The Steep Stuff Podcast
Evan Paul | From the Thrills of Mountain Sports to Chaffee County Search & Rescue
Today, I sit down with Evan Paul to uncover the raw and riveting world of Search and Rescue. From the practicalities of high-risk rescues in Chaffee County South to the psychological toll on those who save lives, we navigate the depths of SAR operations. We also celebrate the confounding joy of mountain sports, sharing tips on essential gear for the backcountry and acknowledging the unsung heroes who make our adventures possible.
Evan's journey from the snowboarding slopes to pacing ultra-runners through the night unveils the essence of camaraderie and the indelible spirit of outdoor communities. We swap stories of coaching athletes, guiding backcountry expeditions, and the unexpected turns in life that lead us to fulfilling careers away from the conventional paths. Listen as Evan and I dissect the nuances of pacing, laugh over the quirks of coaching, and pay homage to the transformative power of supporting each other through life's various races.
With Evan's colorful history involving celebrity clients and the magnetism of outdoor adventures, this episode takes a turn towards the peculiar and exhilarating. We recount bizarre escapades with naked runners and rumored cults, while also tackling the more terrestrial topic of UFO skepticism. Meanwhile, we don't shy away from the competitive streak in us all, whether we're sprinting across social media platforms like Strava or simply relishing the anticipatory buzz of trying new gear. Join us as we underscore the vital role of SAR teams and the simple ways you can support these guardians of the wild.
Today, I sit down with Evan Paul to uncover the raw and riveting world of Search and Rescue. From the practicalities of high-risk rescues in Chaffee County South to the psychological toll on those who save lives, we navigate the depths of SAR operations. We also celebrate the confounding joy of mountain sports, sharing tips on essential gear for the backcountry and acknowledging the unsung heroes who make our adventures possible.
Evan's journey from the snowboarding slopes to pacing ultra-runners through the night unveils the essence of camaraderie and the indelible spirit of outdoor communities. We swap stories of coaching athletes, guiding backcountry expeditions, and the unexpected turns in life that lead us to fulfilling careers away from the conventional paths. Listen as Evan and I dissect the nuances of pacing, laugh over the quirks of coaching, and pay homage to the transformative power of supporting each other through life's various races.
With Evan's colorful history involving celebrity clients and the magnetism of outdoor adventures, this episode takes a turn towards the peculiar and exhilarating. We recount bizarre escapades with naked runners and rumored cults, while also tackling the more terrestrial topic of UFO skepticism. Meanwhile, we don't shy away from the competitive streak in us all, whether we're sprinting across social media platforms like Strava or simply relishing the anticipatory buzz of trying new gear. Join us as we underscore the vital role of SAR teams and the simple ways you can support these guardians of the wild.
Hey guys, welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast. I'm your host, James Lariello, and today we got a really fun one, my good buddy, Evan Paul. This is a really fun one and super informative. Evan serves as actually he's the former vice president of South Chaffee County Search and Rescue, but he's still extremely active in SAR. We also dive into Evan's background, his past, some of his competitive snowboarding days and then all the things he likes to do in the backcountry. This is meant to be a super informative episode. Evan gets into a lot of stuff regarding search and rescue, not just crazy stories, but also some of the really important gear you guys should be bringing along with you in the backcountry, as well as just awareness and trying to gain some awareness for search and rescue. So, without further ado, buckle up, my buddy Evan Paul. It's time. Ladies and gentlemen, we are live, yeah, dude. So, dude, what did you think of the incline today?
Speaker 2:Oh, that was fun. Yeah yeah, it's been a while. I had a good time with that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I liked it a lot. I was pretty. Yeah, I was in the pain cave a little bit, though I was hurting Really. Yeah, yeah, uh, I was in the pain cave a little bit, though I was hurting. Yeah, towards the end I was. Well, not towards the end. I shouldn't say like that steep section just fucked me up is so I don't know, like no matter how many times I do that thing, like there's just no, no easy part to it, like it never gets easier, it doesn't. But you hide it. Well, here I was suffering.
Speaker 2:Looking at you, I'm like damn it, I was really no offense to you, but I was really happy you slowed down a little bit in that section. I was like thank God.
Speaker 1:I was like thank you, dude. I was like really, really happy, um, and then you know it's like it's kind of funny Cause once you, uh, you know, once you like top out a little bit and you know, you kind of like there's that like moderate section before it starts gaining again, and that's kind of where I cramp.
Speaker 2:Nice, okay, yeah, good thing I remembered that there was that kind of false summit there. Oh yeah, because without that, if you're going up there for the first time, demoralizing, demoralizing totally absolutely uh, ladies and gentlemen, we are.
Speaker 1:Uh, actually I shouldn't say ladies and gentlemen um, evan, we are live. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm alive with evan. Paul Dude, I've been wanting to have you on for a long time, so I'm so excited we finally took the time to get together. I'll give you an opportunity to introduce yourself and we can go from there.
Speaker 2:All right. Well, first of all, thank you for having me. Yeah, I love hanging out with you, so this is cool, it's my pleasure. Welcome to the Steep Stuff Podcast. Well, thank you. Yeah, evan Paul from Salida, colorado, originally from the East Coast and moved out here way too late. Should have done it years ago.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So let's unpack that a little bit. When did you move out here?
Speaker 2:What year? I think it was the end of 2016 into 2017.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, and you moved to Colorado Springs, like the Colorado Springs Manitou area.
Speaker 2:I moved to Colorado Springs, had a couple of friends out here. It was a great opportunity. They said hang with us for a little while, figure out what you want to do. So did that and kind of figured I was going to be on the road to Summit County that was kind of calling my name as far as the outdoors and snowboarding, yeah, was going to be on the road to summit county, that that was kind of calling my name as far as the outdoors and snowboarding, yeah. And um, while I was in colorado springs a couple people said go look at salida. Did I was like I don't get it, there's nothing here. I just stayed on highway 50. I never made it downtown you didn't go down so, um, yeah, that didn't work out.
Speaker 2:And then uh went back there and I'm like, okay, okay, this is, it Makes sense. Dude, what a cool town on the Arkansas and just now it's booming. You know, we kind of got into that conversation a little bit earlier at lunch but like, and we can dive deeper into that. You know, people get it, they, they, they realize, okay, there's priorities in life, and outdoors is a big one for a lot of people and I think they're moving there just for that.
Speaker 1:I feel like it's one of the few places I don't know outside of. You know we've talked about Durango, we've talked about some other towns, but it is one of the few places where, like it really is, if you're into mountain sports, it doesn't matter what it is, whether you're a skier, whether you're a runner uh, dude, you could be a fly fisherman and it's like, and it's for you, a kayaker, like everything is uh, in that Arkansas river Valley, not to put the hard sell on and bring more people there, but I do feel like it is a very cool town, um yeah, it's funny you say that without putting a hard sell on there.
Speaker 2:Um, I had read this article about reasons not to move to salida from a mountain biker and everything about it was perfect. Yeah, it's like, okay, moving here, that helped.
Speaker 1:That's funny yeah, no, and let me ask you a question. I was just in um, I follow salida. I think it's a lot of trails or whatever on instagram and, just like durango, I feel like they do seasonal like, uh, trail closures.
Speaker 2:There is that like a big thing as well yeah, seasonal trail closures um animal migration, so it's kind of a big deal, and right now we also have, uh, still some snow up high. Yeah, so they're, they're cautious about keeping the trails in good condition. That's cool, so they'll stay closed a little longer than normal. But yeah, they're they, they try and keep bikers, runners, hikers, everyone off the trails during those closures no, it's good that they do that.
Speaker 1:Like I said, that was the first. Like the first time I'd really come into contact with that was like last weekend in durango and I was like we were running like twin, this like twin buttes area. My girlfriend was, or my fiance was like what the fuck?
Speaker 2:the trails are closed I was like, yeah, I don't know't know this is new.
Speaker 1:This is new, yeah, because in Manitou it's kind of a free-for-all here in the spring. We just hope nobody fucking cares.
Speaker 2:I hear that which is good, and bad, mostly bad.
Speaker 1:Okay, so let's turn this back on you a little bit. So you're residing in Salida. Yeah, dude, I want to dive into your story. I'd say right now one of the big reasons I wanted to have you on. Obviously you have an amazing story to tell, but I think your background is very unique. Can you talk a little bit about Search and Rescue and what you do with SAR?
Speaker 2:Sure, yeah. So Search and Rescue for Chaffey County South. Our county is actually split up into a north and a south end. That sometimes stirs a little controversy. But yeah, for Chaffey County South I was the vice president. I just hit my term limit so I'm no longer VP, but I still run our technical rope rescue team and our winter rescue team.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:And it's just a passion, it's something.
Speaker 1:I love doing. It looks so much fun. I see see your videos on Instagram and you like in helicopters and shit and like flying around. I'm like what is this guy doing?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm not going to lie, the training is a lot of fun. You know it's it's. There's a lot to it that I think, as rescuers, we also enjoy for ourselves. Yeah, think we kind of have to to be able to be better at what we do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, it's such a difficult job, I mean for everything from just the technicality, I feel like, um, being having to be competent, uh, in so many different things, but also, you know, kind of the stuff you take home with you from what you'd see on rescues, I would imagine is probably pretty difficult as well. Right, you know it be.
Speaker 2:We have a great resilience kind of system built um internal to the team. We have external resources as well and technically we we work under the sheriff, so also, uh, through the sheriff's department. Um, but that being said, I've noticed just within myself as long as I've been on SAR, I've kind of dialed things back a little bit, just from what I've seen over time. Yeah, you know, adds a little caution to my life that wasn't there previously. Yeah, learning to compartmentalize a couple of things is really good, but at the same time, you know, we're always able to talk to each other, we're always checking in with each other, especially when, on some of the tougher missions or recovery or just a really rough mission, we're always there for each other.
Speaker 1:It's, it's a true team, Super cool dude, I love it. And there's so much to unpack here, like there's so much I really want to dive into. Let's start with, like, how you got into it, and then we can kind of go into more of the technical aspect of it, like the different pieces of SAR, like what you do with rescues and things like that. But let's start from the beginning, first, of how you got into it, and then kind of go from there.
Speaker 2:Sure, shortly after moving to Salida really started hitting the backcountry more and wanting to go play in winter, and was out with some friends who were on a different team and they were talking about it and everything about it just sounded so intriguing. It was like these new skills I could learn. Um, just the, the group of people all kind of like-minded, um it really, and giving back, I mean that's, that's, of course, the huge one. It all just sounded great. And then during that same day, three out of four of us got caught in an avalanche. Really, yeah, no one got injured.
Speaker 2:You know we're all partial burials, just some lost equipment that got recovered in the summer, but I think it was at that moment where it just kind of sunk in that, yeah, I want to be able to help others. I mean, if this had been worse, we would have had SAR out there, and you know I want to be able to help others. I mean, if this had been worse, we would have had sar out there. And you know I want to be that guy to help others. I want to learn new skills, I want to do what I can to make sure someone else is not in a position that's worse than where I am right now holy shit, dude.
Speaker 1:I had no idea you were caught in an avalanche. That's kind of wild yeah, is that? Only one, or have you been in others, or only been in one? Knock on wood, yeah, yeah knock on wood.
Speaker 2:Um, hopefully only going to be in one, yeah, um, you know, I have set off a couple of small slides here and there. Luckily no one around, um, and it was all kind of around the same time. So, uh, that was, I guess, my time for being dumb.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but uh, yeah, that's crazy dude. Okay, so I'm trying to like, maybe visualize this and for, like the listener as well and, you know, for the person that's maybe interested in joining sar trying to do something like that, like, what is the process like? So you, you were inspired to go do this. Um, what was the process like for you when, like, from sign up to the training and things like that? I guess we can break it down that way window.
Speaker 2:Um, come to a couple of meetings, uh, kind of sit in, see what's going on, check out some trainings. Then you've got to do a background check Um, you'll get voted in Also. You fill out an application talking about your, your skills. Uh, once you're voted in, then you have to do some training. Uh, it's called NIMS for um.
Speaker 2:It's a national incident management system where we kind of all are able to work together with teams as well as with FEMA and other organizations have to have for our team, first aid, cpr. You can have higher medical skills but really not required. And then from there it's kind of more individual. You'll have a mentor that's going to work with you on figuring out your pack, figuring out where your skills lie and how to improve them, and just going over everything that you'll be doing on the team. There's a lot of things where we all work together as a team and then there's also some specialist areas. So there's a lot that you know we want to all train together on, and then we'll have training on top of that for more of the specialty areas.
Speaker 1:Okay, Like what? Sorry to continue on, but like what kind of specialty areas are you there? Because I like what's the one with the helicopter? That's fucking cool.
Speaker 2:So I guess almost anyone on the team can use a helicopter. Some of the videos I guess you saw that I was doing was step training. So there's just a couple of us on our team that were doing step and what that is is basically extraction into or, I guess, unloading out of the helicopter and entering into the helicopter without it landing. So, uh, there are three main types on that we would do a hover, we would do a nose in where just the tips of the skids were touching the ground at a really crazy angle, or a single skid, um. So that was a training that required us to be working there with them every single month, plus a three day training at the beginning of the year. Um, just because you have to have it so dialed, oh, I'm sure I mean you can knock that helicopter out. You can screw things up really fast if you don't.
Speaker 1:So what kind of?
Speaker 2:choppers do they use? Are they like UEs or whatever? This was a bell. Two oh five, so um older helicopter, but big, powerful thing and so cool, it's perfect.
Speaker 1:I just picture, um, I I don't know, did you ever see that there's a? You might have actually showed it to me. There was a youtube video of this rescue where these guys were going up the needle on the ellingwood rat and the creston needle and they got kind of stuck up there. Um, they had to call in. I don't, I don't. I think they like had a military helicopter come in to get them and, uh, I just picture you like hanging from the helicopter, these guys jumping into your arms, and it's like sorry, I don't know.
Speaker 2:Um, you know, that's actually one of the things it's it's called a hoist and that's something that uh myself and some others really want to get into, but unfortunately we don't have that ability at the moment. Um, but yeah, we, we utilize uh military helicopters and uh it's calledS and they'll come in and do a hoist and yeah, it's so cool yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, what a. And it's dude. And first of all, like I know I've thanked you before, but I just can't get enough time to thank you for like what you do, for like being able to like, for doing this Cause I think you know you're providing this is, you know, a mountain podcast. There's a lot of runners that listen to this. People do dumb shit in the backcountry and a lot of times you're one of the people that helps rescue us when we overcommit. So no, it's much appreciated, man.
Speaker 2:Thank you. I appreciate that it's still always weird to hear someone say thank you for something that I just love to do.
Speaker 1:So well, thank you and say thank you for something that I just love to do so well, thank you. So I should preface this, too with, like the first time we met through a mutual friend getting up on Mount Yale, and I can remember I think you've made fun of me a little bit because I like to go light and fast, let's put it that way I'm like a belt guy and you've got your poles, you've got like this pack with all kinds of shit in there and I'm like kind of asking you questions about, like what you got in the pack. And you know, you've got like this, this, you know kind of a laundry list, and I'm just thinking to myself in the back of my head like thank god I've got this guy with me in case I do something really dumb in the mountains.
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, that that seems seems to be a common theme these days is I. I'm carrying more and more based on what I've seen out there. It's like, even when I want to go fast and light, I'm like, yeah, my fast and light is very different from a lot of other people's fast and light just because I've seen so many scenarios where it's like, oh, that one little thing could have made all the difference.
Speaker 1:I'm going to add that to my pack all the time it's, and I think it's so smart and it's just so I I think being around you and spending time around you has fundamentally like changed like my risk approach to the mountains, um, in a positive way all right, glad to hear that um, yeah, dude like, and I think this is important to talk about, especially because we have so many.
Speaker 1:this is a very sub, ultra oriented podcast where the name of the game is to go fast and light in the mountains and a lot of times in the type of routes that we like to do. They're high consequence. Yes, yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So maybe we can, maybe we could dive into that a little bit on, um, I don't know, maybe just some like recommend pack recommendations or something like that, that like maybe you stuff you would like recommend maybe not going so light and so fast, um, you know, just for certain things in the mountains, I don't know. Sure yeah.
Speaker 2:I mean, you know there's there's the 10 essentials, um, which which basically everyone should have with them. But one of the big things is, you know, we're out in remote areas and if anything were to happen, we really need to be able to communicate. Cell phones are great, but you know we don't have cell service in a lot of the areas that we like to play in. So having something like an inReach, I think, is crucial. Yes, you know you've got to pay a subscription and it costs money up front, but I mean that's just such a huge thing. It's kind of nice that Apple has added that to their iPhone as an option to be able to get a satellite service, and we've actually used that on a rescue. But just having a little inReach they're small, they're light, and throwing that in your pack, that's, that's great, yeah, um.
Speaker 2:And then also, if you're in a situation as a runner where you hurt your ankle, um, or or something that's going to slow you down from getting out of there, you need to be able to stay warm. We're in Colorado. I mean, it's going to get cold within the evening, it's just how it is. So even a small lightweight emergency blanket, you know, I mean these things aren't going to keep you super warm. You're not going to be extremely comfortable, but if it's enough to keep your body warm, enough that you're going to live. That's all it takes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I do. I actually I bring my. You'd be so proud of me. I got a little emergency blanket I was supposed to pace a friend at. I think it was high, lonesome and like one of the things in their pack was like an emergency blanket that you had to bring with you, yes, yes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, like a mandatory pack. And now you know what, dude, if I, if, if there is a rare day that I'm going out with the pack, I will actually bring that with me. Miles equals pack. You know anything less than that. I'm a little iffy on the pack.
Speaker 2:We're getting better, though You'd be proud, good, good. And one other one which kind of surprises people, is having a light source, and not just at night, during your daytime runs. I can't tell you how often we've rescued people because we've been able to see their light. So during the day, I mean even from a helicopter, if they're flying overhead looking for someone and that person can't move, but they're able to flash a light in that direction, that's enough sometimes to have them be found.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So having some sort of light source on you day or night is is really, really helpful.
Speaker 1:Wow, no dude. Thank you for those insights. I've got um one question related to like scheduling. How. I've got one question related to like scheduling how does the scheduling work? Because, like you're like James Bond, sometimes when I'm around you you're like oh, duty calls, I got to do the rescue. Like, how does that work with the scheduling?
Speaker 2:So the way it works is we have an incident command group that actually has to be scheduled, because they're the ones that are going to take the call from dispatch, make the plan and organize everyone. So they're on a set schedule where they have to sign up for it and be available. Um our current IC, we use pagers. We have to also stay within a limited range.
Speaker 1:Um, that is so. Navy seals right there. I just picture, like Charlie Sheen with his little uh.
Speaker 2:It's not far off from that, um, so yeah, that'll, that's the true schedule. But then the rest of the team will get a page through our phone whether it's, uh, email, text, um, we have multiple ways that we'll get the call coming through and an app as well, and then in there you can reply with your availability. Okay, so it can be on the way. It could be at the bay only if you can't make it into the field six hours, 10 hours, whatever it is, that goes out to the whole team. But within that, sometimes we'll say, all right, this is specific, for we need the drone team, we need technical rescuers, we need snowmobile driver, whatever it is Interesting. Yeah, it'll start talking about focusing. If we need technical rescuers, we need snowmobile driver, whatever it is interesting. Yeah, it'll, it'll start talking about focusing.
Speaker 1:If we, if we need to do that, okay, and a lot of times most of these calls how does it work? It's like it's so, it's this. It goes to the dispatch center. So let's say, well, actually let's walk through like a fictional one. I'm just kind of curious. So let's say, like I I'm in the sun grays, I fall or I'm cliffed out somewhere, I get on my in reach right and I hit my SOS button. How does that go to the sheriff? Or does that go to you? How does that? Where does that go to?
Speaker 2:So it doesn't come to us direct. Garmin has their own people, that kind of take that and then send it out from there. So then it'll go through a dispatch when I say that is basically 9-1-1, okay, so, um, then they will send out a page on those pagers and ask for us to call in and we'll figure out from there exactly what resources are needed and start figuring out if we know where the location is and, um, who we can talk to. Sometimes we can actually talk to the subjects themselves if they have a phone available, but other times we're just kind of going in blind Dude that's crazy I want to ask.
Speaker 1:So I have so many more like story questions but I won't out of the you know, because like stories kind of open up like a deep, you know, like a deep hole, for you know we can kind of go in a million directions with that. One question I do have about Chaffee County Now. You said it was based, it was broken up, or for your search and rescue was broken up from a North to a South. What and you're in the South, right, you said, and what is the South like? Encompass? Is that all the way down to the song graze or is that like no?
Speaker 2:So um, so our bread and butter is Mount Shabano and everything around there.
Speaker 2:That that's our, our big one. Um, we used to do, uh, a ton of mutual aid, um down South from us as well, so been on a lot of calls, uh, down in Swatch and and even a little further South. Now they have a true search and rescue team, so they're kind of doing their own thing, but we'll still help them out, of course, as needed. Um, we've helped out Western and vice versa, so, and then uh, northern too. You know we'll, we'll go up there. They're more Buena Vista and up around there, so they have more 14 years. Um, between the two of us we've we've got some of the most 14 years amongst teams. Yeah, and, um, that's what keeps us busy. I mean not to say there's not other calls, whether it's someone tripping on, so you know, some trails around Salida or or a river incident, um, but those seem to be our. Our focus are the bigger mountains.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and are they mostly? I mean, have you been super, have you guys been super busy this winter, a lot of ski-related stuff, or has it been pretty chill?
Speaker 2:It's been a pretty quiet winter. Typically for us, it's pretty quiet. You'll hear about incidents and luckily, most people are able to self-rescue, but of course there's always those few that were out there. There was a snowmobile incident that we dealt with earlier and then, luckily, we haven't had to go out to any avalanche rescue. So we train for it Like we're ready at any moment. That's amazing.
Speaker 1:And then during the summer, same same stuff, usually for hikers getting lost on 14 years or getting altitude sickness, things like that.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. Yeah, um, getting lost, being unprepared is a really big one. You need to get a lot of people who they hear about their friends wanting to do a 14 or and they know nothing about it except, okay, cool, I'll look at some videos and I got this. You know, go out with a a small, little bottle of water and no nutrition, winging it baby find themselves in a lot of trouble.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do you. Um, this might be a little bit of a loaded question, uh, especially related to runners. Do you have you come across any runners, or is it morally more so? Just you know somebody from den, no offense denver people, but like you know, like somebody out from denver from the day, you know, trying to get up their first 14, or is it more, or have you come across any?
Speaker 1:um any runners with issues and stuff like that, that that are, you know, kind of overdid it. You know, had a little too much fitness for the day and just kind of went wild with it.
Speaker 2:Personally, only come across uh, one runner. Um, he was a runner slash hiker and unfortunately had a, uh, a fatal fall.
Speaker 1:Jesus Christ, oh wow.
Speaker 2:Um, but I have heard stories of some Nolan's attempt runners who, during training, are either just exhausted or, um, have gotten way too lost and have needed some help. Wow, um, but yeah, luckily just just the one.
Speaker 1:And I cause I think we we hit a lot of the important things I wanted to talk about and we can kind of go into more, if you want to, later on, um, but I want to talk more about you, dude, uh, you're, you're. One of the things I love about this podcast is, yes, we have our interviews with the professional athletes. We have our interviews with those up and coming athletes, but one of the things I love to talk to is people that are a big part of the community and I feel like you are such a huge part of the Salida community. Um, you know, between what you do with the running store, between what you do with search and rescue, like you're, you're pretty fundamental for for that world, you know. So let's talk a little bit about your, your background in, uh, what you're doing at the running store right now.
Speaker 2:Sure yeah.
Speaker 2:Um, so I worked at 7,000 feet running company big shout out to you guys. Um, so, yeah, I get people into properly fitted footwear so that they can enjoy their lives that much more. Um, I love that place. We also do a bunch of group runs out of there. So, uh, monday nights, wednesday nights, friday mornings, so some of the times I'll lead our groups into the mountains and show them some trails, whether they know them by the back of their hands or they've never been on them before. And and uh, also, as far as trails, I used to do a lot of work with Salida mountain trails, um, helping just maintain and even build trail, and that was fun. Just started finding out it was taking up a little too much of my time, mixing that with search and rescue. Um, but yeah, I, I just, you know, I really enjoy recreating in the outdoors and I want to show other people how to do it safely and, uh, experience it with them. So that means hanging out with a lot of people on trails and having fun. Hell yeah, dude.
Speaker 1:And you're. You're also with Salida mountain sports correct.
Speaker 2:With Salida mountain sports as well.
Speaker 1:So that gets me into my next question You're, you're really. One of the things I really admire about you is you're just a year round athlete. You know you. We were talking today on a run about split boarding, about skiing, about running, like all of these different. You know modalities in the mountains. Um, what do you like the most? Like what do you? What's your favorite? Do you like running better than skiing?
Speaker 2:Oh, you can't ask me that. I really no, I don't know the answer. Um, you know it's. I guess I really love it all. I love to run, love to mountain bike, love to rock climb, split board, now, skiing, snowboarding, gosh, the list goes on. I'll probably love something new within a week if you want to introduce me to it. Um, yeah, I don't know, it's all fun and they I think all the sports kind of work together. Yeah, train for one is helping, train for another, and, um, you know, in the summer, in the heat of summer, I might start thinking about snowboarding and splitboarding, and then, middle of winter, all of a sudden start thinking about running. Um, kind of beautiful thing though, with with where we both live, is we have access to dry trails. In the middle of winter, yeah, or a couple hours drive, or even less, and we're in snowy mountains. So do I have a favorite? No, but I want to do them all.
Speaker 1:I love it. One of the things that I find very interesting about you is that you don't race, but you are the best pacer that I have ever come. You've got, you've got inspirational quotes. You're calm, you're constantly checking on nutrition Like dude, how like is this? Like the more of the SAR guy that, like I, just how are you such a good pacer? Cause, like, all right, so I'm going to preface this people. So Evan, I'm going to this is the second part, and Patrick, if you're out there listening, this is, uh, I'm sure you will be uh, so me and patrick and evan, uh, we, I should sorry, excuse me me and evan paced patrick, uh, the uray 100 this year and I just was like astounded by how good of a pacer you were and just how calm and relaxed and like just just chill you were. But like, still, like, on top of things, I'm none of those things. So where does this?
Speaker 2:like where does this come from? Great question. Um so, first of all, I have raced, and I actually used to be a race coach what? But that was on the snowboarding side of things yeah for slalom and gs.
Speaker 2:Um spent a good amount of years coaching Dude. We got to get into this. This is something, yeah, we can talk about. As far as where that comes from, with pacing, I think a lot of it probably does come from SAR, but also I don't know. I kind of feel like I have this just this natural drive to want to help and to see people succeed and reach their goals and I try and kind of figure out what what would I need or what does it look like they need, um, and just go with that, like I, I. I feel like I kind of read off people's emotions a little bit and um, I think that'll also help along the way. Of course, that's hard when they're in the middle of a giant ultra and you know I mean they're delirious and just trying to figure out what's going on. But, yeah, just enjoy seeing them succeed and trying to help them. You know be the best that they can be, do I?
Speaker 1:love it, like I said, I was of doing some of the last climb of the Euro 100 with you guys, For I bailed out and only to miss the best part of the entire race. Anyway, dude, what you raced a little bit, what did you race? And like, let's unpack this, because I always thought you were just not into it. Let's hear about this.
Speaker 2:Oh, so I've done a few running races. I mean shorter distance, you know half marathon and down from there. But yeah, the snowboarding side of things. I was a coach for Slalom and GS and that was a little snowboard team on the East Coast but we'd come out here every year to USASA Nationals and I loved coaching. I used to also instruct prior to that and just kind of worked my way into coaching Um myself. I raised a little bit, but not very much Um again. I think that was with wanting to see others succeed Um. So I was actually just at at the uh tail end of nationals uh last weekend just to see some of the coaches that I'd worked with in the past and some of the athletes and seeing that some of those athletes are now coaching themselves, which is pretty amazing. That's crazy.
Speaker 1:I didn't and I had no. I mean, I knew you had said you'd alluded to me as well, Like we talked about snowboarding in the past and I just always thought you meant like you were referring to split boarding and like this is something you were just doing, playing in the mountains. I had no idea that like it was this competitive past of yours, that's very cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, um, and it's hard to keep it in the past. It's something that I really do think about doing again. Um, if I lived in Summit County, I have a feeling I would kind of still be in that world. Sending sending it yeah, I think so, but out here I moved more into the backcountry side of things, got an opportunity to be a backcountry guide as well, and love that.
Speaker 1:Oh, dude, let's dive into that. What are we doing in the backcountry? Are you guiding just specific backcountry skiing?
Speaker 2:Splitboarding mostly, but I've also had skiers as well. What I'm doing is more it's intro courses and just kind of navigating avalanche terrain safely. So these are people that may have an area but more than likely don't even have a rec one yet and are interested in going that direction. But they want to learn just some basics so they can go into it kind of prepared and also so they can get an idea of what things feel like under their feet in the snow and what to expect. That must be fun, I. I love it because it's it's spending time teaching more of a classroom style. Then we go over all the gear out in the field. You know we'll do. Usually a small observation pitch was kind of show what that's going to look like in the future. And then here's how to stay safe. You know, I don't want to have to see you later as a search and rescue guy. I'd rather just ride with you out there.
Speaker 1:Wow. So you really cover like the entire gamut, like everything from saving people to teaching people. So you're kind of on, you know full circle there in a lot of ways.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I guess I never thought about that though.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's cool dude. So let's take this back to the East coast. That's cool dude, so let's take this back to the east coast. I know you're a florida boy in some ways.
Speaker 2:Where were you where you've originally originally from? So so florida, actually, I don't, I've never lived there it's just mom, and dad, my parents, okay, okay, yeah um new jersey. Born and raised in northern new jersey, really yes, can't you tell by this really strong?
Speaker 1:jersey accent dude. My dad's from jersey, he's from from Wildwood. You ever been down there? I have, yeah, wild place man.
Speaker 2:Wildwood was, uh, yeah, definitely a wild place, and younger years we'd go down there and and hang out and party.
Speaker 1:Did you guys have like senior senior week or whatever when you were in Jersey?
Speaker 2:Cause I know in.
Speaker 1:Pennsylvania. My, my mom had it and, like a rite of passage or something like that everybody does. I did high school in Florida, so we didn't get one.
Speaker 2:It was more of like after prom. We would go down there and party it up. Get fucking wild.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome. Okay, so Jersey. I mean there's some skiing in Jersey a little bit. No, maybe I know upstate New York there is. You got the Adirondex and Catskills. I can't be too far.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so the mountain I worked at with the team that I coached, our mountain was huge 270 vertical feet, oh shit. Yeah, so I mean we could basically set gates from top to bottom and just lap. That it was perfect. And our series was the Catskill Mountain Series. So a lot of york, um, but also we'd we'd go out to pennsylvania as well. But, yeah, being in jersey wasn't too many options. You know, the east coast ice was pretty much just anywhere you went from new jersey to new york, but vermont, that was like the place to go yeah, oh, dude, I've never been to vermont.
Speaker 1:I mean, I've played a lot in the adirondacks. Um, have you ever done like marcy, or been up there at all, or in the adirondacks? I mean I've been around the adirondacks yes, so so much fun, cool technical mountains, man, so different than what we've got, very, very hard, very different.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like rocks and roots. Yeah, it's so painful.
Speaker 1:Yeah uh, okay. So so you grew up in jersey, and then it was just Jersey to Colorado.
Speaker 2:It was Jersey to Colorado. Um, coming out here every year for nationals, every time I'd be like darn, I got to go back home. You know it's. It just is what it is. I've also come out here a few times outside of that as well, but I always knew that this was going to be a place I was going to be in. It's just yeah, I just waited too long, but yeah, it was just Jersey to Colorado.
Speaker 1:All right, all right. So I'm going to you're like an onion, I'm like peeling and peeling these layers back. So let's one of the things. I'll never forget this. So we were in the car, with Patrick's dad, I think, and someone had asked you this was at Uray last year, and I thought I knew I'm a pretty good read, like I know a lot about people, and someone asked you like what you did for a living, and I just like kind of assumed what you were doing now was your answer, and I think you had given your past answer of what you did previously for a living. Um, and I was just like, Whoa, okay, so can we, can we get into that a little bit about the business you started and kind of like your background, um, like your technical background?
Speaker 2:Sure, yeah, Um, so I used to be in graphic design and animation that was college and after college, uh, worked in the news industry doing on our graphics and then post-production for some TV shows, and from there kind of moved into more of the engineering side of things and, and, um, that worked its way into control systems, so smart homes, mtv crips, basically and, uh, I was first installing things in these humongous houses in Jersey, new York, and then, uh, from there I got more into the programming side of it. So I would then figure out ways to make all these things work together. Like a client who wanted to drive their car in the garage and never have to back out, we've got a giant turntable, so once their car is on there and it's sensed, then it's safe. They can just pull right out the front. That's so cool.
Speaker 2:Or how about 40 TVs in your house? Because why not? Um, and these are high-end people, these are high-end people, yeah, yeah, um, a lot of celebrity clients and just others who have just more money than they know what to do with you.
Speaker 1:Want to dive into some of these celebrity clients I'm like very curious you had mentioned a few of them to me before, but I can't remember.
Speaker 2:Yeah um, you know, man, where to start, uh yeah, I guess, so like jay-z um jay-z and beyonce.
Speaker 1:You met them like. Did you get to like say hi? No, unfortunately.
Speaker 2:Like that's crazy. Um they're, there's their people yeah, they're handlers with um, but like alicia keys and swiss beats they, you know I'd see them a lot and they were. They were super sweet. They had bought eddie murphy's house and were kind of redoing it when they moved in there and, um, great people, uh, hallie berry, um, chris rock and and his wife at the time, um, bro, that's fucking crazy. Yeah, yeah, patrick ewing, that was, that was a fun house oh yeah all this oversized furniture, I felt like he's a giant man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, you ever see like alice in wonderland. She's in this. That's what I felt like sitting on some of their custom furniture um yeah and you know these projects would would take sometimes weeks or months. So, um, I wouldn't say I got to know them very well, but I I got to chat with plenty of people and spend time with them. Tracy Morgan, that dude is so sweet. I mean he was just he was the nicest guy, that's crazy.
Speaker 1:How can I help?
Speaker 2:you and I was like what, I'm here just to help you and yeah, so you know, there's not everyone was like that. There's plenty of people where their privacy is key and I get that and and um, not just their privacy, but they're just kind of living in their own little world and you're not a part of it.
Speaker 1:So, um, you know, you get both sides of it right. Wow, that is crazy. So how long did you have the business for?
Speaker 2:so that wasn't my business. That was actually. I was working for a company. That's what allowed me to work remote and live out here.
Speaker 2:But come COVID, they were doing layoffs. That was based in New Jersey, just next to the GW Bridge there, and I was one of two remote workers, so easy to let go. So from there I actually bought a web design business from a friend who was retiring A little bit of web business, from a friend who was retiring a little bit of web, but not a ton, and um, I, I took that business and had a blast, just learned with it a lot. Great clients, a lot of local clients really enjoyed the work because it allowed me to do both my graphic design side as well as my programming side, um, and, and that was good. But then I realized, you know, I don't think I want to work for myself. I know that's most people's dream. Yeah, I'm the opposite.
Speaker 2:But here I am, you know, filling out my taxes and realizing, um, yeah, and my health insurance, which didn't exist, so you know, little things like that just kind of made me feel like I kind of want to work for a company, at least for a while again. So I sold that business and you know, had a few smaller gigs but kind of moved into the running store and so I had a mountain sports and then, in the winter, a little bit of guiding.
Speaker 1:Dude, I love that you're doing in a lot of ways, like what you love, like you love being outside, you love spending time out there and you love helping people. You're doing all of those things. Thanks, yeah.
Speaker 2:It's side.
Speaker 1:You love spending time out there and you love helping people. You're doing all those things, thanks. Yeah, it's very like self-realized human. You know you don't meet a lot of people like that, a lot of people like hate their jobs and they're miserable and you know, and that's that's okay, like that's fine, but like you're like the bright light I look toward, I'm like man, like if I ever get sick of this corporate shit, like you know, evan's got it going on. Thank you, thank you. Um, yeah, you know Evan's got it going on. Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, you know, it's interesting. Like for the longest time everything was about how much money I can make and, um, see where that goes and having things. And then I feel like I've changed a little bit. Where I'm comfortable I still want money, of course, and I still want things, but more comfortable with realizing that there's things outside of that too. Yeah, um, I am looking to get back into I was gonna ask you know the tech world uh, really kind of focused around it, or and or programming and cyber security as well.
Speaker 2:But for now this works. And you know, then I I started seeing a lot of people who are just so happy with having less, yes, but spending more time outside. You know, at first I didn't get that and then now I kind of do, but at the same time I want to find a balance, which is why I want to get back into the corporate world, but I want to have, you know, boundaries.
Speaker 1:Go have your perks too. I want to have my perks, but I want to have boundaries there If they want me working seven days a week.
Speaker 2:They're going to pay me a ton of money. It's not worth it to me. There's a lot more to it than just that.
Speaker 1:I feel the same. I feel the same. I'm trying to think of, like, what else I want to get into with you. Man, there's so many things I I admire about you and I've just always wanted to ask you in a lot of ways is you're always outside, you're always in the back country, you're always doing shit. You ever see any like weird shit, like I think I'm kind of like alluding to the little Bigfoot thing here, but like I was waiting for this.
Speaker 1:I mean, that was more of a question for later but like I just was always kind of curious, especially cause you're outside doing, doing your thing all the time, so I'm like you ever see any weird shit Like what's going on?
Speaker 2:out there Definitely have seen some weird shit and actually through search and rescue, have seen some weird shit. I'll tell you about this one mission we had, where it's basically a man that was running through the woods naked for several days.
Speaker 1:Was he on like acid or something Like? What's the?
Speaker 2:deal. Well, we were calling him Mushroom Guy.
Speaker 2:Okay on like acid or something like. What's the deal? Well, we were calling him mushroom guy. Okay, um and uh. You know when we, when we came across him I mean his feet were were all bloody and he could barely talk luckily we would get him. We were able to get him out of there, um, airlifted out of there, because he was in bad shape. But what we came to theorize we don't know for sure if this is true or not. He may have been in a cult and some drugs and this was him getting out of it and running away, or maybe even during something. Yeah, there's a couple of things that are kind of leading us to believe that that's the case.
Speaker 1:Dude is there like a cult in Chaffee County.
Speaker 2:Oh no, no, no, this wasn't in chaffee county um.
Speaker 1:this was, this was uh I thought I was about to blow the lid off this story.
Speaker 2:I want to say it was a little closer towards, maybe, creststone area.
Speaker 1:Okay, oh yeah, that makes sense um, dude, I'm not gonna get into it I just no, it's funny like I just shout out to isaac my buddy just posted on strava something about there being cults in Creststone and I was like what does that mean?
Speaker 2:I have to ask him. There's actually, uh, there's a a a series on it. What was it called Mother? Mother love, I think was the cult name.
Speaker 1:Um, guys don't sue me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, it's just really interesting. So I don't know if this guy has anything to do with that. It was just kind of based on some things that we were trying to put together. But, yeah, definitely seen some weird things. We've had this other guy. We refer to him as the crystal hunter. This guy was absolutely high, got hurt out there, said he was hunting for crystals in a place where crystals would definitely not be found, and we really do think he was referring to crystal meth um wait, he could be.
Speaker 1:Do you?
Speaker 2:are you familiar, like the crystals on shivano, or I think it's shivano uh, and tarot and tarot, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay, nope, no, no, not the case two different things okay yeah, yeah, definitely. Uh, seen some things through there and then you know you've always got these weird animal encounters that happen at times, though Can't say I've run into Bigfoot. What kind of animal encounters. Well, I had a bear charge me, oh shit.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just throw up your fists to try to throw down, like what'd you do?
Speaker 2:Oh, I did everything wrong at the time. I didn't know what to do. This was right. After also moving to Salida, I went for an evening run and this bear stood up and then got down on all fours, started charging me. And so I'm like, oh, I'm just going to talk to this thing calmly, back away, look at it and just keep backing away slowly. And it kept doing that. It would stand up, get down, charge again. So I finally backed away far enough where I was kind of around a corner. I couldn't see it over my shoulder. I figured it can't see me and I just that's probably the fastest I run and I just kept looking over my shoulder. I just booked it. I was out of there. Um, shortly after that I started researching about what to do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I did it all wrong I should have been throwing things at that, that's right. Do people think I'm crazy? What I'm like? Because rose and I always talk about because we have, we have yet watch tomorrow, we do um yet to. I see bears all the time. I've seen plenty of them. Rose and the dogs have not run into a bear yet. So the dogs have not seen a bear yet in a lot of ways. So I'm always kind of get kind of nervous because they run together, you know, and I'm just like, well, if you see a bear like this is lot of ways, so I'm always kind of I get kind of nervous cause they'd run together, you know, and I'm just like, well, if you see a bear like this is what you do and I don't think she's going to do it, I think she's going to run in the opposite direction, and that's probably fine.
Speaker 1:Like you know, I don't think the bear would charge her, but you never know, that's just it.
Speaker 2:Like I've come across many bears both out here and also on the east coast, not one has ever charged.
Speaker 1:They've always. That is crazy. They just run away or they keep eating their garbage. Whatever it is this one, yeah, I didn't see any cubs, but who knows what it was? Yeah, you never know. You never know it's. I bumped into one dude. I got from like me to you, I, I ran up and I I run with earphones and all the time, um, yeah, I almost ran into the bear, had his back turned and I almost ran into him. Uh, it had its back turned and I almost ran into him up in Palmer Lake and he looked at me.
Speaker 1:I looked at him. He just took off the opposite direction, but yeah, that could have ended really bad.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that could have.
Speaker 1:Yeah, could have fought, could have gotten ugly. What's your take on Colorado? Grizzly bears.
Speaker 2:I don't know. I mean, I've I've heard that there's a chance, but I'm I'm still unsure.
Speaker 1:The reason I ask is is because, not too far from you, there was a fairly credible sighting off of independence pass within the last two decades. And then there, obviously there's sightings, quote unquote sightings in the San Juans. All the time People, people off of independence past within the last two decades, um, and then they're, obviously they're sightings, quote-unquote sightings in the san juans.
Speaker 2:All the time people, people talk about, they say they see things so I'm just curious, I don't know I have seen a black bear that was quite brown. I don't know if people are thinking that that could be a grizzly good, very common. Um, I mean, I know that you know there's a lot of traits that are different between the two. But just a quick glance, you know, just looking at the color, there's a chance. I don't know. You know there's definitely a lot of stuff. We don't know what's out there.
Speaker 1:I was just always I was kind of curious because I know like in you know people talk. I wasn't sure. Like you're not far from the San Juans in that area, so I was always kind of you know, curious to see if you've run into any.
Speaker 2:No, no, I have haven't.
Speaker 1:Haven't interesting all right, what's, uh, what's your take on the aliens?
Speaker 2:um. Should we talk about christen again?
Speaker 1:uh, no, just kidding dude I had jackson cole on a few weeks ago and, uh, jackson lives in. I used to live in Alamosa and he brought up the horse that was like had like brains, brains like lasered out or some crazy shit. I forget what he called it. There was like some special name for it. I saw it on the history channel too. But yeah, there's some weird shit going on.
Speaker 2:Well, I mean, if you drive down there, there's plenty of places where you supposedly can see aliens. Um, I don't believe in aliens what? But um, I've definitely seen some things in the night sky.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I, I want to, but I don't. All right, this is a two-parter. What have you seen? Let's let's talk about what you've seen in the night sky. What? What have you seen?
Speaker 2:Um, you know, I I think here's going to be the science side of me. What I think are either just uh, weird optics going on where, um, things look like they could be moving around in there, but they're they're not really. It's just kind of light distortions, um or very practical person, I try to be, whether it's right or not, I don't know. It could very well be aliens, I don't know um, but yeah, I don't.
Speaker 1:I don't believe in them myself all right, let's dive into that, like, as far as I'm not gonna press you too hard, but I'm just kind of curious to unpack this, like like all the crazy aerial phenomenons that people see and shit like that. Do you think it's more? Could it just be us? You think it's like the government, like something like that, or do you think you don't think it could be like some guys flying around in there?
Speaker 2:um, I think a lot of it can be explained. But I think also, when a lot of people are trying to show photos or video footage, you know there's a lot that happens between the the camera sensor and what's actually happening out there, um, but I do think there's also definitely some aircraft that you know could be mistaken. Um, especially, you know, here springs area, there's, you know, a lot going on where there could be test aircraft that just are not known to people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, classified stuff classified stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, who knows? I mean that.
Speaker 1:No, I just you know what the thing is too, I, and I find I find you'd be very practical and the reason I say that is because, like I'm sure you're, you're always uh, especially with star, I think it's a good, good place to put it you deal with people that have high stress situations. Um so, like the way someone described, would describe like an event, or the way something happens is sometimes not exactly the way it actually unfolded in reality, because it's how their brain is perceiving it totally. And I think when people panic, or when they think they like dude, all right, great example shout out to my mom. She sent me uh, she's fucking freaking out, this is in south florida sending me these, uh, these photos of the. Do you ever see like the photos of the starlake satellites?
Speaker 1:yes and like she's like, oh my god, we're seeing ufos. Like this is straight up aliens. I'm like mom, that's a starlake satellite. Like relax over there.
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, so it's interesting to see where people's brains kind of go, and you know how we perceive reality versus what reality actually is totally I mean, there's a lot going on in our lives that can change, something we see all the time and now it's all of a sudden something we can't explain. Yeah, interesting.
Speaker 1:All right. So I like to. I mean, this is a sub-ultra podcast. This might be a tough question to answer, but I like to kind of get into some things, things, uh, running related in a lot of ways. So, and you might not be able to ask or answer too many of these, I'm not really sure, so I'm gonna press you on them. We'll see where we get here, okay, so the first thing is, I'll give you an easy one. What is like? What other sports outside of mountain sports do you draw like um, excitement from? Like adjacent sports, like could be the nba, could be ufc, could be underwater basket weaving, like? What kind of sports do you like outside of mountain sports?
Speaker 2:definitely underwater basket. Um, uh, you know scuba diving that. That was a big part of my life, something I really enjoyed. Um, don't really get to do that as much right now. Um, mountain sports outside of mountain sports that's a tough. Did you watch?
Speaker 1:sports at all. Are you like a, like an nba guy, like an nfl guy? You watch any of that.
Speaker 2:You know I'm not regularly okay but if I'm at a game or friends have on a game, I'll get all into it, like you know. But I have family members that they are die hard have to watch every football game, yeah, every basketball game, and it's like, okay, you know, that's cool to watch every football game or every basketball game, and it's like okay you know that's cool, Could watch it, take it or leave it. I do love to play those sports.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I just I want to play any sport that's out there, just because it's something to do and it's fun.
Speaker 1:I'm a fan of competition.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, I mean, and even without the competitive side of it, just moving your body and having fun with it, um, throwing a baseball, frisbee, playing pool, whatever, um, so yeah, I, I'm, I'm a fan of kind of any sport.
Speaker 1:Are you competitive?
Speaker 2:I am. I think I'm more competitive with myself than with others. Okay, yeah, I will. I will try and push myself, but yeah, yeah, I am competitive.
Speaker 1:Can you unpack that a?
Speaker 2:little bit Sure.
Speaker 1:In the sense where, on Strava I know this is hot, let's talk about this. So when you were on Strava, were you tracking PRs and stuff like that? Because the way I will be is a little bit less with other people, although I do like to throw down, but I also like to um see how I can improve at something like the inclines is the best example. How can I whittle this down until I can get the absolute fucking best out of myself? Is that kind of the same same concept?
Speaker 2:um, I think, but probably not to the same extent. Um, I would, yeah, especially on, yeah, especially on Strava. So I'm taking a little break from Strava at the moment. Um, I I definitely suffer from a bit of FOMO, and seeing stuff on there, you know, people doing all these activities while I've had some injuries, has been a little rough for me, um, so that kind of steered me away from Strava for a little while. Um, hopefully, once everything gets settled, you know, I'll be back on there.
Speaker 2:But, um, yeah, watching someone or seeing someone do something great, and it's like, oh wait, I want to try that. Maybe I can best that I'm not going to do it, you know, like where it's going to kind of do it to defeat them. But just, there's a new challenge, yeah, that I'm going to give myself, based on what they're doing. Um, so that was that's kind of what I mean with. Like, you know, I would be competitive to myself. Can I beat that? Um? And then then I would push it against my own self of okay, well, now I'm here, how can I beat that?
Speaker 1:so I guess it would kind of what you were saying, whittling it down and how to get better and better at it I love that interesting on the strava thought and I I want to just put it out there like I really admire that, like I have a private strava and obviously are we talked about a little like my differences for having a private strava are different, different than you, just not being on strava like for for, for instance, like so for me, my reason to not be on, like to have a private Strava is just because, like I I don't know I hate when people are all up in my shit looking at my workouts. I just don't like that, I don't know. I keep it private. It's, it's something special. His training is for him. You know I like that philosophy.
Speaker 1:Okay, so running related. Now, I know this is a sub ultra podcast, but I'm going to leave this open-ended just because I know this is. The people different look at this, look at the sport differently. So I'm just going to ask you, like, what is your running goat? Who is your running goat? Male or female, or male and female? Um, I know it's a difficult one to answer, but I think my running goat is Killian.
Speaker 2:Really I think so, just watching what that guy can do and just how smooth he moves through the mountains, and fast and effortless and not just with running, I mean his, his just back country pursuits, it's just, it's amazing, Um. So yeah, he is a huge inspiration and, and you know, that's something that I strive to kind of be just effortless moving through the mountains the way that guy does.
Speaker 1:It's incredible. I love that. I think that's the reason why I mean, I've talked to a lot of people on the podcast now and you, I, I, I different people have different reasons for why they like moving in the mountains. Some people it's spiritual and it's their expression. Other people it's competitive and I think that I don't know. I think for me it's a mixture of both. Like, I love that expression and I think some of the one of the most beautiful things is being able to move in the mountains the way you want to, not the way totally you know, yeah, yeah, and I think that's that might be mine as well is that it's a combination yeah you know, spiritual, physical.
Speaker 2:It's something that's we're pushing ourselves and gaining more ground, seeing more things. Yeah, it's a whole bunch of things fucking great isn fucking great, isn't it?
Speaker 1:It is Killian man, I would agree with you. I'm in this renaissance of my own breakdown of the way I define goat, just because I take that term very seriously, and I think it's a difficult conversation to have. And I think it's such an ambiguous conversation because there's no right answer. Um, in a lot of ways, I think killian is one of the few people that have transcended the sport where it's like, just like courtney right, courtney's been on rogan, courtney courtney's just above it. At this point, you know where she could retire tomorrow and everybody knows that that's the, that's the literally greatest of all time. Um, and I think killian, in certain aspects, yes, yes, his range, dude, that range, he could run a hundred miles at hard rock and go set the course record with a dislocated shoulder.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And then he can go, wins the gamma or a series and L. That's kind of crazy to think that people can do that, yeah, and he, like I said, like transcending a sport too with his company, I would definitely agree with wherever that. That shoe, those shoes are pretty cool. Normals, yeah, I can't name either of them. I called it a carrot jig.
Speaker 2:What the hell did you call it? I'm sure I can tell me.
Speaker 1:What the fuck? Yeah, I can't. Um dude, what shoes have you been running in lately?
Speaker 2:What you've been running in lately. What do you got there? You know I've been in a few different shoes, um, so right now, uh, earlier today I was in some merrells, um, thank you, reed. Reed, uh has helped me out with getting those shoes. Love my hokas, my fat days. They're awesome shoe, um. And then nike. Nike has been a brand that I'm new to and absolutely loving ultra flies, um, and Zagama. That shoe is just an amazing shoe. I can't wait. Something will be changing in the next version. That's going to be pretty amazing.
Speaker 1:That's exciting, man, I know. I think it's kind of really neat like being, um, you know, working at the, at the store, to be able to see all the new, all the new, like what all the brands are putting out there, and getting to see, like all the new models and stuff. Oh, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I mean, I have some VJs as well just getting to test a bunch of different shoes and um, and you know, it's really important that we do that so we can talk to the customers and figure out what's going to work for what they're looking for. And uh, it's. It's a nice perk at the same time.
Speaker 1:Fuck, yeah it is. I'm a little biased. I think we'll make you a sportiva guy one way or another, don't you worry.
Speaker 2:Oh, I'd love to drive. I mean my rock climbing shoes, my mountaineering boots, my approach shoes. You know they're all sportiva. You turned me on to approach shoes.
Speaker 1:After that vicious day that we had on Broken Hand Peak, I started using approach shoes for certain things, anything like class three, class four, um, I mean now. Actually I'm kind of spoiled now with sportiva because everything's got really sticky rubber and it's perfect. But before then I wasn't going up into hokotectons anymore that was an interesting shoe choice for that day a really bad one, but you made it happen, you.
Speaker 2:You made that work. It was a rough day, dude.
Speaker 1:That was, that was a really bad one, but you made it happen. You made that work. That was a rough day, dude. There was high consequence. That day that was really fun.
Speaker 2:That was fun and, yeah, that little bit of snow in there really changed things.
Speaker 1:We've got to go back and do that again. Less anxiety, let's do it. Dude, do you have anything to add?
Speaker 2:No, no, no, I know I'm thinking about this. Any shout?
Speaker 1:outs Any well. I know you're less of a social media guy, but we can plug your social media. It gets you some followers if you'd like that, maybe not I?
Speaker 2:don't know, sure, yeah, no, I mean, I love sharing things on social media. You know, just playing out in the mountains.
Speaker 1:How about this out in the mountains? So if you, how about this? Cause? One thing I do want to add to I know you had said, uh, that there's the recruitment right now for SAR is a little bit different. There's not, it's a it's not. But one of the things I'd like to maybe plug is how people can either donate and contribute um to you guys, or if they're interested in, potentially, if they're in that area, or and I'll plug El Paso County search and rescue as well, cause we have a lot of Colorado Springs people that might be interested um in in search and rescue for El Paso County. So I'll kind of plug those things as well.
Speaker 2:So yeah, um, thank you, that's when I probably should have filled in there. Um, so yeah, for us it's JPSR southorg. Um, you know, we pretty much just live off of donations and we'll apply for grants as well. And then a big one that kind of covers all of Colorado is getting a Corsair card. It's not insurance.
Speaker 2:A lot of people are like oh, how do I get my search and rescue insurance card? No, search and rescue does not charge. Everything we do we do for free. I can't say the same, for if you're in an ambulance or certain helicopters, you know that's on them because that's on the medical side of what they have to do, but we don't charge for anything. So of course our card is great. You know, it just kind of helps if we're out there on a rescue and we damage some of our equipment because we're using our own gear. You know we purchase our own backpacks, jackets, whatever, and if it gets torn up or lost or whatever the case may be and you have that card, we can at least apply to hopefully get that covered and and get ourselves some new gear so we can get back out there.
Speaker 1:Dude, I did not know that. I always thought it was like insurance, like that's kind of the way. The reason I originally got mine was, again, pacing for um, I think it was pacing for high lonesome. They require you to have one as a pacer, which is great yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2:And kelsey, thank you guys so much. I mean you're you do a lot for for the sport and especially with search and rescue.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's a great requirement, yeah dude, actually any race directors out there listening? Yes, if, if you have, if you're, if you have a race over 50 miles and you have, pacers should require it, or even entrance should be required to you know, in case you've got to get rescued.
Speaker 2:What is it? Three bucks?
Speaker 1:It's like three bucks, dude, yeah absolutely I did not know, though I always thought it was like an insurance kind of thing. I didn't know that it covered or helped cover your guys' equipment and stuff like that.
Speaker 2:That's huge. It's a really common misconception. A lot of people you know that's kind of what it looks like. Oh yeah, I need this card. No, I mean, we're going to be there for you regardless.
Speaker 1:No, you'll turn around and leave.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, it's really just, you know, kind of like a way of thanking us to be able to resupply ourselves should we damage anything while rescuing you.
Speaker 1:Okay, dude, thank you. All right, what's your?
Speaker 2:Instagram EvSnapshot EVSnapshot Dude. Thank you for being on the pod.
Speaker 1:Thank you, what'd you guys think? I told you Evan was a good dude and what a fun episode. All that search and rescue stuff is really interesting to dive into. I think it was really important to have him on the episode, you know, really to raise awareness and to dive a little bit more into what search and rescue does and to just kind of really thank those that are out there saving us when we're doing dumb shit in the mountains. Special shout out to Evan. Really appreciate it for having him on. What a good dude. Last but not least, I want to do some plugs. You can find him on instagram. You can go ahead and look him up, evan paul. Um, you can. Also.
Speaker 1:One of the things we did talk about was, um, if you guys are interested in volunteering or if you guys are interested in donating um, search and rescue specifically works off of donations. Um, if you are in the area, um, or if you're just interested in supporting a local organization, um, chaffeecountysouthorg is the search and rescue uh address that you guys can uh. Uh check it out on the world wide web. Um, you can go ahead and google that and uh throw donations that way.
Speaker 1:And, last but not least, one of the cool things some races do but I'm not sure a lot of people know what it is is get a COSAR card. If you guys are planning in the back, getting in the back country this summer, cosar card is a great thing to have. It's only three bucks and, like Evan said, it's a great opportunity because if you are rescued from someone in search and rescue, if they damage or lose equipment, having that costar car gives them the ability to get that equipment reimbursed for. So pretty cool Good stuff, guys. I hope you enjoyed this one. Until next time, the Steep Stuff Pod. Thank you.