we'll expand out and get another one in colorado eventually?
• 50:22
  Speaker 2: definitely on the expansion list absolutely okay um yeah, no, I definitely want another one here for sure.
• 50:28
  Speaker 2: I mean coming from utah, like, where obviously I love the wasatch.
• 50:33
  Speaker 2: It's my home um super user friendly little range, but obviously you know there's 14 other ranges in colorado right there's so many mountains here, there's so many cool resorts, there's just it's.
• 50:47
  Speaker 2: It's kind of been really cool for me to wrap my head around on just the whole new adventure element, just my personal life.
• 50:54
  Speaker 2: But professionally obviously I'm like man.
• 50:57
  Speaker 2: We definitely need another search series out here.
• 51:00
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's funny every time now I go like I'll drive past monarch, or I'll go to tell your ride, I'll like be looking at, like oh, that could be a sweet line, like that he could make a seven mile race out of this.
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: Like this is like always, I don't know.
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: My brain's always going now for like what you know, what you could potentially do.
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: It's pretty dope oh, absolutely.
• 51:17
  Speaker 2: That's one of the funnest things um is brainstorming.
• 51:20
  Speaker 2: I've thought up hundreds of races, yeah yeah, you know it's funny.
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: I think you you might have put it on strava last year, I can't remember.
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: I I had a feeling you guys were going to crystal because I think you put like a sick route on strava and I was, ah, that would make sense.
• 51:35
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, good, good, I would make sense.
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: Well, listen, man, we're almost at an hour.
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: I really appreciate your time.
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: Um, is there anything you feel like we didn't hit that you want to talk about?
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: I don't know if you, um, I feel like we hit on the somewhat of the new two races as well as talked about crystal as well.
• 51:59
  Speaker 2: Um, talk to the somewhat of the new two races as well, as talked about crystal as well, um, talked a good about about the future and yeah, no, I just say, you know, massive shout out to all the athletes that come out, um, all the elites that come out and anyone that's interested.
• 52:11
  Speaker 2: If you haven't done one, please come out.
• 52:12
  Speaker 2: And, uh, you know all the the venues.
• 52:16
  Speaker 2: It takes a lot of people to produce these races and obviously the venues are a big part of that.
• 52:20
  Speaker 2: And, uh, and massive shout out to La Sportiva, and today we just announced our other co-title is nature, sunshine and amazing, uh, wellness and health company and uh, based in Utah, which is cool.
• 52:31
  Speaker 2: Um, so, yeah, we've got all these awesome partners, um, and various personalities that all takes to make these races work.
• 52:40
  Speaker 2: It's such a fun project.
• 52:41
  Speaker 2: It's so much fun to be on the show with you and be able to talk about it, so I really appreciate it.
• 52:48
  Speaker 2: It's just, it's so fun for me to be in the mountains year round, and Cirque series is such a fun way for me to be out there with five, six, 700 other people and high five and taking some views.
• 53:00
  Speaker 2: And, you know, just trace it back to cruising around with my pops in southern utah and the us and just finding that breath.
• 53:07
  Speaker 2: Uh, it really becomes that kind of primal thing.
• 53:10
  Speaker 2: Um, I think that's just it.
• 53:13
  Speaker 2: It just really brings people back to being that human level, uh, real basic experience, and it's potent.
• 53:21
  Speaker 2: Um, it's not something we all get to access these days, you know.
• 53:24
  Speaker 2: So, um, yeah, man, so stoked.
• 53:27
  Speaker 2: Thanks so much for having me on Dude.
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: I appreciate it, man.
• 53:29
  Speaker 1: Actually, one thing I do want to hit on before we do get off um, you are one of the few, if they're not the only race director I know that really braces, like every one of his races.
• 53:37
  Speaker 2: You, if they're not the only race director I know that really races like every one of his races which, yeah, well, I gotta.
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: I gotta sample the product, right.
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah?
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no dude, I appreciate that it's it's.
• 53:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's always fun to see them all.
• 53:46
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I got I got my staff radio in one hand and my safety radio in the other and you know I'm looking at our course, marking, making sure nothing got blown away in the wind.
• 53:57
  Speaker 2: All the arrow signs are where they should be.
• 53:58
  Speaker 2: Making sure nothing got blown away in the wind, that all the arrow signs are where they should be.
• 54:00
  Speaker 2: Making sure the aid station volunteers are not overwhelmed and they're doing good.
• 54:06
  Speaker 2: Checking out the EMTs, making sure they're in the right spot If any injuries do happen.
• 54:12
  Speaker 2: I usually end up helping out, orchestrate a little bit so, but I'm certainly redlining and when I do need to stop and help out with stuff, it's always great to be out there and just to get a feel of how everything is going on.
• 54:23
  Speaker 2: And, you know, get through that finish line, like I said, be a part of that shared sense of accomplishment with everybody.
• 54:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, man.
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: No, I appreciate it.
• 54:31
  Speaker 1: Well, dude, thanks so much.
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: Uh, hopefully this is not the last.
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: Hopefully this is the beginning of many conversations, Uh, and.
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: I look forward to hanging out all summer, man.
• 54:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, man La Sportiva, can't wait to have all you guys out there and party down.
• 54:46
  Speaker 1: Dude, it's going to be a party, Thanks man, Thanks so much for having me.
• 54:49
  Speaker 2: Oh man, it's a blast.
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's my pleasure.
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: What do you guys think?
• 54:54
  Speaker 1: What a fun episode.
• 54:56
  Speaker 1: Uh, always a great conversation with julian getting to talk shop and learn a little bit more about what he's got planned for the future.
• 55:01
  Speaker 1: Um, some really interesting little pieces of wisdom and nuggets of uh, nuggets of wisdom in there like potential finals for the cirque series.
• 55:09
  Speaker 1: Um, all kinds of really good stuff as well as really exciting to hear that announcement for cirque series cannon mountain that is going to be a sick race.
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: Um, I cannot wait to go race that the week after soon to pee up in up in the East coast in New Hampshire should be a good time.
• 55:24
  Speaker 1: All right, guys, before you get going, do me a favor, hop on Instagram.
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: Give Julian a follow.
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: That's just Julian car on Instagram.
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: Um, guys, he's got a great account.
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: All kinds of really sick photos, not just from his Cirque series races, but also from a lot of his skiing adventures that he's been doing over the years.
• 55:42
  Speaker 1: So a lot of really good shots there.
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: Last but not least, give the Cirque series.
• 55:46
  Speaker 1: I really genuinely feel like it means a lot to me, not just as an athlete, but as someone that loves the sport, that the Cirque series is pushing the sport forward.
• 55:55
  Speaker 1: They really provide this niche, kind of up-down mountain classic races that you just don't get in a lot of parts of the country and it's just a rare thing.
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: So if you guys wouldn't mind, if you're looking for a race this year and looking for something to do, sign up for a Cirque Series race man.
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: Like I said, they're all over the place Now.
• 56:15
  Speaker 1: There's one in the Pacific Northwest that's going to be a crystal.
• 56:18
  Speaker 1: There's one in Cannon.
• 56:19
  Speaker 1: There's going to be two in the Northeast now, one announced at Cannon Mountain.
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: There's one in Colorado.
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: There's a bunch in Utah.
• 56:26
  Speaker 1: There's one in Alaska.
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: Sign up for a race, show them some support and go party it up at one of these races.
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: They are so much fun.
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: That's where you'll catch me this summer.
• 56:35
  Speaker 1: I, that's where you'll catch me this summer.
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: Uh, I'll be racing the cert series.
• 56:43
  Speaker 1: I'll definitely be in Alaska.
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: Um, I'll be all over the place, kind of following the scene, uh, and racing the pro circuit at the circ series.
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: So it should be a really good time.
• 56:46
  Speaker 1: I'm just really excited, um, for what Julian's built and where this is headed, and hopefully there's a final in the next few years.
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: That's going to be sick, um, kind of see it compete a little bit with, like, the golden trail series and, and a series like that.
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: Moving forward should be fun.
• 57:00
  Speaker 1: Well, guys, I really appreciate it.
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: Stay tuned for the rest of the week.
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: Friday We've got a great episode with mountain running monster Mr Johnny Luna Lima dropping.
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: I'm super excited for that one One I think you guys are going to get a lot of wisdom out of as well.
• 57:15
  Speaker 1: Johnny's a proverb like just a consummate professional.
• 57:19
  Speaker 1: Kid's a monster, and I'm very excited for his future.
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, guys, I hope you enjoy the rest of your week and yeah, if you enjoyed this one, give us a five-star rating review on Spotify and Apple.
• 57:29
  Speaker 1: I would really appreciate that.
• 57:30
  Speaker 1: Thanks so much, thank you.