Latest / Adventure Sports Podcast / Ep. 1157: Cliff Jumping and Endurance Sports with Justin Wadsworth

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Ep. 1157: Cliff Jumping and Endurance Sports with Justin Wadsworth · Adventure Sports Podcast

0:06
[SPEAKER_00]: your listening to the Adventure Sports podcast.
0:09
[SPEAKER_00]: We talk with adventures from around the globe to give you the inspiration you need to get started in the outdoors or keep moving if you're already there.
0:17
[SPEAKER_00]: Now here's your host, Kurt Lindville.
0:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Hey friends, welcome to the Adventure Sports podcast today.
0:24
[SPEAKER_01]: This episode is really kind of unique.
0:27
[SPEAKER_01]: Justin Wattsworth talks to us about endurance sports, but he also talks to us about the sport of cliff jumping.
0:36
[SPEAKER_01]: In this episode, we talk about life and death.
0:39
[SPEAKER_01]: We talk about living life well and how to manage loss to some degree and it's very curious to me.
0:46
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm editing this episode right now to be posted tomorrow.
0:51
[SPEAKER_01]: So when you hear this, it will be the first full day of winter.
0:54
[SPEAKER_01]: And today is the first partial day of winter, which means it is the winter solstice.
1:03
[SPEAKER_01]: Now some people would say that the winter solstice is the darkest day of the year.
1:06
[SPEAKER_01]: It is the northern hemisphere.
1:08
[SPEAKER_01]: There are more hours or time of darkness on the solstice than any other day of the year.
1:14
[SPEAKER_01]: But it's also the day of the year that the daylight hours stop getting shorter and start getting longer again.
1:23
[SPEAKER_01]: And as a result of that throughout human history, people recognize this time of the year as a time of renewal when the sun is coming back to us.
1:34
[SPEAKER_01]: It's when the light begins to grow when warmth wins over darkness.
1:40
[SPEAKER_01]: Justin speaks briefly about love and light in this episode, so I just found a very interesting and timely that this episode would happen to fall on the solstice.
1:50
[SPEAKER_01]: Since we are in the holiday season as well, I thought I might share a little bit of history that a lot of people may not know.
1:56
[SPEAKER_01]: The celebration of Christmas, of course, is to celebrate the coming of the Christ child of the coming of Jesus being born into the world.
2:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Jesus was known as the light of the world.
2:08
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not getting religious on you.
2:10
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm just sharing the perspective, and his exact birth date was never recorded.
2:15
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not in the Bible.
2:16
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not in the historical documents, although the life of Jesus definitely is well-covered in many historical documents as well as the Bible.
2:24
[SPEAKER_01]: The interesting thing is that in the early church, people decided that it made sense to celebrate Jesus' birthday around the solstice, because Jesus being the light of the world, the light coming to the world, aligns well with the idea of the sun.
2:41
[SPEAKER_01]: Returning to us, the day's getting longer again, the day's getting warmer again, the day light hours beginning to dominate the darkness again.
2:50
[SPEAKER_01]: If we can set religion to the side for a minute, it's interesting that Jesus taught about love, forgiveness, and living life abundantly.
3:02
[SPEAKER_01]: And those are ideas that I can certainly get on board with.
3:05
[SPEAKER_01]: So happy, first full day of winter, happy, solstice.
3:09
[SPEAKER_01]: and may your life be full of increasing light and love and abundance.
3:17
[SPEAKER_01]: Now let's dive into the episode.
3:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Hey friends, I have one today for you that we've not talked about.
3:25
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think ever, maybe it's come up a couple of times, but we're going to be talking about cliff jumping into water from very high places, also in Durance athletic events like ultra marathons, we're going to talk about living life large and on purpose.
3:43
[SPEAKER_01]: And my guest today is Justin Wadsworth.
3:47
[SPEAKER_01]: and he lives in the Tahoe slash Reno area and has been enjoying all of the things that that area has to offer, which is a lot.
3:57
[SPEAKER_01]: So he also skis, he hikes, I mean you name it.
4:00
[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to have a fun conversation today.
4:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Justin, welcome to the program.
4:05
[SPEAKER_02]: Hello everybody.
4:06
[SPEAKER_02]: Thank you for allowing me be on the podcast and can't wait to share these adventures and stories with you.
4:11
[UNKNOWN]: So
4:12
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, I told you just before I hit record that I went to your Instagram page and I got lost and I almost missed our meeting.
4:18
[SPEAKER_01]: Um, just I was watching all of this stuff.
4:21
[SPEAKER_01]: Then I can relate.
4:23
[SPEAKER_01]: I can relate.
4:24
[SPEAKER_01]: There's a lot there that's about jumping off of high places, which we're going to get to.
4:29
[SPEAKER_01]: But there's also a lot there about just.
4:32
[SPEAKER_01]: amazing hikes in amazing scenery and connecting with nature and, you know, all that sort of stuff.
4:38
[SPEAKER_01]: So we have, we have a lot to talk about, but before we go that far, we need to hear a little bit more about your background.
4:45
[SPEAKER_01]: So who is Justin Wadsworth?
4:48
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I also go by J-Wad.
4:50
[SPEAKER_02]: A lot of people know me by J-Wad and that's kind of sticks with people.
4:54
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I grew up in Turkey, Tahoe area and grew up
5:01
[SPEAKER_02]: kind of the birthplace of it with palicades and Tahoe offers, but didn't really realize that I was there in epicenter until I left and got out of the small town, but yeah grew up there and then after high school I went to a fire academy to start becoming a firefighter and found myself on a hot shot crew which is a wild land hand crew like an elite hand crew that
5:30
[SPEAKER_02]: started been working there for the past seven years and I was outside of Carson so in the Reno area and kind of been in Reno for the last seven years still staying in the spot because it's so magical and you got Lake Tahoe that's like 40 minutes away and just trying to find new places and I feel like I could be here for a whole lifetime and can never find everything that's amazing around here so
5:55
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and just like you said, I'd try to be outside as much as I can, ski and run and cliff jump in just, yeah, just trying to live life to the fullest and love going outside with my friends and my family and just, yeah, just sharing nature with people.
6:09
[SPEAKER_01]: So well, me, I call you Jay Watts.
6:12
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you can call me Jay one.
6:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
6:14
[SPEAKER_01]: Without the S. Okay.
6:16
[SPEAKER_01]: First of all, I love it.
6:18
[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm going to kind of ask a, maybe a personal question.
6:24
[SPEAKER_01]: You said after high school, you started training to be a firefighter and you're a hot shot, which is super cool.
6:30
[SPEAKER_01]: I think that's that's really fun.
6:32
[SPEAKER_01]: But it's it's kind of difficult in the US for people to think about, oh, I'm I'm leaving high school.
6:40
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm starting a career.
6:41
[SPEAKER_01]: What was it about, Jay Wad?
6:44
[SPEAKER_01]: They said, no, I know what I want to do.
6:45
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm doing this.
6:47
[SPEAKER_02]: So I, my dad worked for a truckie fire, so I grew up around the fire house and going every Thanksgiving and just, yeah, seeing the trucks and stuff, and I actually went to a fire academy outside of Butte, or like Chico California, where he taught, and so I went there, I kind of wanted to do the wild end thing, so I could work in the summer and then pay for school, because I also played the cross, and I wanted to go pro in the cross, but
7:14
[SPEAKER_02]: that didn't work out, but yeah, I wanted to play the cross and college, so I was just trying to figure out ways to pay for it and I thought, why would they end would be the way because you only worked for the summer and then could have money to pay for school and things to do in the winter.
7:27
[SPEAKER_01]: So that's kind of cool because you could do the summer job, but the fires don't turn off in August.
7:35
[SPEAKER_01]: So how does that work out?
7:38
[SPEAKER_02]: I kind of stuck with just doing it in the spring just a spring semester so I can play like cross because the cross was in the spring.
7:45
[SPEAKER_02]: Okay.
7:46
[SPEAKER_02]: But it was like through club kind of but I got hooked like everybody says once you get the fire bug you're hooked and stuck in it and yeah I kind of chose doing the wild land rather than going to school because I felt like I was learning more, doing hard work and traveling and doing all that and the winters than I was
8:07
[SPEAKER_01]: Hmm, you know, I considered wild land firefighting earlier in my career path and I never gave it enough time to actually pursue it.
8:20
[SPEAKER_01]: But at the time, I think things have developed some.
8:23
[SPEAKER_01]: At the time, it was like, well, you're going to be a firefighter that means you're going to take care of traffic accidents.
8:30
[SPEAKER_01]: And I applaud the people, the first responders who to help people on that level, amazing, amazing.
8:39
[SPEAKER_01]: But I'm not sure that I was quite geared for it.
8:41
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I've tended to some accidents over the years where I was the first one on the scene.
8:45
[SPEAKER_01]: And yeah, I do the best I can with the knowledge that I have, but it's like, wow, every day, these people are tough.
8:51
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, they're tough, but the wild land firefighting that appeals to me so much because I love the idea of working with nature and and I even like working with fire a lot.
9:04
[SPEAKER_01]: So we're going to be talking about all your adventure sports, but what's it like to be out there on the front line against a big a big fire?
9:14
[SPEAKER_02]: It's fun.
9:14
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a it's a different experience and you get to see some things that most people never really get to see
9:20
[SPEAKER_02]: And can't really explain it, but there's also parts of the job where you're not doing much, you know, it's kind of the same as
9:28
[SPEAKER_02]: Any job you do fun things for a little bit and then it's the routine we're mopping up making sure kind of like how you put out a can't fire just doing that for miles, you know, but right.
9:39
[SPEAKER_02]: No, it's fun.
9:40
[SPEAKER_02]: I learned a lot and we did a lot of burn operations and just like seeing force in front of you that are just engulfed in flames and hearing a tree torch in front of you, it sounds like a jet airplane.
9:51
[SPEAKER_02]: It's a crazy experience.
9:54
[SPEAKER_02]: You get to see some remote country across the U.S. that most people never even know is there, like sitting on top of mountain tops that I imagine nobody's really been to in a long, long time.
10:06
[SPEAKER_02]: And then the people are amazing, everybody's all like adventure, like love being outdoors, whatever it is, hunting, fishing, running, skiing biking, everybody's kind of has that same mindset.
10:21
[SPEAKER_02]: That's what makes the job fun is the people that you meet and learn that job and the places you get to see.
10:27
[SPEAKER_02]: But you're also gone all summer and get a miss out on all the fun things in the summer like barbecues and swims away.
10:35
[SPEAKER_02]: Right.
10:36
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you get to see a lot though.
10:38
[SPEAKER_02]: And I recommend it to any young person out there that wants to do a good job and make
10:45
[SPEAKER_02]: a lot of money for the summer and get some experiences and get some work ethic and character building.
10:51
[SPEAKER_02]: It's an amazing job.
10:53
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, here's one that I'm curious about.
10:56
[SPEAKER_01]: We had a forest fire up valley a couple of years ago and it burned for three or four months.
11:03
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it was it was good size.
11:05
[SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't massive, but it lasted.
11:08
[SPEAKER_01]: And during that time, we had a moose that came down valley, and was in our neighborhood, and I just thought, you know what, we don't see moose around here that often.
11:17
[SPEAKER_01]: They're further up, right?
11:18
[SPEAKER_01]: But the fire was pushing things down, and I thought, huh, if you're actually on the line, how much wildlife do you encounter that are just trying to clear out?
11:29
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, is that something that is common?
11:31
[SPEAKER_01]: haven't seen too much of that really yeah yeah you see animals every once in a while and haven't seen too much of like animals running away so right yeah well they they tend to to move early before it's you know it's not like they're running from the flames necessarily they're like oh this isn't right let's move this other way so my guess is they're sneaking through
11:59
[SPEAKER_01]: If you can see in the movies, all the hordes of animals that are stem peating away from the big fire, but what you're saying is that's probably not quite the way it plays out.
12:09
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, not really.
12:10
[SPEAKER_02]: And usually when a hotshot crews get in, it's like, it's pretty established where going from like a safe anchor point and kind of going around it, we're not at that front point of the fire where it's pushing
12:25
[SPEAKER_02]: you know, so we're not at the head of the fire.
12:27
[SPEAKER_02]: We're kind of on the sides trying to contain it.
12:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Gotcha.
12:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's move from fire.
12:33
[SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, we can do earth.
12:36
[SPEAKER_01]: We can do wind.
12:36
[SPEAKER_01]: We can do water.
12:37
[SPEAKER_01]: We can defy earth.
12:39
[SPEAKER_01]: So let's move from fire to water.
12:40
[SPEAKER_01]: You on your Instagram have just clip after clip of jumping off of very high places.
12:48
[SPEAKER_01]: So cliff jumping is a thing for you.
12:51
[SPEAKER_01]: How did you get into that?
12:53
[SPEAKER_02]: Thinking back to the first time I jumped off of a cliff into water and it was during the fire academy, me and my roommate who were both doing the academy, we needed a break and we found out of a watering hole kind of close by and paradise.
13:07
[SPEAKER_02]: We went there and we were swimming around in some dude like landed in the water because he jumped from the cliff and we're like how did you get up there and he brought us up there and I don't know maybe he was like a 40 footer which was big for me at the time and 40 is big.
13:21
[SPEAKER_02]: Then I jumped off of it and
13:23
[SPEAKER_02]: I didn't think about it until I started on the hot shot crew and then I met a great friend on the crew.
13:31
[SPEAKER_02]: And we started the crew together and after our first season, there's a spot near Trekkie called Emerald Pools.
13:39
[SPEAKER_02]: And he was like, have you ever been there?
13:40
[SPEAKER_02]: I was like, no, I grew up around it.
13:42
[SPEAKER_02]: We went there.
13:43
[SPEAKER_02]: He was like October super cold and we could barely even jump off of like the I think it's maybe 40 40 to 50 feet.
13:52
[SPEAKER_02]: We could we were both scared on the top of it and jumped off that and then the next summer he came back and he was all gunhow about cliff jumping and yeah and that's how it started.
14:04
[SPEAKER_01]: for the audience out there let's let's give the public service announcement uh... you can get away with this but it's dangerous and you don't want to mess up
14:14
[SPEAKER_01]: So I did a little of this when I was younger.
14:17
[SPEAKER_01]: I didn't, I don't think I ever did a hundred feet.
14:19
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know even know what my highest jump was, 60, 80.
14:22
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know, you know, I don't know what it was.
14:24
[SPEAKER_01]: It's fun.
14:26
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a huge rush.
14:28
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a huge challenge, but it has real risk.
14:33
[SPEAKER_01]: And you know, if you get into this, you'll probably be facing the sheriff's department from time to time and signs that say, don't do this.
14:42
[SPEAKER_01]: you know all that kind of stuff.
14:44
[SPEAKER_01]: What do you think the risk factor is really like for you Justin?
14:47
[SPEAKER_02]: I think the same with like the crew you learn about risk management.
14:52
[SPEAKER_02]: You can't really eliminate risk.
14:54
[SPEAKER_02]: Like obviously I'm choosing to jump off of the rocks into the water and you can't get hurt or even die.
15:02
[SPEAKER_02]: But
15:02
[SPEAKER_02]: There's rules in the cliff jumping community that we like to follow and it's having a safety in the water and but the main one is depth checking first yes areas change every season and you just have to make sure that if it was deep one year you have to go back and check it again because it said in it and other stuff might be at the bottom and it might not be deep that next season so that's a big one and then.
15:31
[SPEAKER_02]: having a safety in the water or at least going with friends and having people down at the bottom just in case of you mess up but this is if you're doing tricks and stuff like that and you'll also if you straight jump too but those are the two big ones is having a safety and death checking and just making sure that you're going with friends and having that buddy
16:01
[SPEAKER_02]: I make sure that I'm as safe as possible, but it's kind of like, when you do anything, you work your way up.
16:10
[SPEAKER_02]: I didn't just wake up one day and it was like, I'm going to jump 100 foot cliff.
16:14
[SPEAKER_02]: Like I started at the bare bottom, like learning how to do backflips off of five feet.
16:19
[SPEAKER_02]: And then slowly working my way all the way up to 100.
16:22
[SPEAKER_02]: like it it took a lot of practice and time to get to that point.
16:26
[SPEAKER_01]: So there was a time when a buddy and I went out to do a little bit of cliff jumping and it was not that high 25 feet or something.
16:33
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.
16:34
[SPEAKER_01]: We were enjoying the jumps but you would jump on the water and you had to climb the cliff to get out which was not that big of a deal.
16:39
[SPEAKER_01]: Having a great time but there was kind of a rocket the top of this and I was jumping with tennis shoes.
16:47
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I ran to do my last jump and hit the edge of the rock and my shoe was wet, so it just twisted under my, now I sprained my ankle, almost broke it.
16:57
[SPEAKER_01]: So I landed in the water, but then I couldn't climb back out because my ankle was so bad.
17:02
[SPEAKER_01]: And so I had to do actually a fairly long swim to get to a place where I could crawl out of the water.
17:08
[SPEAKER_01]: I just tell the story because it wasn't even that high of a cliff, but things can happen and having a safety in the water.
17:16
[SPEAKER_01]: So important.
17:17
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I mean, luckily I was able to self-rescue.
17:20
[SPEAKER_01]: It wasn't that big of a deal.
17:22
[SPEAKER_01]: But I could see instances where it'd be much more difficult.
17:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Appreciate what you're saying there.
17:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Do it smart, start small.
17:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.
17:33
[SPEAKER_01]: Take us there, Justin.
17:34
[SPEAKER_01]: What's it like to jump off as something like that?
17:37
[SPEAKER_02]: It's hard to explain to people who haven't done it before.
17:40
[SPEAKER_02]: I know you've done it so you understand.
17:42
[SPEAKER_02]: And we get overwhelmed with life.
17:45
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, like bills and things that are happening with your family and stuff like that, and some people revert to drink in or do another things, and I feel super happy that I found Cliff jumping because when I'm going up, even if I've jumped this cliff multiple times, I'm going to do the same backflip that I've done multiple times.
18:05
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm still walking up there and
18:07
[SPEAKER_02]: in the moment in nature and nothing else matters as I'm walking because it takes a while to get up to a top of the cliff.
18:14
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I'm not thinking about my family or the bills that I have to pay.
18:18
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm more thinking about, okay, I'm doing a back flip off of this cliff and that's what I'm thinking about.
18:25
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm just and looking at the water in nature as I'm going up and just playing it in my head and when I get on top of the cliff,
18:33
[SPEAKER_02]: can get ready to go.
18:34
[SPEAKER_02]: I'm still nervous.
18:35
[SPEAKER_02]: Every time I jump from nervous and scared to jump, but as soon as I let go, it kind of everything washes away and it kind of it feels like time slows down and you see the water and it just it just it seems like time is slow, but you're it's over in two seconds and then you hit the water and you come back out and yeah and then everything of life comes back.
18:58
[SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, that's why I love it is and escape a little bit.
19:02
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, part of the thrill is that you don't have to be very high up if you hit the water incorrectly, it's going to hurt and if you're fairly high up, it's going to hurt really badly so do you have stories about the bad landing?
19:27
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, laying on your back and you're sore for the rest of the day, you know, but it's making sure you have all the safety precautions and yeah, I think that's part of it too is like you can't get too comfortable with it and when you land a little wrong, it's just a little slap to wake you up a little bit and focus you up so.
19:47
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and it's just part of it.
19:50
[SPEAKER_02]: I think you can't escape some sort of pain doing stuff like that if you want to progress and get better.
19:56
[SPEAKER_01]: So you know the idea you mentioned under or over rotating.
20:00
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean if a people that have done quite a bit of diving understand this, but let's say you're on a five footer, you can get a nice flip out of that right.
20:08
[SPEAKER_01]: but then you go up to a 20 footer and if you rotate it the same speed you're going to be in trouble somehow, right?
20:13
[SPEAKER_01]: So you have to adjust how fast you rotate for the height.
20:17
[SPEAKER_01]: How does that work?
20:18
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you figure that out?
20:20
[SPEAKER_02]: I like practice, like it took me before the 100 or 100 before I jumped the 100 footer.
20:26
[SPEAKER_02]: We practiced on cliffs from 65 to 70 to 80 and just working on like slowing it down and getting comfortable just like slowing it down and
20:36
[SPEAKER_02]: Some cliff jumper told me to just stare at a tree until you can't see the tree anymore and then you look back on like the higher cliffs, because if you look back, it's just you kind of set setting your rotation, yeah, so it's kind of just like laying back and setting it and then like looking towards the water.
20:55
[SPEAKER_02]: it's hard to do like single flips and stuff that's why most people are doing doubles because then you see it and then you can see it again and slow down a little bit okay that's a little bit terrifying okay I'm so high up that a single flip is too hard I have to do at least a double here that's
21:14
[SPEAKER_01]: That is something else.
21:16
[SPEAKER_01]: I have such mixed feelings about this sport because having done a little love it, I loved it, absolutely loved it.
21:23
[SPEAKER_01]: But there came the point in my life where I realized, you know, if I hit the wrong way and I hurt my back or something, then it's probably not worth the few seconds that I'm gonna, you know, and so I quit doing it.
21:36
[SPEAKER_01]: We said before that the interview that most of the time the only time I jump now is, well, usually on skis.
21:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes on my motorcycle, or my mountain bike, I leave the ground, but yet I'm not doing high jumps anymore.
21:48
[SPEAKER_01]: And the reason is because I just thought, well, I recovery time might be a big part of it, but the idea of the big risk, it's like, yeah, I loved it.
21:59
[SPEAKER_01]: It was definitely worth it when I used to do it.
22:02
[SPEAKER_01]: But what is the big gain that makes the big risk worth it for you?
22:12
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know.
22:13
[SPEAKER_02]: I think it's just living life to the fullest.
22:16
[SPEAKER_02]: And like I said, those moments, overcoming fear, I think that's a big part is like you learn a lot about yourself talking yourself through it and overcoming that fear of the unknown.
22:29
[SPEAKER_02]: And I can bring that into life with work or family and stuff like that and just like fears to make decisions.
22:37
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that's the
22:40
[SPEAKER_02]: I think I'm slowing down to, I don't think I'm going, I'm a little older now and seeing all the younger kids doing it, like I like the cliff jumping scene and I'll be there to be a safety and have fun, but I think progressing any further, I don't think I will, but yeah, there is a cap to it, but I still will do it, I just don't think any higher than 100 feet.
23:02
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, hundred feet is plenty, holy cow, you know, I'm going to be really open and we mentioned this before we hit record as well.
23:11
[SPEAKER_01]: I interviewed a paraplegic who got injured by jumping off a cliff at Lake Powell.
23:17
[SPEAKER_01]: and he's made a beautiful life for himself and I he was just an inspirational guy great guy to talk to but he probably if you were sitting here with us would have a perspective just for us you want to speculate it's not not jump I think that's with the perspective would be or I think about jumping and make sure that that's the right decision I feel like probably
23:42
[SPEAKER_01]: it's I'm pausing just to get the words right i understand it i've done it but i don't want to encourage people to just go jump off as something if they want to do it they really need to start small and learn how and be super cautious i i just can't emphasize that enough because yeah just and it takes a unique kind of person to jump off a hundred foot cliff
24:13
[SPEAKER_01]: What was it about you that said, no, this is something I need to do?
24:17
[SPEAKER_02]: Well, we're talking about the safety and all that, and that's, I got into the cliff jumping.
24:22
[SPEAKER_02]: I was scared to even jump off of a 40 foot or 35 foot or now that's big for some people, but like in the scene, it's kind of small.
24:31
[SPEAKER_02]: I was scared to do all that, but I was there to be a safety, because I could swim and I had my EMT and I was there to help the my buddy who got me into it, Donnie,
24:42
[SPEAKER_02]: The reason why jump the 100 footer was because he sadly passed the way doing cliff jumping and I wasn't there to be a safety for him.
24:51
[SPEAKER_05]: Oh man.
24:52
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, but yeah, that's why jump the 100 footer was for him.
24:56
[SPEAKER_02]: He wanted to jump this waterfall and it took me a long time to get to the point where I was confident enough that I would be okay to jump that cliff because
25:05
[SPEAKER_02]: If when I had my fair and past, that's all I thought about when I was on top of cliffs was like, is it going to be me next and stuff like that, but I've had friends with me and time had passed where I felt confident enough that I'd be able to jump off that cliff and it was mostly for him and me to.
25:23
[SPEAKER_02]: overcome that fear and do it for him.
25:27
[SPEAKER_01]: So you kind of close the loop.
25:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
25:31
[SPEAKER_01]: Wow.
25:32
[SPEAKER_01]: So if you don't mind it, sharing what was the cause of his accident.
25:37
[SPEAKER_02]: When you're on the hot shot crew, you only get like a couple days off, like two days off.
25:41
[SPEAKER_02]: And this role we had three days, and there's a place kind of close to Reno.
25:47
[SPEAKER_02]: And we went out there with a couple friends and yeah,
25:51
[SPEAKER_02]: We finished the day of Cliff jump in like a 75 footer and then we were driving home and I was behind him and my other friends that went and there's a bridge that we always pass over that he wanted to jump off of and they stopped and he jumped off of it, but there's no safety in the water because he was with people who've never really Cliff jump before and under rotated and hit the water wrong and got knocked out and yeah.
26:20
[SPEAKER_02]: But then I showed up with a little after and was able to try to help figure out where he was, but he was already too late, but the other standing yeah I'm glad that he how bad it was I'm just glad that he had his friends there to support and so I'm just glad that we were there for him.
26:40
[SPEAKER_02]: But it does it is part of Cliff jump and then the risk that we're willing to take so.
26:46
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, all of life is risky and we don't have to take unnecessary risks, but all of life is risky and different people have different risk tolerances and I totally get that and I'm not going to be the ones going to sit here and preach that you should you shouldn't, you know, I always preach to it safely whatever you're doing and make sure your motivations are true here's one motivation that I don't think is good enough and that's to have a better social media presence.
27:13
[SPEAKER_01]: to impress somebody else with something.
27:16
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't think that's an adequate reason to take a huge risk.
27:19
[SPEAKER_01]: But if you're doing things because of what you're learning, the way you're growing, you're living life well, and you're building the skill set to do it safely, and there is risk involved.
27:32
[SPEAKER_01]: But it's a mitigated risk, calculated risk, that sort of thing.
27:37
[SPEAKER_01]: That's really what adventure sports are kind of about.
27:40
[SPEAKER_01]: Without that, I don't think we learn and grow.
27:44
[SPEAKER_01]: So I guess I talking about this more than is necessary, but I always tell my kids, be safe first and have fun second.
27:54
[SPEAKER_01]: And as long as we keep those things in that order, we can have so much fun and still be safe.
28:02
[SPEAKER_01]: your friend, you know, that's rough.
28:05
[SPEAKER_01]: And I have to say, not that you had to do this, but for you to say, I am going to do this big jump in his honor.
28:15
[SPEAKER_01]: It also means I'm going to overcome the fear associated with what happened.
28:19
[SPEAKER_01]: And it's going to, it's kind of like releasing myself to live life again.
28:24
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know if that's what you felt, but I understand that.
28:27
[SPEAKER_01]: I can certainly
28:29
[SPEAKER_01]: but it wasn't just a hundred foot jump, but also was an ultramarathon in the same week.
28:35
[SPEAKER_01]: So give us the full story.
28:37
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's just hear it.
28:39
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so I've been doing ultras for a long time, kind of the same amount of time that I've been doing cliff jumping and made it all the way to the hundred mile distance and finished that.
28:49
[SPEAKER_02]: And then it did coca-do in a couple years ago and the 250 mile race and I've been in that scene and I think,
28:56
[SPEAKER_02]: It's kind of the same as Quift jumping in just like able to clear my mind on a long run and also just challenging myself and the fear of am I going to make it through this race and I'm going to get hurt and stuff like that.
29:07
[SPEAKER_02]: So I like both of the communities and also like I think I did the both of these communities are amazing like Quift jumping and ultra running.
29:16
[SPEAKER_02]: Everybody's cheering you on if you're going to straight jump a 35 footer and you've never done it before everybody's cheering you on the same as if you're going to do a double off of a big cliff.
29:25
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's the same with ultra running the communities amazing and people who are at the front of the pack are cheering you on if it's an out and back and this is just a lake of immense amount of family.
29:38
[SPEAKER_02]: So I've been thinking about doing that hundred foot cliff at Abacua Falls and Oregon because Donnie wanted to jump it and I just it's been in my head for a long, long time and I kind of got to the point where I was able to do it and train for it.
29:53
[SPEAKER_02]: And I was thinking, all right, I can do it in the spring and how cool would it be because I wanted to do a little bit of my side to the story too, which is the ultra running and I was trying to find a hundred mile race those in the same weekend and I found canyons the hundred mile are there so it was like how cool would it be the jump 100 foot cliff and run a hundred miles.
30:16
[SPEAKER_02]: to just do something that nobody's really thought of or wanted to do, so I thought it was a cool opportunity that I couldn't pass up, so yeah.
30:25
[SPEAKER_01]: A fun combo.
30:27
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah.
30:28
[SPEAKER_01]: So I was kind of chuckling as you were telling that because you said they both take it at place where you can be present and get out of your own head and I thought you know it's funny because you get two seconds of that with a high jump but you get two days of that with 250 miles.
30:43
[SPEAKER_01]: Completely different experience.
30:45
[SPEAKER_01]: What is it like to do an ultra?
30:48
[SPEAKER_02]: Ooh, it's kind of like life.
30:52
[SPEAKER_02]: I think it's a good, I don't know, it's David Goggins or somebody
30:57
[SPEAKER_02]: 10 years worth of life in those day or five days depending on the ultra it's it's horrible it's it's a hard experience like it's not like it's all sunshine and rainbows that instagram makes it look like you know it's painful it's long it's cold your hungry tired.
31:18
[SPEAKER_02]: all that but it's also the same thing.
31:20
[SPEAKER_02]: It's just you're overcoming these challenges and that's what makes it fun is when you finish the race and you're done and it's over and you've been thinking about it being over for the whole race.
31:32
[SPEAKER_02]: That's when it's like the relief and then the high from it that's when it comes in and knowing that you push yourself through all these highs and lows.
31:41
[SPEAKER_02]: It's not like it's bad
31:43
[SPEAKER_02]: There's points where you're super excited and you see cool sun sets and sun rises and there's points where you like Man my feet really hurt right now and you're ready to be done.
31:53
[SPEAKER_02]: So it's kind of fun.
31:55
[SPEAKER_02]: It's kind of just like teaches you how to be ready for life Because life throws stuff at you that you're not prepared for and this race these races are
32:06
[SPEAKER_02]: You kind of know what's going to happen, but you also don't, but you have a finish line for it.
32:10
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, life you really don't.
32:12
[SPEAKER_02]: So kind of helps prepare you for the unknowns in life, like your car breaks down or you get fired or stuff like that, like you're able to handle those and be like, okay, well, it's going to be fine.
32:22
[SPEAKER_02]: I just got to keep moving forward, you know, you don't get flustered.
32:25
[SPEAKER_02]: And that's what these races I feel like prepared people for.
32:28
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think that's why people like it is the challenge.
32:30
[SPEAKER_01]: Regretfully life is going to throw a challenge at every single one of us at some point and maybe some people have challenges every day, you know, it's it's real learning how to to push through in a healthy way to get through to the finish line or till you come out the other side, you know, that It's a life skill that really is impressive and I like what you said there how much people say that they learn from an ultra
32:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Can you take us to the next level?
32:59
[SPEAKER_01]: What did you learn?
33:00
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, it's different with every race because you're in different parts of your life, and but I think more that I've learned was just how strong I am mentally and how beautiful this gift of life is, you know, like I, and during the races, I look at my hands sometimes and like just feel like, wow, I'm still alive, I'm still moving.
33:25
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think the pain kind of makes you aware that you're still alive.
33:30
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think that's the biggest learning gift that I've gotten during these races.
33:34
[SPEAKER_02]: Because out in the real world when you're working and doing all your chores and all that you kind of forget.
33:40
[SPEAKER_02]: The meaning of it all, you know, you kind of forget that you're moving it like you just forget that you're alive because you're just trying to catch up with things.
33:49
[SPEAKER_02]: You're always busy.
33:50
[SPEAKER_02]: Those moments kind of just like bring you back.
33:53
[SPEAKER_02]: I feel like I can just like I learn a lot and just accepting the moments as they come and how to problem solve and live life to the fullest and appreciate this gift that we have.
34:05
[SPEAKER_01]: Live life to the fullest.
34:06
[SPEAKER_01]: Let's lean into that a little bit because that's really one of the main motivations for the Adventure Sports podcast.
34:13
[SPEAKER_01]: Living life to the fullest and that means different things to different people.
34:16
[SPEAKER_01]: But I think we all know what the opposite of that is.
34:20
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I've heard a lot of people say things like, if you stay home, you know, exactly what your life's going to be.
34:27
[SPEAKER_01]: But if you go and do the thing, whatever it is, then you're going to have an experience.
34:32
[SPEAKER_01]: It life is going to be different because you didn't stay home.
34:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Right.
34:37
[SPEAKER_01]: You took that step.
34:38
[SPEAKER_01]: You started the journey.
34:39
[SPEAKER_01]: You had the experience you went forward and how does that work for your life?
34:44
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, you're a big proponent of this, living life to the fullest.
34:47
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
34:48
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, as my young life during on the crew, you get six months off in the winter and I traveled a bunch.
34:55
[SPEAKER_02]: I went from Colombia all the way down to Patagonia for three months by myself, just like going on these adventures and like talking about these goals and dreams that I had and actually making it a reality, I think that's a big proponent for me, but now in this transition in my life, it's kind of a more trying to change careers and
35:16
[SPEAKER_02]: be home a little bit more so I haven't been traveling as much but in that time I've learned I don't need to go out of the country or anything like that like I can go around my city or like I know my many people have Tahoe nearby but
35:33
[SPEAKER_02]: Like just traveling around your home town and finding new places and exploring and doing small little adventures at home has been more meaningful than me traveling to a different country just getting out and going and doing stuff outside and something that's new and different and just.
35:52
[SPEAKER_02]: Just seeing new and different things, I think we as humans are curious and like the challenge and like seeing new things, we don't like being comfortable, but it's to our detriment, you know, I think getting out and exploring a lot and living life to the fullest, I feel like for me is just not wasting every day because I know that I might not even be here tomorrow, you know, I think having my friend pass away at such a young age I learned like,
36:22
[SPEAKER_02]: take every day, like a blessing and live it to its fullest.
36:28
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
36:30
[SPEAKER_02]: It's hard.
36:31
[SPEAKER_02]: It's hard to do when you got life and stuff going on, but just appreciating every small moment and getting out when you can.
36:40
[SPEAKER_01]: How do you get unstuck?
36:42
[SPEAKER_02]: I think doing small things, like we were talking about cliff jumping and you're not going to jump the 100 footer, you're not going to run 100 miles.
36:51
[SPEAKER_02]: The first go at it, it's doing the small things, like taking a walk around your block or going to, which is going to a different park in your city and walking around that, just the small steps first and then you get the bug and you get that pattern going and then you will start doing bigger and bigger things and start exploring more and doing bigger hikes, runs, and stuff like that, but you get to start small.
37:19
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, make some time to get out of your house.
37:22
[SPEAKER_02]: Maybe it's 30 minutes.
37:24
[SPEAKER_02]: Just get outside and walk around without your phone.
37:28
[SPEAKER_02]: And then the next week you do an hour, you know, just building on that.
37:32
[SPEAKER_02]: And I think that's how you grow habits and become where I'm at and just doing all these crazy things.
37:38
[SPEAKER_02]: It's just it takes time.
37:41
[SPEAKER_01]: Hmm.
37:41
[SPEAKER_01]: I think it's so worth it though and people get stuck.
37:45
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I interviewed a guy who I don't remember how long it was, but he didn't get out of bed for a week or two, you know, that that's stuck.
37:54
[SPEAKER_01]: And it seems at times like that that nothing has meaning and there's no purpose and that's that's a really hard place to be.
38:02
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's why I asked the question, how do you get on stuck this guy.
38:06
[SPEAKER_01]: He finally came up with an idea that interested him enough to get him outside, and then that just became the answer for him, and he ended up doing amazing things, like he went to the southern part of Italy and ran to the UK, and then he became a huge proponent for helping other people to get unstuck.
38:26
[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes it's a matter of having a big enough dream that he put way out on
38:31
[SPEAKER_01]: right and it's like oh that that I'm gonna try that but to get there I'm gonna do this this this that it may be it can get you unstuck maybe can get you out the door I don't know but I'm always curious because you know life is real it really is life is real and sometimes getting out of bed and walking out the front door to take a walk around the block feels like standing on top of a high cliff trying to get the courage to jump yeah and that crazy yeah but everybody starts somewhere you know
39:01
[SPEAKER_02]: It takes time and like you said, like you had some gold to get him outside just whatever it takes to get you outside and that's what I'm a big proponent about and that's why I try to share is just get outside enjoy how beautiful it is and the gifts that we have out there, you know, even if you're stuck in a city and you have a park nearby, it's still pretty or make it pretty, you know, like, yeah, we gotta be stewards at the land and make sure our places are clean and
39:31
[SPEAKER_02]: uh, presentable so that we can go out and enjoy it, you know.
39:35
[SPEAKER_01]: So what does that stewardship mean to you?
39:38
[SPEAKER_02]: It means a lot, um, before this project, I did something called the Tahoe trifecta where I ran around Tahoe and then biked around the lake and then paddleboarded around the lake.
39:48
[SPEAKER_02]: All the raised money for keep Tahoe blue and the wildfire foundation.
39:53
[SPEAKER_02]: But like growing around Tahoe, it's, it's a very touristy area and a lot of people come here.
40:01
[SPEAKER_02]: And they don't respect it the area as much I've gone to beaches and it's just there's trash everywhere and the pick it up and I think it's we love these places and we love coming here, but we have to take care of it and it's mostly on the locals to do that is to pick up the trash.
40:19
[SPEAKER_02]: I know it sucks, but it's like.
40:21
[SPEAKER_02]: we have to do our part to take care of these places that we love and cherish and it only takes maybe ten minutes to just pick up some pieces of trash and I know most people that live in the outdoors know packet and pack it out so it's it's on the people that know to help make sure these places are clean and clear so
40:42
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it's not always the people too, although often it is, people just don't understand yet.
40:48
[SPEAKER_01]: And I say yet because I think we can all learn, but I've seen over and over and over again where the bear got into the trash and scattered it or the ravens got into the trash.
40:59
[SPEAKER_01]: And then the wind blew and...
41:01
[SPEAKER_01]: you know it goes everywhere and it's not always that people are being call us and uncaring i mean sometimes it's just stuff that happens or a few few live on ocean beach you're gonna see trash all the time and some of that trash you know regretfully was put there by humans but a lot of that just it washes down the rivers it gets into the ocean the waves push it up on the the beach and and trash happens
41:24
[SPEAKER_01]: So we can all do our part, right, has super cool.
41:27
[SPEAKER_01]: So tell us about this trifecta, the distances, because I see some notes here, and I'm like, really?
41:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Is it that far?
41:38
[SPEAKER_02]: The run was 175 miles.
41:41
[SPEAKER_02]: What?
41:42
[SPEAKER_02]: Three days.
41:43
[SPEAKER_02]: And then the bike is 72 miles, and the paddleboard is 72 miles.
41:48
[SPEAKER_02]: And I did it all in like 90s with one day of break.
41:51
[SPEAKER_02]: in between for like logistical reasons.
41:54
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
41:55
[SPEAKER_01]: So biking 72 miles.
41:57
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, that's that's a good feet, but it's doable.
42:00
[SPEAKER_01]: Stand up paddle boring 70 miles.
42:03
[SPEAKER_01]: How on earth?
42:04
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, how do you move fast enough?
42:05
[SPEAKER_01]: How long did that take?
42:07
[SPEAKER_02]: I took three days.
42:08
[SPEAKER_02]: It was actually pretty quick.
42:09
[SPEAKER_02]: I thought it was going to take longer than that.
42:11
[SPEAKER_02]: So that was the fun part.
42:13
[SPEAKER_02]: That was amazing.
42:14
[SPEAKER_02]: It was beautiful.
42:16
[SPEAKER_02]: for the first part of the the paddle like it was nice weather and then the last part is just windy and stormy now barely made it to the end, but yeah it was quick it was three days of paddling all day so well in running 175 miles you said that was three days
42:35
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
42:35
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah.
42:36
[SPEAKER_01]: Wow.
42:37
[SPEAKER_01]: So, okay.
42:38
[SPEAKER_01]: If you're doing an ultra, this is another thing that always blew my mind.
42:42
[SPEAKER_01]: Getting the first day in is enough to be super impressive and to have a full body impact on yourself.
42:49
[SPEAKER_01]: But then you get up and do it again the next day.
42:52
[SPEAKER_01]: And then you do it again the next.
42:53
[SPEAKER_02]: I mean, how?
42:55
[SPEAKER_02]: Just one step at a time and like your body just gets used to it.
43:00
[SPEAKER_02]: You know, like you wake up in the morning and it hurts and it's painful, but you slowly move and start walking and then before you know, your body is all warmed up and you're ready to get going again and then you don't you just try not to stop until it's time to go to bed or take a break.
43:18
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you just do it.
43:21
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you just you just have to accept the pain, you know, accept that it's going to be there.
43:26
[SPEAKER_02]: You're not going to get rid of it.
43:28
[SPEAKER_02]: It's not going to go away.
43:29
[SPEAKER_02]: You can go away pretty easily, you can call somebody and they can come pick you up.
43:33
[SPEAKER_02]: I've failed multiple times because of the pain got overwhelming, but it was ready for it.
43:39
[SPEAKER_02]: But yeah, no, it's just accepting that the pain is going to be there and that your body is more powerful than you think in these mantras that you say to yourself, just keep moving.
44:01
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44:05
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44:16
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44:30
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44:40
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44:49
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45:06
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45:24
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45:29
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45:33
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45:43
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I've heard other ultra-affiliates say things like, I don't run 100 miles.
45:49
[SPEAKER_01]: I run a mile 100 times.
45:51
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you know, it's like I'm going to I'm just going to think about the next mile.
45:56
[SPEAKER_01]: I know I can get that far.
45:58
[SPEAKER_01]: So I'm going to do that mile.
45:59
[SPEAKER_01]: And then we'll see where we are at the end of this.
46:02
[SPEAKER_01]: And that gets people just through amazing amazing things.
46:05
[SPEAKER_01]: How did this Tahoe trifecta?
46:08
[SPEAKER_01]: How did that change you?
46:09
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that was like one of the bigger self supportive projects that have ever done.
46:15
[SPEAKER_02]: And it took me that was my third try to get it done.
46:20
[SPEAKER_02]: I got to two tries to kind of even get it started.
46:24
[SPEAKER_02]: Um, I think it just made me realize that I can do anything I put my mind to and I can reach for the stars and have these big goals and I'm able to accomplish it, but also I can do it myself.
46:38
[SPEAKER_02]: I need my friends and family to help do these things.
46:41
[SPEAKER_02]: These endeavors are personal endeavors, but it's also a team aspect as well.
46:47
[SPEAKER_02]: So yeah, I learned a lot about having friends and family nearby and
46:52
[SPEAKER_02]: had a grow by myself too, is just that I'm able to do anything.
46:56
[SPEAKER_02]: I think you put your mind too.
46:59
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
46:59
[SPEAKER_01]: So what makes it worth it?
47:01
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, that's a lot of pain, dude.
47:03
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
47:06
[SPEAKER_02]: I don't know.
47:06
[SPEAKER_02]: I think just maybe having something to tell my kids that I did something that's crazy so that they can go out and do something big for the world.
47:18
[SPEAKER_02]: I think also just showing that I can do this big thing like maybe we can clean up some trash on the beach or show somebody like hey like you can or my friends and family like you can do anything just put your mind to it and once step at a time and anything's possible I just want people to know that they're capable of anything and to shoot for the stars and yeah I just
47:48
[SPEAKER_01]: Hmm.
47:49
[SPEAKER_01]: I love that, man.
47:50
[SPEAKER_01]: I'm on board with you right there.
47:52
[SPEAKER_01]: I've had an experience of driving to the top of a 14,000 foot peak.
47:58
[SPEAKER_01]: You can do that on, not ovens, you can do that on pikespeak, and it's a beautiful view, and you're glad you did it, and it's worthwhile.
48:09
[SPEAKER_01]: But then I've climbed those same peaks, and when you get to the top it's the same peak,
48:18
[SPEAKER_01]: And I think about how we connect with nature, you can go on a picnic, jump in the truck, go somewhere, have some food, throw a ball around, do that people.
48:29
[SPEAKER_01]: It's wonderful.
48:30
[SPEAKER_01]: But you encountered nature on a very easy and enjoyable level.
48:35
[SPEAKER_01]: But this is where this is leading right now.
48:38
[SPEAKER_01]: You're running 175 miles on the Tahoe Rim Trail.
48:43
[SPEAKER_01]: It's got to change the way you encounter that trail and you feel about nature when you're doing it that way.
48:51
[SPEAKER_01]: So can you speak to that?
48:52
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I think you get it.
48:55
[SPEAKER_02]: Been on that trail a lot and I've been growing up around Tahoe, you know, and I all have in my phone is pictures of Tahoe, honestly, but you see something new every time.
49:06
[SPEAKER_02]: you see something that you've never seen before, trees that are just, they just look cool and you're like, how do I not see that tree before?
49:14
[SPEAKER_02]: I think you're more focused on the beauty around you or the rocks that you're moving over and just the appreciation of it in those moments.
49:25
[SPEAKER_02]: Like, I think it just overwhelms you with the beauty that is out there and I think you appreciate it more the distance that you cover and
49:35
[SPEAKER_02]: have more of a connection to it.
49:37
[SPEAKER_02]: And yeah, it's just, I think it just makes you more involved and appreciate it more and just want to go back out there to experience that again.
49:48
[SPEAKER_02]: I think that's just, it just draws you in.
49:50
[SPEAKER_02]: It's kind of a dick thing.
49:52
[SPEAKER_01]: I think you did a good job of kind of illustrating that it's mysterious isn't it?
49:57
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it is.
49:59
[SPEAKER_02]: It's weird and trippy and just, it's cool.
50:03
[SPEAKER_02]: I think it's just art.
50:05
[SPEAKER_02]: we don't need to go to art galleries and stuff and go to the mountains and you can find a tree that just its bark looks amazing and just like somebody painted it, you know.
50:16
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know what it is about going the distance that enhances these experiences, but it takes us to a different place.
50:26
[SPEAKER_01]: And there's something, it's mysterious.
50:29
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't really how to explain it.
50:30
[SPEAKER_01]: It's one of those things.
50:31
[SPEAKER_01]: People, if you've not done it, maybe you should do it.
50:34
[SPEAKER_01]: It doesn't mean 175 miles.
50:36
[SPEAKER_01]: You can get the effect without going 175 miles.
50:40
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, you just have to put in the effort, the challenge, work hard to be in a place you want to be in.
50:47
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a different experience.
50:50
[SPEAKER_02]: it is and it's the free drug and it makes I think it just makes you appreciate life and I don't know maybe this stuff that's around the spiritual or whatever it just
51:04
[SPEAKER_02]: it makes you feel alive and that there's more purpose and yeah that natures there for us to enjoy and yeah I think that's what the ultra running in stuff does it's just I think it enhances it because you're either tired or thirsty and your brains a little wonky you know it makes it a little bit more spiritual and
51:28
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, a religions for thousands of years have fasted as a way to enhance their experience in whatever they're pursuing there, you know, and not to get religious, but there is something about pushing the body.
51:42
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a fast.
51:43
[SPEAKER_01]: I've heard people say your senses are enhanced, your, you know, your sense of smell.
51:49
[SPEAKER_01]: What you see, the colors are more vibrant.
51:51
[SPEAKER_01]: What you hear, and I'm think, huh, not sure I can explain that, but it sounds like you have experienced it.
51:58
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's been fun.
52:01
[SPEAKER_01]: That's cool.
52:03
[SPEAKER_01]: I saw on some of your notes on Instagram, you say, light and love, as you sign off at the bottom, what's this light and love business?
52:12
[SPEAKER_02]: It's talking about the spirituality and religion and stuff like that.
52:15
[SPEAKER_02]: My friend passed the way, and I just asked what the meaning of life was.
52:20
[SPEAKER_02]: And there is just a bright white light and a sense of love and caring,
52:26
[SPEAKER_02]: And like many religions and I think it's just that white light and love is kind of that you know what everything is made of and I don't know I just I just like spreading that just just love I think that's the reason why we're all here and we can't see each other without light so I think just love one another love nature just just love each other.
52:53
[SPEAKER_02]: and just transfer that.
52:55
[SPEAKER_01]: It's a real positive message, you know, there's so much hate and so much me, I think that what perplexes me all the time and we'll wrap up, but it's that people want things that don't benefit.
53:10
[SPEAKER_01]: You know like a lot of people just want power and I have a hard time relating to that I understand it's a human condition a lot of people that they really enjoy getting power But what you just said is kind of the end of the doubt to that it's like no We need to love each other
53:28
[SPEAKER_01]: It's not about controlling each other, it's about loving each other.
53:31
[SPEAKER_01]: It's about the light that illumines and sharing life.
53:35
[SPEAKER_01]: Living life large, not by trying to somehow be the most king of the hill thing, but it's more a matter of, I am here experiencing life the way that I was intended to experience it.
53:49
[SPEAKER_01]: Does that make any sense?
53:51
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, yeah, no.
53:52
[SPEAKER_02]: I think we're all here for a reason.
53:56
[SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, we have to take care of each other and embrace this gift that we have and share our love and yeah I'll fight that the bad that's out there and just take care of those people that are around us and yeah love yourself and know that you're capable of anything.
54:16
[SPEAKER_02]: and love the people around you and show them that they're capable of anything.
54:20
[SPEAKER_01]: Well, you know what?
54:21
[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know.
54:22
[SPEAKER_01]: J-Wad, what's harder to have the courage to jump off a hundred-foot cliff or to have a courage to live that life you just described?
54:29
[SPEAKER_01]: But I applaud you for your courage.
54:32
[SPEAKER_01]: And I also want to say thank you for sharing your story with us here.
54:35
[SPEAKER_01]: It's inspirational.
54:37
[SPEAKER_01]: You're reminding me of a lot of things.
54:39
[SPEAKER_01]: And that's great.
54:40
[SPEAKER_01]: So thank you very much for your time.
54:43
[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, thank you.
54:45
[SPEAKER_01]: Now you bet for all the listeners out there.
54:47
[SPEAKER_01]: Wow, there are so many different ways to experience life and adventure sports.
54:54
[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I don't even know how many there are.
54:56
[SPEAKER_01]: Hundreds now of things that you can do.
54:58
[SPEAKER_01]: But it doesn't have to be anything that's terribly, terribly expensive or difficult or complicated.
55:06
[SPEAKER_01]: It can just be something as simple as getting into nature and running, jumping off a cliff swimming in the water.
55:13
[SPEAKER_01]: You know, it can be any of those things.
55:15
[SPEAKER_01]: Whatever your thing is, make sure that you do make time for it, right?
55:19
[SPEAKER_01]: Get unstuck, get out there and have some fun.