Transcript 0:01 Welcome to the Danger Gnome Podcast from Spirit Mountain. I am here with mi amigos. We have Dustin Marsh to my left and Tony Grande to my right. Say hello, boys. Hello, everybody. Hello, boys. 0:13 [laughs] It's, it's an audio program where people talk. Nice. [laughs] So we're up here in Duluth, and, uh, we're on a little trip, a little field trip. We got our, uh, 0:25 we got our permission slip signed by our parents, and, uh, we got our bag lunch, and we're in the big sh- what, what Street Chalet? The Grant Street Chalet, right? Grand Avenue. Oh, Grand Avenue Chalet. 0:38 Man, I just cannot get details correct. [laughs] I'm- You're close. You're always close. [laughs] Well, we are geared up here for a day of downhill fat biking, lift service downhill fat biking at Spirit Mountain. 0:54 But yesterday, local trail builder Rudy took us out to the Piedmont Trails, and, uh, why don't you tell us your thoughts on that, Dustin? 1:04 Oh, well, he said the trails were perfect, and we came up, and there was another, what, eight inches of snow on top of it, and we found the trails at some points. 1:13 [laughs] There's a good picture of three of us with a yard sale. There were plenty of crashes and plenty of like... We, we did some rad stuff yesterday [laughs] Yeah... I think. It was, it was intense. It was fun. 1:31 Yeah, there was one little downhill chute where Dustin just disappeared. I saw him, I saw him do [laughs] this weird front wheel hop, and then foomp, he's gone. I'm like, "Oh, God." It's the edge of the earth. Here I go. 1:45 The Earth is flat, you know. [laughs] Exactly. So I, I looked at the Strava. We did 4.4 miles, uh, overall time, three and a half hours. [laughs] And an hour and a half of riding time and crawling time. 1:59 I wonder how much, you know, the, the Wahoo records the crawling a lot. [laughs] And with tire pressure so low, I mean, where you said you were hitting the rim sometimes. Once in a while I would tap the rim. 2:14 I mean, I probably had a pound of pressure in the rear tire. Mm-hmm. That's probably where it was at. Yeah, I think I was about one pound. Yeah. It, it's the lowest tire pressure that I've run in ages- Mm-hmm... 2:26 where you could hear the rear wheel just crinkling, uh, pretty loudly. I mean- Oh, yeah. It sounded like a, a semi got a flat on the highway. Right. Quite right, or it was throwing a retread or something. Mm-hmm. 2:38 But until you heard that noise, you were not getting traction. No, no. Any uphill you were walking [laughs] and crawling- I was doing that anyways... swimming. [laughs] There was some swimming. 2:50 There was a lot of backstroking- Yeah... once you went off the trail. Waist-deep snow. Oh, yeah. I did some nice slow motion step off the trail. [laughs] Errm. Swimming. But, uh, all good fun, man. Oh, hell yeah. Yeah. 3:03 It, uh, Rudy showed us a good time and, uh, took us around and, uh, got us, got us into trouble. Yeah. 3:11 Got us into, you know, to stuff that was a little bit out of my comfort range, but, hey, man, dude, [laughs] we survived and- Sometimes you gotta do hard things, man. Yeah. 3:22 The way I count crashes, I think I only had maybe one crash 'cause I don't count it unless your head hits the ground with impact. [laughs] We couldn't find the ground. Yeah. 3:33 [laughs] So that would be hitting the snow pack maybe, but, uh- I hit my own bike. Yeah? Oh, yeah, you bashed your knee pretty good. Yeah, yeah, on my handlebar. Yeah. So that's how far I got over. 3:44 [laughs] Oh, here's Rudy. Right on. The Rude man. How's it going? You wanna throw on those headphones and talk into the can? Oh, man. [laughs] He's... I think he's going to makeup. 4:01 [laughs] [laughs] He's, he's saying he's... We have to talk to his agent. But, uh, we'll be right back with Rudy and John, uh, John Reginald, Director of Action Sports from Spirit Mountain. 4:17 It's the Danger Gnome Podcast, and you're not. Hey, we're back, and we're at Spirit Mountain. We're in the chalet, the Grand Avenue? Street? Avenue. Oh, Grand Avenue Chalet. And I have J- Rudy has joined us. 4:32 We kinda mentioned that he came in. He's out of makeup. We've talked to his agent, and he's here. Welcome, Rudy. Thanks for having me. Our guide yesterday. 4:40 And we have John Reginald, the Director of Action Sports at Spirit Mountain. Wel- Hey, how are you? Welcome to our little show. It's- Oh, I'm happy to be here. Very happy. It's the Danger Gnome. Yeah. 4:50 And, uh, we all are rocking the traditional gnome beards. [laughs] We like to- It's, it's the way to be. It is. [laughs] Yep. We like to paint a word picture for our listeners. We're in the chalet at a round table. 5:04 We also still have Dustin on the line. Still hiding my face with the beard. Indeed. All four of us could be Junior Gnome Patrol. So John, how long have, have you had a lift service fat bike program at Spirit Mountain? 5:19 Yeah. So lift service is something we dipped into, boy, I, I believe it's, uh, this is our fourth year, I believe, on the lift service. Um, and it's been a blast. 5:30 I mean, to be able to take the bike on a lift and continue the downhill aspect- Mm-hmm... ooh, lovely. It, it's wonderful. 5:39 So I'm really happy you guys are here to experience, to be on the lift, but then also on the trails and just get that, get that bike ripping today. Huh, cool. Uh, so tell us about the program. 5:49 Are, are we limited to any runs? Are there, are there rules? Yeah. Yeah. So we are. 5:55 Uh, what we had to do is we had to come into, uh, what we have as a downhill ski/snowboard operation and say, "How does this really fit into what we're doing?" Mm-hmm. 6:06 Um, and so what we've done is we defined a couple of our summer, uh, trails as, okay, we can maintain these in the winter. 6:13 Uh, and then also a couple of our downhill winter trails that we have some extra signage, and we call a complete mixed use area. Mm-hmm. 6:21 And so, uh, very top of the lift, you've got your own little bike area, then it opens up to that mixed use. 6:27 You got access toOne of our most intense, uh, summertime downhill trails is right next to our, our downhill ski trail. It's called Calculated Risk. It's a blast in the winter. 6:38 I mean, honestly, the, the top, uh, one of them's, the, the Terrarium is, is the rock garden that is just... It's steep. Rudy, you've been on the Terrarium. 6:47 It's, it's a good ride, so- It's a good challenge in the summer. In the summer. In the winter [laughs] it's, uh, it's still steep, but it's covered in snow, and so, uh, the feeling of, of it is, is great. I mean, I've, 7:00 I've been that, down that on, uh, on my bike but also on my back. [laughs] And the snow, uh, kinda adds that like, "Hey, this is a good time," you know? So- Smoothes out all the rough edges. Oh, my goodness, yeah. Yeah. 7:14 So what, what, what is our summertime downhill trail, uh, becomes a wintertime just... I mean, that's, that's a go-to. Um- Cool... we kinda get some help from skiers and boarders grooming that one- Mm-hmm... 7:25 um, because, uh, the relative l- closeness, and so it, it stands up. It holds out really well, so. 7:31 So what about interactions with how do we, how do we best treat, what's the etiquette for interaction between skiers, snowboarders, and, and fat bikers? Yeah. Uh, once we get onto that, so Juggler Joe and Timber Cruiser. 7:43 Timber Cruiser's one of our favorite, uh, downhill trails, uh, for the skiers and boarders as well, and that one's open for bikers. 7:50 And then Juggler Joe is, is actually a green circle beginner trail, but we've made it into more of a s- fun slope that we add, uh, snow features, just rollers, some berm-esque type. Um- Wow... 8:01 bigger, but on the, the scale of more of, like, that skier cross, boarder cross. Mm-hmm. 8:06 It's fun for bikes, and then so that interaction really maintains, um, that winter res- responsibility code, uh, where the same way that when you're skiing, boarding, you're not stopping in a place. 8:19 You're giving the downhill person the right of way, and so the skiers, boarders are giving the bikers the right of way, and the same with the bikers. And it's, uh, it's always been a, a clean interaction between. 8:29 The relationship has, has been good. Um, and so with that, I mean, just defining those areas, it's, it's super cool to have the bikes out there. 8:38 So the skiers and boarders know that they'll interact with fat bikers on certain runs. Mm-hmm. And- Yep. Yeah... do we have to stay, do we need to stay to the right of the run, or- No. Not at all. It- The run is yours... 8:51 you have free rein. Yeah. And so on those, uh, because we define the top as we, we rope line bikes go in one area, it's, it's really our beginner, beginner terrain- Mm-hmm... that we, um, separate. 9:01 So once you are done with your ride, you come down to the bottom, and, and you, uh, stay on the side of the fence line to the very bottom, and then you, uh, cross the ski run to get back to the lift. Mm-hmm. 9:11 And, uh, so it's those beginner, beginner areas that we don't want that, that interaction, but those, uh, couple of runs, uh, they're, they're great. Uh, there's... Those are free for you to explore, so. Nice. 9:23 And that's Juggler Joe? Yeah. And what's the other run? Timber Cruiser. Timber Cruiser. Yeah. Right on. Yeah. So if someone wants to come out and enjoy the downhill, lift service downhill m- fat bike system, what... 9:34 How much is a lift ticket for a day? Yeah. 9:36 It's, it is based off of the normal, uh, snow pass lift ticket, and so we're right at $65, but we do, like many places, have that, uh, online where you pre-purchase ahead of time. 9:47 You can get pretty good deals on the pre-purchase. Nice. So, yeah. And, uh, 10:00 to 4:00 on- 10:00 to 4:00... Sundays. Yep. Yep. And you started, is it today the first day? Uh, last week. Last week. 9:57 So we've had one already. Cool. So yeah. Week number two. And how long, how long does it run? Through the end of the season? This year we're, we're doing five, uh, weeks, so it is limited. Mm-hmm. 10:05 Um, but then we do come back on March 28th. Mm-hmm. Um, this is really late, so... But it's, it's gonna be a blast. 10:11 The Frosted Fatty is, uh, going to be mixed with our spring event, and the Frosted Fatty is, is really normally our winter event that we come in and, uh, we do a, a staged downhill. 10:24 Um, we do a, a dual slalom where we set up a course that, that one's amazing. So get this, we do a biker versus boarder versus skier. [laughs] Awesome. And, and we do it as a king of the hill. 10:36 We put 500 bucks on the line- What?... to say... Yeah. [laughs] To, to, to define who's the best. And we understand that the biker and the snowboarder have some disadvantages. Mm-hmm. 10:48 I mean, skis are fast, especially on a course. So we define the, the... 10:53 We, we make the course with the biker and the snowboarder in mind to kinda try to jam up the skier sometimes, try to make it so that, that the course is not... 11:02 Now, two years in a row of this one we have had a skier and a skier win, but it came down to a skier versus a biker- Huh, cool... I think, uh, both years, and I mean, it's, it's a blast. 11:14 So Frosted Fatty, uh, staged downhill dual slalom. Um, and no- and you know, in, in recent years, uh, it's been more this time of year that we have it. Mm-hmm. Um, this year it's just scheduling, uh, was differently, so. 11:28 It's in March. In March. What, what's the date? March 28th. March 28th, so- So highly likely that we- I'll be back from just fresh back from three weeks in Alaska, so. Hey. Oh, come and visit. Yeah. 11:40 I'm, I'm- Come and hang out... I really think downhill fat biking hasn't been touched, and it seems like Spirit Mountain is... You're, you're the point of the spear in, in the Great Lakes area as far as- Yeah... 11:52 is bringing this to the public. Yeah. Uh, there are... In Wisconsin last year we had our first downhill dual slalom fat bike race. Yeah. I went to that, and Alpine Valley- Cool... 12:03 has, has a downhill race, uh, happening in February. So, uh, I, I really think that this is, this is an area, you know, the industry thinks that fat bikes are declining. Yeah. 12:15 And I really think that this could be at least a bounce in that- Cool... in that activity. Yep. And you... And it could develop into really slack suspension, dropper post. 12:25 It, we don't know what a lift service fat bike is gonna actually look like. Yeah. Uh, looks like a fat bike, but- Yeah... 12:33 it's gonna have some other features that are going toRe-ignite the passion for, for the sport that I love, right? Yeah, absolutely. Well, cool. Absolutely. 12:43 And, uh, we'll have, uh, your, all the information to the event, to your, uh, to your website, and, uh, maybe even a picture of all of us, you know, jumping the Sweet Gnar or something. [laughs] Yes. Yeah. Yeah. 12:59 And what are you guys... I mean, like, I'm, I'm curious, I wanna throw the question right around. Mm-hmm. What are you guys expecting right now? 13:04 I mean, like, coming in, first time to hop on the lift and take your fat bike on the downhill, like, what... The paint- the picture I painted of this, like, skier, boarder, biker run- Mm-hmm... 13:15 does that, what's that look to you guys? I mean, like- Dustin, what do you, what do you have in mind? Well, I'm looking at a few runs down the trails, maybe fall down Calculated Risk a few times. Yeah. 13:24 Then get going so fast on the downhill runs that my tires get about six inches taller. Yeah. [laughs] Rudy, you've actually been here. Yeah, I've been here before. 13:35 I kinda know what to expect, but it's very conditions dependent. Yeah. I mean, we just got eight inches of snow yesterday, so that's gonna be interesting to see how that shapes up today. Mm-hmm. 13:46 Um, John, can you tell us about what your grooming method is for these trails? Yeah, absolutely. So, m- I mean, like I said, Calculated Risk, it's, it's because that one is next to the ski run, 13:57 really, uh, the skiers and boarders, just by them riding the bike trail, that's almost the grooming on there. That sounds interesting, but that's a reality, and they, they do a good job. 14:07 Um, beyond that, we have, uh, our, um, lead bike, uh, groomer, Alex Rhode, he's been around for years. 14:15 He's actually developed just a, a decel mat, rubber mat pad, but heavy, deep, and, uh, multiple layers that he is out there with, with the snowmobile, dragging it, uh, with that mat, and does a good job. 14:28 I mean, it's got the weight, and it also moves snow. So, uh, yeah, it, it, I'm, uh, happy with what he does. Cool. I'm thinking, uh, I'm thinking, I'm a downhill skier, so- Yeah... 14:39 I, I know about lift service gravity sports. I'm, I'm kind of expecting... I, I didn't really understand that there were trails involved that, that are kind of in between the runs and in the lift part of the hill, right? 14:55 Yep. Yep. Is that how it works? So you kind of described that well. That, that sounds like, uh, sure death to me. [laughs] That sounds like a trip to the ER. 15:03 [laughs] John, on that note, though, I mean, Rudy, sorry to cut you there, but we've got our bike patrol. Yeah. So our summer bike patrol- Oh, cool. As we... They, they rode by behind you there. Yep. Yep. 15:11 It's, uh- We've got, like, a committed, uh, bike patrol that comes out, and they are here in the winter for the, the bike patrolling as well. To drag us off the hill. Yeah, so. 15:18 Yeah, don't worry, you know, Uncle Gomez is awfully safe. I'm, like, the, the ultimate geezer. [laughs] Yeah. I will survive. [laughs] Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Well, cool. 15:29 You have a, do you have any superlatives to hand out for yesterday's ride? I know I would get most talkative. [laughs] [laughs] That's to Rudy. 15:40 W- with the eight inches of snow we had, or e- eight or more, I don't know what it was- Yeah... and the wind, I'm amazed we were able to get out and ride. Mm-hmm. I owe a lot of credit to the great groomers we have. 15:50 Yes, yes. I say that 'cause I'm one of 'em. [laughs] Hey-o. Hey-o. I heard these guys were coming, so I'm like, "Aw, crap." [laughs] "I gotta get up at 4:00 in the morning and go groom," and- Yeah. 16:01 And you took us to a great place for lunch, so you get, in, in my book, you get, like, best guide. I mean, to be fair, it was about a four-hour ride yesterday to cover, or three-hour ride to cover the four miles. Mm-hmm. 16:13 It took us about that long to groom it too, so. Yeah. Well- So we had a... We were able to go as fast as the snowmobiles yesterday. Yeah. So that was good. Yeah. Well, that's impressive. Well, all right. 16:22 You guys are good. Well, thanks. That's it for this section. We're gonna go ride bikes, and then we're gonna probably come back and give some, uh, we, you're gonna hear superlatives. 16:33 You're gonna see us, hear us right after we've had so much fun. [laughs] And we'll probably mix in some, uh, some hill. We'll probably shove my iPhone in some people's faces and be like, "Tell us, tell us how this is." 16:46 So look forward to that right after this. [upbeat music] Hey, we got somebody on the hill. What's your name, dude? Nick from Stash Bike and Adventure. So Nick, you're a friend of Dustin's. 16:58 Can't believe we c- everybody knows Dustin in, in, uh, Duluth. Everybody does know Dustin. [laughs] So tell us, you're here with his, with the young lady. What's your name? Julie. 17:08 Julie, uh, how do you like, uh, downhill fat biking? I think it's awesome. I love passing skiers. [laughs] That's cool. What do you think? Can't, can't get much better on a fat bike. 17:20 The exhilaration of just flying down an open run, just can't beat it. And you have a, a Wyatt Maverick with a, with a Renton fork. Is that your bike, or are you demoing this bike? 17:29 This is a demo from my shop, so anybody can demo this bike, actually. I'm just up here kinda testing it out myself. Very cool. Wyatt Bikes, made right there in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Thanks a lot for talking to us. 17:40 Have a good day. For sure. You too, man. Thank you. All right, we got Wyatt. He's second time out on the mountain. Tell us how you feel about lift service fat biking, Wyatt. 17:52 Well, I come from a downhill free ride mountain biking background, and lift service fat biking gives me the opportunity to kind of transfer that over to winter riding. 18:03 And I mean, I love fat biking, you know, on trails and everything like that, you know, doing the work, but when it comes to having lift service, like, right in my backyard, I live here, I mean, it's a, it's a really great asset. 18:15 Did you know that, that Spirit Mountain is one of the only lift service fat biking places in the country? I was not aware of that, and that's pretty cool that we have that, like I said, like, right in our backyard. 18:27 Being a local here, it's, I think it's a cool thing for the community to have that. And I mean, perhaps that will draw people from far away. 18:35 I mean, people who love fat biking, why wouldn't you wanna take it and apply lift service to it? It's all the fun, less work.Right on. So do you think... 18:43 We've had some discussion about how fat bikes might change if they were specifically designed for this type of riding. What do you think that those changes might be? Maybe... 18:55 I mean, I ha- I don't have a ton of experience on a bunch of different fat bikes. 18:59 This is my, this is my first fat bike that I've had, and I think if we started to apply slacker geometry and just a little more, I don't know, a little, little more aggressive geometry to fat bikes, I think they could be, I mean, everything you'd want them to be for something like this. 19:18 And I mean, maybe someday we end up getting to the point where we have downhill fat bikes and cross-country fat bikes and enduro fat bikes. So yeah. Right on. Thanks for talking to us. Have a good day. Absolutely. 19:29 Appreciate it. You too. [upbeat music] Hey, we're back, and we've ridden lift service fat biking. We're back with Dustin Marsh, Tony Grande, and the rude man, Rudy. How's it going? I'm giddy. 19:44 [laughs] So we're gonna start with, we, we're gonna end with you because you're the one with all the experience. So Dustin Marsh, tell us about your fat bike day. Oh, we went up the hill- [laughs]... 20:02 but we didn't have to work 'cause it towed us all the way up on the lifts. Mm-hmm. And then we went down the hill, and well, it took a while to get down sometimes. [laughs] And we didn't have to pedal either necessarily. 20:14 Just full clarity, it didn't tow us up the hill. We sat on a chair. It brought us all the way up. Excellent work. This isn't an old-fashioned tow rope. On a couch. This is a real operation. Yeah. Whoa. High speed quad. 20:24 Yeah. Or a quint maybe. Quad. Quad. Quad? Okay. Yeah. My brakes got pretty hot today. Yeah. Instant feels like 30. Who knows? Yeah. The Strava machine will tell us how fast we went. It was at least 88 miles an hour. 20:43 [laughs] Well, yeah, it feels so fast, and yeah, you can get so loose. And so I saw, I saw Tony take a big tumble. Oh, yeah. So tell us, tell us like your favorite part and, uh, like your best yard sale story. 20:59 [laughs] Uh, which one was- He has so many. [laughs] I think I spent more time upside down underneath my bike. [laughs] Uh, we kept going down Calculated Risk and, uh, yeah, that was a really bad calculation. 21:17 And we had a whole group. We had a, we had like a group of six people and- Yeah, seven, eight of us at the end. Yeah. And, uh, Luke and the cat from the Handlebar Mustache Bike Shop- Yeah... 21:28 was riding with us for a while. And, uh, yeah. Tony and I decided after that first run [laughs] of the, of the, uh, I don't know if we even got to Calculated Risk- No. [laughs]... but, but it l- it was like mogul skiing. 21:42 [laughs] And I was like, "All right. This is cool." Slammed my body to the ground a couple of times, and then I was like, "Okay. I, I found my happy spot out here on the blue run." 21:51 And these guys went and did their thing, and Tony and I did laps around. And, uh, how much, how much climbing did we do today, Tony? 5,000 feet. [laughs] 5,000 feet of climbing. Of course. 22:04 You look like you're still full of energy. [laughs] I am. Plenty of energy right now. [laughs] So that was all the lift- Yeah... the lift service. It was fun. So. That was nice. That was really nice, just zip right up. 22:18 It's kind of weird... At, at first it was cool because it was like, it was slow, or l- I, I'm sorry, not a lot of customers here yet. Mm-hmm. 22:25 So get the bikes up, not too many people, just get right on the lift, get up to boom, boom, boom. But then after we had lunch, it was like you get your bike on, and then, okay, there's four people. There's four people. 22:39 Yeah. You had to just sit there and kinda wait until you could squeeze in. Till you could get a spot. Yeah, get a spot on the lift- Yeah... but still get up there and just start rolling down. Oh, that was just so fun. 22:47 But people were pretty good about it. It was- Yeah... you know, I'd say with quite a lot of people that were, that were really stoked that there's fat bikers out here riding the hill, and- Yeah. 22:57 Oh, there was a lot of awesome conversations with- Yeah... with people, with families and everything. They were all stoked about it, just asking tons of questions. It was great. But seriously, we got to cut the line. 23:07 [laughs] Oh, yes. Yeah. I mean, the way the system works, I mean, the bikers come up front because there's only so many places you can put your bike. Right. 23:13 So your bike goes on there as soon as it can, and since you're standing there, you get on there ahead of everybody else. And I never felt any animosity from anybody- No... that I was cutting in front. Right. Yeah. 23:22 Right, right. We just have a little bit of a different channel, and there are fewer of us, but the, it, it always seemed like [laughs] we didn't have to wait very long. No. 23:30 It was a matter of waiting for the right mount on the back of the chair. Exactly. And then figuring out the whole timing of it because you're not normally worried about the chair that's in front of you. Mm-hmm. 23:40 You're only worried about the chair that's gonna come and hit you in the butt. Right. 23:44 So that was a little wild, but I got to ride up with some skiers, and I was always like, "So how do you feel about fat bikers being on the hill?" 23:52 And they, universally, they were like they were cool with it, and they knew where the fat bikers were supposed to be and the runs that they weren't supposed to be, and they were all for it. Mm-hmm. 24:03 They, they saw the benefit to the overall, you know, like, financial health of, of the mountain. You know, keep the mountain open. Yeah. 24:10 More people come, buy lift tickets, then we can continue to have a mountain to ski, right? So I did see, uh... I, the, we, we took turns, like, leading. Like, I was like, "I'll follow you this time. 24:22 You'll follow me this time," and [laughs] one of the lowest points when I was following you is saw you go way over into the right, and I'm like, "Whoa, whoa, he's... Oh, he's gonna save it. He's gonna save... 24:34 Oh, he's over the bars. He... Oh." I kept- And then I passed you. [laughs] And- There was a couple skiers who saw me just... It was, uh, it was glorious from what I understand. 24:44 [laughs] You were in-- You, you were sw- I was deep... you were swimming out of the snow there. Yeah. I was, 'cause I-- The first couple of runs when we hit those, if you got over to the side, it was fresh groom. Mm-hmm. 24:55 And you had plenty of traction, so I could get in there and, like, kinda carve a turn. So that's what I was aiming for. I'm seeing fresh cord, getting over there. 25:06 Well, I hit it, and then I laid into it, and then it wasn't there. It just gave out right from underneath me and just [mouths crashing sound] And there it was. Yeah. Gone. Exactly. 25:16 And then a couple skiers stopped and were, like, looking down, way down. [laughs] "Are you okay?" They're saying, "Are you okay?" [laughs] "Fine. I'm good." [laughs] "Let me swim out of here." 25:27 Our last run down, right at the bottom of the hill, I pop out of the woods, there's a little bit of a ditch to come up, and you guys saw my head come up- Yeah... and then drop back down into a 10-foot hole. 25:36 We, we see Dustin from the head, all the sudden his shoulders, his waist, and just, boom, he's gone. [laughs] Doesn't exist anymore. Foop. He found the gnome hole, the gnome dimension. [laughs] Yeah. 25:48 It was an eight-foot hole. [laughs] And he's a six-foot man. [laughs] Ooh, you're generous today. Yeah. I'm a bad estimator. Nice. Eh, same with me trying to load my bike on the lift, but- [laughs]... it's fine. 26:01 So number one to 10 on lift service fat biking here at Spirit Mountain? I'm all about a 10. Yeah? Oh, yeah. Solid 10. Oh, yeah. It was just a blast. Dustin? Absolute blast. Crank it up to 11. 26:13 Yep, that's where I was going. Um, my, my vote on one to 10 is 11 'cause, you know, your first time is always the best time. Mm-hmm. And I-- Somehow, I managed to slam my skull to the ground- Yeah, you did... 26:24 a couple of times. You got it good that last one. And slide down the mountain on my helmet. [mouths sliding] You got your bars tweaked a bit. Yeah. Yeah. 26:33 [laughs] Then I got back on the bike, and I'm like, "Oh, damn, my bars are fucked." 26:37 [laughs] And that-- It's-- It, it doesn't make it any easier to try and figure out how to not crash [laughs] when your bars are like that. Well, that was the thing, too, is you, it-- 26:49 you start getting going so quick, and then when it-- especially once it got real loose and real loose, you're like, "Okay, I gotta contemplate how long it's gonna take for me to make this turn and how much"... 27:01 And then you're just like, "Whoa, whoa, wh-what?" And then either you got it- Yeah... or you didn't. There is no fighting the bike. No. The bike wants to go one direction, you let it go there. Mm-hmm. 27:11 You gently nudge it over where you want, but you don't steer like you normally do a bike. No. No. True that. Every time I tried to use my brakes, they just put me in the ditch. 27:19 [laughs] And that, that kind of- Modulation is key. Yeah. That, that kind of brings me to, it's very [laughs] big... You reach speeds, like, wow. Like, I think my- Like, I don't, I don't ski that fast. 27:34 [laughs] I think my Strava said- You know, I turn... 27 miles an hour at one point in time on mine. Yeah. Oh, yeah. One of the, one of the lads that we were riding with here earlier said he got up to 42. 27:44 [laughs] I think he said 47. 47. [laughs] He's a really good rider. He's- Yeah... one of the biggest, best jumpers in town. Yeah. He's a good rider, but still, that's fast. That is. Especially when you're on ice or snow. 27:55 Yeah. Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. Whoo. That's fast. So the rude man, Rudy, any thoughts? Well, I think I've been here twice before, maybe three times for winter events. Conditions are always different. Mm-hmm. 28:07 The one time we had, like, hand-packed trails. I was out there with a rake clearing off some of the berms, getting down to the dirt layer so we could actually rip the berms during one of the events. Mm-hmm. 28:18 The next event, we were, like, out there with snowshoes packing it in, totally different. Today, like I said before, we had eight inches of snow. It was totally different experience once again. They're all fun. Yeah. 28:28 I mean, I'm just besides myself with how much fun I had today. Awesome. I came in here with not great expectations, knowing what the snow conditions were, but it was phenomenally fun. Yeah. 28:39 If you haven't done this, do it. Yeah. Spirit Mountain, uh, come up here. There's three more weeks starting, uh... They started last week. This is the second week. They do it for five weeks. So what are we? 28:53 W- It should be probably the end of February you can go to, somewhere around there. Check out spiritmountain.com. 28:59 Um, and, uh, encourage if you're a skier or you're a fat biker or both, and you, you go to a mountain regularly, you know, talk to the people there and tell them about Spirit Mountain's- Mm-hmm... 29:13 program and, uh, the races that are coming up at, at the mountains in your area. Check 'em out. Go there. 29:20 Even if you're not a downhiller, go there and ring a cowbell and, uh, bring your skis because there's always skiing as well. 29:29 You know, if you don't want to, to try it, but once you see it, I think you're gonna wanna try it. [laughs] Yeah. Oh, yeah. Uh, it was- It was, oh my God. It was so fun. 29:38 Everybody out there wanted to be out on a fat bike today. Oh, yeah. It was a- Like, "Oh, that looks so fun." It was a ton of fun. Mm-hmm. 29:45 And honest to God, didn't you have the biggest grin on your face [laughs] when you were going down? It's like being a child again. Yeah. Well, it's like the first time I threw my leg on a fat bike. 29:53 Just riding it, just, you get that big, huge, shit-eating grin. And one of the- Today, it's, like, all over again. It's like, this is why. We all dropped our posts, like, like, BMX style. Mm-hmm. And it was... 30:06 It's a whole, it's, it's a whole new world that's- Oh, yeah... super familiar. It's almost a whole new world. [laughs] Anyway, you can tell we're-- the stoke level is high. Very. And, uh, we're gonna sign off. 30:19 Thanks for listening, and, uh, we'll talk to you next time. Gomes's outerwear for today's show was provided by the Old Man Winter clothing systems from Bontrager. Bontrager and Old Man Winter let you thrive outdoors. 30:33 Visit bontrager.com and thrive. 30:38 [outro music]
