Cameron Hanes - Keep Hammering Collective - KHC 201 - Chris Burandt

Episode Date: June 29, 2026

Chris Burandt - renowned American professional snowmobiler, widely regarded as one of the world's best all-around riders, particularly in backcountry and freestyle disciplines. He rose to fame in the early 2000s as a freestyle pioneer nicknamed “Big Air Burandt,” becoming the first-ever X Games Freestyle Gold Medalist and starring in Slednecks films.  Today, he is a longtime Polaris Pro Rider, owner of Burandt’s Backcountry Adventure guided tours, a popular content creator, and entrepreneur. Inducted into the Colorado Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2024, he continues to ride, guide, and innovate in the industry. Follow Chris: https://www.instagram.com/chrisburandt211/  Follow along: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cameronrhanes Twitter: https://twitter.com/cameronhanes Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/camhanes/ Website: https://www.cameronhanes.com Timestamps: 00:00:00 – Blue Collar to Professional Snowmobiler 00:06:20 – Competitive from a Young Age & a Love for Motorsports & Adventure 00:13:07 – Developing Riding Skills & Confidence as a Kid 00:20:02 – Quitting College to Splicing Fiber Optics 00:23:26 – Going Pro: A Foot in the Door with Slednecks 00:35:25 – Opportunities in the 2000’s: Slednecks, Big Jumps, & Freestyle 00:39:22 – The Growth of Freestyle & Working for Arctic Cat 00:45:45 – X-Games Tricks & Disparity to Keep Freestyle on TV 00:55:48 – The Compound, Defeat from a Backflip, & Mental Toughness 01:00:53 – 100ft Downhill Death-gap Jump 01:07:52 – Winning the 2007 X-Games: Jumping the Big Dog 01:24:33 – Stunt Double for Vin Diesel 01:31:00 – Burandt’s Backcountry Adventures & a Passion for Snowmobiling 01:35:47 – How Chris and Cam Met: A Seminar in Colorado 01:39:13 – Chris’s Love for Bowhunting 01:42:35 – Mental State from Accomplishing Goals 01:45:46 – The Bow Rack, Roy Roth, & Roy Roth 01:52:23 – F**k, Marry, Kill: Snowmobiling, Dirt Biking, or Bowhunting 01:58:52 – Final Thoughts: Running Pisgah Thank you to our sponsors: Hoyt: http://bit.ly/3Zdamyv use code CAM for 10% off LMNT: Visit https://drinklmnt.com/cam for a free sample pack with any purchase Sig Sauer: https://www.sigsauer.com/ use code CAM10 for 10% off optics Ketone IQ: https://www.ketone.com/Cam use code CAM for 30% off your first subscription Montana Knife Company: https://www.montanaknifecompany.com/ Use code CAM for 10% off  Black Rifle Coffee: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com/ Use code KEEPHAMMERING for 10% your order

Every step I take I move my truth. Every time they tell me stop I use. Every comment hate that makes my feel. Gather up my energy and boom. I hear them talking, saying the way that I move it's so reckless. That is a part of my mind I've been blessed with. Giving my blood so I am relentless. This is a Keep Hammering Collective.

I'm with, this didn't be a good test right here. Chris. You had it. I know, I know. Chris. I'm not telling you. I'm here with Chris. Yeah.

What's up, Cam? Burdant. Burant. See? You've had it. But I was messing around because Brian Barney can't say it right. Yeah. That's right.

Brian, you got it right next time. Thanks, Brian. You screwed me up because we were like, because I said, what does he say? Then I don't say what he says. I'll just say it right because I had it. Now I don't have it. You do. Yeah.

Does it? Yeah. I don't know why they put a D in there, but it really screws people up. Do you say the D? No. Brant. Yes. Did I say the D?

No. Okay. Well, that was a big one. That's pretty much why we had you on. Yeah, just to clear that up. And then, well, there's two reasons. It was that. And then also snow machine, snowmobile sled.

Oh, you picked up on that today. What? So when I didn't know, when I didn't know anything, I'd say snowmobile. But then I went up bear hunting with Roy. and there's pictures, I think we're on. And so we'd say, we're on the snow machines. Well, you're in Alaska. It's a snow machine in Alaska.

Is it? Oh, yeah. Why? I don't know. And if you go to Alaska and call it a snowmobile or a sled, you get the stink guy, dude. Right. Oh, yeah. Okay, so it's a region thing.

Yeah, 100%. Oh, is that it? Yeah. And there's no real right or wrong. In Alaska, there is. And you say snowmobile. I do, or a sled. Yeah.

What are you doing? What is this? I don't know. Should I do it? Do it? I would. Ketone IQ. Do you want to be smart?

Yeah. Do you want to have unlimited cardio? Yes, after today, yes. There you go. Okay. So I know this is your podcast. Yeah. But I want to start it with something.

Oh, okay. Okay. That's a different taste. Yeah. This is from Michael Brattedit. See, he's got a couple Ds in there too, doesn't he? Brant did it. So I've got something for you.

Whoa. What? This is for me? Yeah, this is for you. Oh my God, dude. Why? So in the motorsports world, see, in case you need to learn how to do this. Brand. Yeah, there you go. You know you've like done it when you become a monster energy athlete or Red Bull athlete.

That's a big logo right there. Yeah. So I was a monster energy athlete for 10 years as a snow machiner. Yeah. And, you know, every time I'd strap that a helmet like this on, you got to ask yourself, like, how am I going to differentiate myself from everybody else to keep being a badass? Right. And so I thought it would be cool.

I mean, you've basically done that your entire life. And this is just a little gift for me to you, just saying, thanks for being back. and keep pushing all of us outliers out here. Thank you. I appreciate it. Well, man, this means a lot. I love this. I did bring a Sharpie.

I'll sign it when we're down here. Oh, I thought this was that. No, we need an actual one. Yeah, I got a little message for you anyway. I love it. I love it. James, can I set this there? Or what fuck it up.

Okay. No, that's great. Thank you. Well, you said when you strap that on, you'd have to say, what's going to differentiate, Differ. It's a tough one.

Differentiate. Differentiate yourself. So what did you come up with? What was your answer? Well, man, this kind of starts us off, right? From the very beginning, like how the hell is someone going to make it as a professional snowmobiler? Right.

It's not really a career path most people have. No, no, it wasn't. But, you know, I just, I knew from a very young age that I wanted to have snowmobiling be a big portion of my life and and it ended up basically, you know, driving me every single day to figure out how, like, how am I going to make a living, similar billing? And so why did you tell me why you knew that, like, yeah, at an early age. What was it about it? It was, so I grew up in Denver.

I was a city kid, but my grandparents had a cabin up in the mountains that, you know, it was always that treat to go. Yeah. to grandpa's cabin, Roy. Yeah. And that was my grandpa's name. And to just, it was so different than the city. And so I fell in love with the mountains.

That was step one. That was a pretty easy one. And then they, that's how they traveled was just going from the truck to the cabin with the, with the snowmobile. And so it was pretty utilitarian back then, you know, like that's what you were using the snowmobile for. And you use it for ice fishing. and all that stuff. But like just feeling that the engine, the smells of being in the forest, like, it's not Denver. Yeah.

You know? And so that was, that just hit me like very, at a very young age. I mean, I started snowmobiling when I was, you know, six wearing the moon boots and the one piece and duct tape the bottom. So those, your pant leg didn't come up, you know? And we didn't have much money growing up. And so it was, you know, it was a treat to go to the cabin. And so, but I mean, I just, I knew instantly after getting on a sled that and being in the mountains, I got to figure out how to do this more.

Yeah. But I would say like most kids, you know, if they go to grandma and grandpa, that's always a big deal. If they get to like, we'd always go to a ranch. and get to ride a horse and you get to do whatever. So most kids would think that's fun. But you thought it was fun, but also like, no, this is what I'm going to do. So why is that just your personality? Because every kid would say, oh, I want to do this forever.

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I like the competitiveness of it and the team aspect and all of those things. But it, so what happened was I started not having as much fun with the soccer side of things because it was taking so much time and not allowing me to explore this other thing of like this motor. And I think so maybe maybe that was some of it was that just, you know, really having, having the thought of being out in the wilderness with nothing but, you know, your snowmobile, your idea of how to get from point A to point B. I think it was just, it was just intriguing. And again, I kind of have to come back to it, coming from being a city kid where you just like,

you get on your bike and you ride around, that's all there was to do. Yeah. You know, much like I hear, you know, kind of like how you got into bow hunting and chasing things around like you stumbled on to something. It's like, whoa, this is really hard and kind of cool. And I guess that's kind of what got me started. And then there was that transition from, all right, the soccer deal sucks. I don't like doing it anymore. All I want to do is ride my snowmobile. Yeah. But snowmobiles are expensive. Yeah. And it takes a lot of time. And so I knew from a very young age that I was going to have to like work a lot. Yeah, hustle. So.

I mean, you know, by the time I was 14, I was 14, 15, I was working two jobs, working at the old Bowen Alley. Nice. I'd do that on the weekends. And I actually worked at a nursing home for a little bit, just like being the dishes boy, you know, it's whatever, like it's money. Yeah. And it was for a snowmobile before my car. Really? Yeah, 15.

They co-signed on a loan for me. What was it? What machine? 1990-ndy-500. Was that a good one at that time? It was actually pretty good. It was $3,500. I still have it.

Really? Yeah. Yeah. I have the classified ad that I saw in the newspaper of the sled and, yeah, bought it. Oh, man. And then so they co-assigned and then what did that lead to? Yeah. What did you do with that machine?

Yeah. So that transition, like so 15, I get my license and we're on. So 16. I'm out of here. Right. Like I'm working seven days a week for gas money to just put gas in my 78 blazer and my Indy 500. And I'm going to go just ride. Explore. Yeah.

Like by myself and just thinking back like, oh my God, how did I not die or, you know? Like avalanches or what? We'll get to that point. But it just like, you know, not, I didn't have on X or anything to like figure out where the hell I'm going. Right. Because if you, at that time, you could go anywhere. How would anybody find you if anything happened? Yeah, no phones.

The snow machine broke down. What do you do? Yeah. Well, you walk out. I had to do that several times. But and I think, you know, that was, that was some of the fun of it too is just the absolute adventure. Thinking to yourself like, dude, if shit goes wrong here, this could get a little sideways. Yeah.

And loving that. Yeah. Living, no matter if it went good or bad, like, getting through it and then going on to the next adventure. Yeah, so like now it's just starting to ride, like ride a lot. And so that's like high school. And then how did you know if you were getting good? Did you ride with other people or did you just feel more comfortable back there?

How is a skill developing? So that's an interesting question. And so as a kid, you know, you look up to your parents and I'd always ride behind dad and watch what he was doing. And pretty early, I was like, Dad, you need to get the hell out of the way. You need to get out of the way. And I'm, and then, you know, then I start being the leader. Like, it was kind of that, that 15, 16 year old type, you know. Passing of the torch.

Exactly. Yeah. And so that was pretty fun and enjoyable, booting dad to the back. Yeah. And, you know, and that's the thing is like when it's a big difference in life, if you're the leader or the follower. Yeah, for sure. And the follower, you're just like just following the sheep. You're not making decisions.

No. And so that was, that was a really big turning point for me is like the torch has been passed. And. Well, it's pressure. Now you're leading everybody. Yeah. So you better not screw it up. Yep.

Yeah. But it's pressure, but it allows you to grow, you know, because there's no growth if you're in the back still. You're not learning the lesson. You might get a little better from just repetition of just being on the machine. But as far as like being a leader, like what does it mean to be a leader? Some people never know. Yeah. They will never be the person in front.

They're always going to be like, hey, I'll do whatever it takes. Just tell me. Yeah. And I'm like, yeah, that's the problem. Yeah. You know what's awesome about what that short little. conversation that we just had, that is not about snowmobiling. That's about life.

Right? And from the get-go, like, I knew if I was going to try to be a snowmobiler, you have the easy way and the hard way. Yeah. Like, it's going to be hard. Every single way you go. And I was not only willing and able to accept that, but at the time you don't know this. But it's so damn rewarding, you know, like to save up enough money to put a deposit down to get your parents to co-sign on a loan, that's like step one.

You know, when I'm 14 and I literally, I mean, you could open up, which is a little creepy, like Ray Finkel's house in Ace Ventura. You know, like it's still the same. My room is still the same at my parents' house. You could open up my closet door and you could see I drew, you know, the whatever, the same. giving up the money, right? Right. At the top was $3,500. Yeah.

And I'd color in every time I'd put $20 in. Like it's still there, you know? And that, so again, just knowing from the very beginning, like if I, if you want to do this, you're just going to have to go work for it. Yeah. Well, and then so 15, and 16, the past, the torch was kind of passed. Then you were leading the group. So that should give you confidence.

But where do you, when did the, when did the, you? confidence to be the guy who lands a backflip and wins the X-Games gold. Where did that happen along their way? Yeah. And to kind of go back to the last question, I kind of skirted it a little bit. Yeah, I mean, I was just riding with my parents. Right. Right.

And it's hard to know if you're good. 100%. And so, you know, like then join the Snowmobile Club and then go ride with other people besides me and learning from these guys. and and and then one kind of big one was so graduate high school didn't really know what the heck I wanted to do. I was working part-time at a dealership. So kind of again in my head, the path was, man, it would be sweet to work for a dealership. So I was a 16-year-old punk kid working at a dealership selling snowmobiles, you know, like they called me Snowwiz.

Because you knew everything. Yeah. Yeah. Snow whiz line one. Snowways. That's sick. Yeah. That should be on here.

I know. Yeah. We can do that. So, you know, working at the dealership and literally working at the dealership just because I got a parts discount. Right. Yeah. And just around the sport, basically. Yeah.

Yeah. And so doing that. But then, you know, in the back of my mind, man, it would be so cool to like, I want to work for Polaris one day. Yeah. you know um and but so not not sure knowing what i'm wanting to do um i get an opportunity to go college up in um moscow i and go to u of i and so i'm i look at the map i'm like where the heck is this at and i'm like mccall idaho i heard that's pretty good snowmobile and up there yeah yeah and uh so i end up going up there and um i definitely

graduated snowmobile school didn't do so well on the regular school no it didn't didn't do very well there worked at a domino's pizza and part-time at the dealership the players dealership in in lewisden ida ho so i was going back and forth there but that was a that was a really fun time but what it did is it got me to ride some really cool new terrain with some guys that were really good and so you ask like where do you stack up i i didn't know right and then i got to end up riding with just a good group of dudes that were better than me by a lot. And so, and I loved it. Like, I loved getting my ass kicked and trying, I'm like, man, I got to get better if I want to hang with these guys. Yeah. You know, so, so kind of that, it transitioned to that. So how, how are

they as teachers? Were they hard on you or just said, hey, if you want to hang, you got to keep up. And then you just got better because you had to be, or did they try to help you? It was what I like to call forced learning. Tough love, maybe. I love it. Tough love. It was, we were talking about it on our run today. It was like how Roy taught you guys to ride.

Okay, here's what you're going to do. You're going to follow me and don't F it up. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. It was for us, the hard, it was just switching back and forth so fast as you'd get to get that ski to cut into the side of the hill. And just if you didn't know how fast or how much, how important that

was. Yeah. Yeah. So that, I mean, and again, like being just a young kid, right? Like, I love that. Just like throw me to the wolves, throw me to the fire. I'll figure it out. Don't worry about me. I'll hang. Yeah. And of course, you go get your butt kicked and you learn a couple things. Take your licks and, and just kind of keep getting better. So that's kind of like, you know, that how old are you there? 18. That was 1998. a long time ago. Yeah. So you're in college.

Yeah, college. So I knew college wasn't my calling from the school side of things. It was really taking away from my main agenda of trying to figure out to go snowmobility. Yeah. I'm trying to have a good time here, guys. Yeah, this is really not working out for me. Framping my style. Yeah.

So end up getting offered a job to go splice fiber optics, actually. So you quit calling me? college or did you graduate? No, I could. You're one. Yeah. I, oh boy.

Yeah. You fall in right with this. We're all in the same group. We all are stupid. Yeah. That wasn't, that wasn't for me. I needed to go make money, right?

I need money because that money buys you time and buys you more snowmobile stuff. So get, start traveling. Actually, this was really cool. So start traveling all over the U.S. Splice and fiber optics like basically. putting in the backbone of what we all are like living on today. And so like I mean one year like traveled to all 50 states in. Whoa. Yeah, it was gnarly, but it was super cool. Like it's very

independent. And so learned a lot that way as far as, you know, basically kind of running your own business. Yeah, I'm working for somebody. But I mean, shit, dude, I'm all by myself. I don't really know what I'm doing. I got to figure it out. I know if I figure it out and I work. work hard and then I'm going to make some pretty good money. Yeah, they pay well. Yeah, they pay. Because you're on the road. Yeah, on the road.

And you get paid per splice, which is we can go down into some weeds there. But so which was awesome because it meant like, well, if I splice more or work more, I get paid more. So I just worked. If you, if you like hook up an apartment, is that one splice or is that a splice for every door? Yeah. So here's how it worked. So like that's what everybody's doing now.

Like they're taking the cable from the main cable that we were doing, and they're taking that over to the apartment. That's not what we did. So what we did is there's like cables that go all over the United States. Yeah, the backbone kind of back. Exactly. So what we were doing is we were splicing, like so, like a big cable was 432 fibers. Okay. So 432, I was getting paid six bucks a splice.

Dude, I can go make a G in like a day and a half. So that was 432 times six? Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Now we're talking. That was real money. Yeah, a thousand bucks.

Yeah. Heck yeah. So, and like no limit on like, whatever, kid, if you want to keep working, just keep working. Okay, I'm going to keep working. So, and then it also allowed for a little bit flexible of a schedule during the winter because couldn't dig in the ground, like all those types of things, right? So, you know, locates. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know. See. Yeah, you know. Yeah. So, yeah.

I did that for, and again, like, these were all just little must-dos. You can't go from here to, I'm going to go win X games. Right. Like there's always these little stepping stones. But it allowed me to buy a new sled. It allowed me to take winners off and go right. And so, but at this point, you know, I'm, so again, like trying to figure out, okay,

is there a career path to becoming a professional snowmobiller? And if there is, what does that look like? So around this time, this was like 1999, 2000, so again, a long time ago. But the only way that guys were able to make it as a snowmobiller was racing. That was pretty much it. Racing snowcross and all this stuff. So I was like, well, I guess I have to go race snowcross. and come to find out like you got to like train and you have to practice all and you know

I live in Colorado and snowcross and racing it's all a Midwest thing and so I was traveling back there I lived back there for a winter and I didn't necessarily do great at the racing but I really love it the jumping and I love jumping from like day one yeah you know like that that was something that caught my attention yeah I like to jump um And so it's pretty cool. And we think about all of these things from a timing perspective and how life works. But this just so happened to be the same time that X-Games starts becoming on the scene with freestyle motorcross. And so in the snowmobile world, we're starting to ride the coattails of the Brian Deacons and the Travis Pistrana's and stuff like that.

And so thankfully, it quickly kind of went from, well, You don't have to be a snow cross racer to kind of make it. Maybe there's another avenue. But it was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Yeah. It, there was no money in it initially. Super risky. Yeah.

You broke your shit a lot. Yeah. Like machine or body? Both. Both. Yeah. Both. We're jumping couches.

Literally, like, it was terrible. Yeah. And so I got to rewind just a little bit. So after splicing, I'm like, man, I, yes, I'm making some good money, but I want to, I got to get back in the industry. Okay. So I actually end up going and working for Articap, another manufacturer. And so some pretty, pretty awesome doors open.

there. Along this whole time frame, I'm doing my thing in the mountains. And one of the biggest things, so we have this whole thing called social media now. And it's really easy. Yeah. To, to get content, to get content. Yeah, for sure. But I always say before, like with hunting, I had to rely on a magazine or a TV show. And then social media made it where no i can put the stuff out myself i don't need anybody so that's where this is going so one of the hardest parts of hunting is glassing big country to find animals you know are there that's why i run sigs sour zulu imaging stabilizing binoculars when i'm covering a lot of ground and need to see everything these binoes are a complete game changer after long climbs when your heart rates up and your hands aren't steady shaky glass makes it hard to stay locked in

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Six. November, November 14th, sledneck seven. It's going to be a long year. And it was VHS, Tate. And it was like, so like redneck but sledneck? Is that what it's for? Yeah, just a bunch of dumb shits doing dumb stuff. Perfect.

I'm in. Makes good TV. Yeah. So my big break. was I went to this snow cross race and they were doing a freestyle exhibition. And so it was just, if you're there, you want to try to jump, we'll judge you?

Yeah. Yeah. So they had, this is before they had like wooden ramps. I mean, it was a, it was a snow hit and a landing, like just super ghetto. Yeah. Like a little 50 foot gap. Okay.

And they're like, can you jump? I'm like, yeah. Sure. All right. It's three tricks. And best of three, and it'll be voted on. I'm like, wow. Okay, cool.

I'm in. And I'm like, did you have three? Oh, I had two. I had two. And so, and so do my two tricks, you know, big old Superman, a little can, can, like, put my feet up to the side. So they did a Superman. So the sleds like this.

Oh, yeah. Your feet are off the back. Then he did one off the side. So now what do we got? So the third, I'm just like, well, I got nothing. And I'm like, here's what I'm going to do. This is like where you strap on. I didn't have the monster helmet at this time.

Not yet. Not yet. I'm like, I'm going to go show these guys what I'm all about. And so I, so we're at West Yellowstone, Montana. And I, like, we have this little loop that we're doing right here. You come in, go into the ramp, land on landing. I'm like, I start back here in Idaho. Let's get a run at it.

Let's get a run at it. Dude, I hold that thing wide, freaking open. I come and I hit that lip and like, I'm here and the landing, I'm like, and I'm doing this on purpose. Yeah. And I land 50 feet past the landing. My sled blows up. I somehow survive. The crowd goes effing wild, right?

Did you hang on? Oh, yeah. I hung on. Whoa. But shit went everywhere. Oh, everywhere. My hood flies off and everything. And so.

What is it? Trick-like, is it you just have to hold on? Is that the key or? I mean, that one was just dumb, but yeah. I mean, I like close my eyes, prayed and just landed. But so I end up placing, right? Like, because I mean, I don't even remember what I got. But the bigger moment of that was so the slednecks crew was filming there that day.

Oh, okay. So the owner of slednecks, Jason Moriarty, comes up to me after. that and he's like hey what are you doing tomorrow and I'm like nothing you're coming with us who film no way we're going filming and so it was really cool at that so they were filming they had the like the top snowcrosser um Blair Morgan at the time he was slated to go with and I mean here's me my dream of being a sledneck I couldn't sleep I and I'm this kid like it like a I had about 14 of these. And I was,

I was running around jumping. I was like, hey, I think I can hit this. I'm going to try to grab my rear bumper and come back. And I mean, I was just a disaster, right?

And, you know, this top snow crosser who's making real money. And I'm just, you know, stealing the shell. And, and,

but I mean, that's, that was my opportunity to get my foot in the door. Right. And so that, that trip happened. I go home. They call me...

How'd that day go, by the way? I got a couple clips. Yeah. Did you hit some tricks? Yeah. Yeah. What'd they say? Well, so, I mean, it was like, you know, they were, they were stoked, right?

They love the energy and the ambition of me, like, trying stuff that wasn't even in the realm of possibility. Yeah. But, you know, it was it was my day to prove myself. And like, I didn't work in your whole life for that moment, dude. 100%. I mean, how many years went into that? Yeah.

And it worked. Yeah. There's divine intervention right there. Hey, kid, you want to go with us? Yeah. And of course you're ammed. And so, and, you know, and again, it all, if I had to think back to one moment in my life that has got me to hear, there's many of those.

But it was that decision to look at. that stupid little jump and say, you know what? Let's just fucking send it. Yeah. Yeah. And it ends up getting my name, my nickname of Big Air Barant. Oh, that's actually, that's a good one. What was the other nickname we had? What did I say? Huh? Did I say one that you, I was going to have you write on here? Oh, well, Snow Whiz. Snow whiz, yeah, but I leveled up. But Big Air Burrant is sick, dude yeah um so you know it was and and so after after that you know basically film session they call me three weeks later like hey we're renting a snow cat you're going to meet us here in Colorado and we're going to build you some big ass jumps and what did you think about that

i'm like i'm doing it you know i mean like to be honest that it's like this is what i've been working for um and without a clear path like not no i'm I mean, how do I, how do I get my foot in the door? How do I do this? What is, what is it going to take to be able to ride my syllable? And, you know, it was these little foot in the door. Now the door opens a little bit more. And so this next film shoot, and again, dude, this is in 2000, okay?

Nothing compared to like, you know, I had my two tricks, my Superman and Cancannon. You look at what this world is now. It's unreal. Yeah. of what, you know, both Moto and snowmobile stuff can do. But so, you know, we show up there and I'm looking at the lips of these jumps and I'm like, where's the landing? They're like, it's over there.

Huh? Yeah. That little way, way in the distance, that little thing. So, and, you know, this was like kind of in the motocross world, there was this kind of group of writers, the crusty demons of dirt, you know, and they're, they were all about these huge sins, like, you know, 150 feet, which it's nothing today, but back in the day that was pretty big. And so, like, you know, they've got these things, these gaps at like a buck 20, you know, and I'm looking at it. I'm like, okay, well, I guess. And so, you know, I've filmed for two days

and there were some goods and bads about it. Wadded one pretty good. Like it totally ripped the rear suspension out of my snowmobile because I came up a little short but survived. And there was some that I went really, really big on. And I mean, you know, I have jumped like 50 feet before and now I'm jumping 150 feet. How'd you know how fast to go?

That's the, that is the tricky one. Yeah. There's no, you're not looking down at the speedometer. It's just feel? It's just feel, man. Okay. Yeah. So, you know, and it's funny.

I watched that on the VHS. It was sledneck's three. I look like I'm about 16, which I'm whatever, 19 or 20, you know. And God, the interview is embarrassing to watch. You know, they're all right. So, you know, you got to quit being so prim and proper and polite. Like, really tell them that you're badass, you know. And it was just...

This is a coaching to you. Yeah, behind the camera. So let's hear your badass talk. Well, it was basically, well, yeah, the guy on the motor side, his name was Seth. Yeah, I'm going after Seth's record. I mean, no one's really hit a jump over 150 on a snowmobile. And I did. You know, something just total, total crap, you know?

And I'm like, oh, man, I look like a douche right now. Yeah. But, yeah. And, you know, that started. kind of this pretty incredible relationship with slednecks. And it took me to places all over the world. I mean, the next year I ended up jumping a house. Yeah, I just jumped a house.

Yeah. And, you know, doing events. So, okay, now I'm jumping. Now freestyle's starting to come. Are you making money now? Or just more opportunity. Opportunities. And then could you get sponsored maybe?

Or were they a sponsor? No? No. Okay. Not there yet. Okay. Not there yet. Okay. Not there yet. Um, you know, but it's, it's getting close. Like the manufacturers are like, you're getting eyeballs. Yeah, they're getting eyeballs. And so, and that's what the beauty of it was, what, what was so cool is, you know, there was only the magazines and a few videos to get people to have any exposure. And so I got my foot in the door of like, okay, pictures in a magazine now. Now I'm on some videos. Now I can start talking to manufacturers and sponsors,

although the sponsor game, I don't have to tell you. That's a, that's a tricky one. We'll get to there eventually probably, but it really just, it gave me a platform to go show people. And so freestyle starts coming around. And for the longest time, so X games and motocross was like really starting to blow up. Early 2000s? Yeah, Travis Pistrana, right?

Like Indegan and just that crew. They were the, what were the Iron Demon? Or no, what were they? Oh, metal militia. Medalli. That's right. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Killer podcast with him, by the way.

Oh, that was. Yeah, he's, I really like Brian. That was super fun. Yeah. I really like him. He's good at business. Well, and that was one of my points in my, in my head I wanted to kind of get out here is like, yes, I'm a snowmobiler, but I have become a much better business person. Yeah.

Because that's, and, you know, listening to Brian's podcast, I was like, man, there's a lot of similarities here. You know, it's like there's not a ton of longevity doing backflips. No, no. I mean, you build your name, build your brand, but then after that, you can't be doing that shit when you're 40 and 50. So then whatever you built has to sustain and like now what's going on. Yeah. And it's like you did that too, just like he did.

Yep. So the biggest, so the next big step is, okay, so I told you a splice fiber. I needed to basically did that so I could go make some. money, make some money, just to spend it all, right? Spend it all on truck and trailer and sleds and parts and blah, blah, blah. But I wanted to get back in the industry, start to work for another manufacturer articat. And at this time, I'm trying to play this balance of so freestyle is kind of there, but I can't make money doing it. There's this new way of riding in the the mountains that is really starting to take shape and and because prior to this and and you can relate to

this a little bit with your stories with Roy like it was just high marking like in the mountains you go up make the big rainbow loop and come down and it's terrifying because of avalanches and cornices and all this stuff well so mount riding started to kind of come onto the scene because the machines were progressing enough to where you could actually go into like the trees and you could do what we do called sidehilling where you can traverse some stuff instead of just being on two skis you could be on one ski and you can get some some pretty cool stuff done and the industry really needed that it was getting stale you know like building high horsepower sleds hill climbing people dying in avalanches it was like it needed a change and so arcticat was at kind of the forefront at that time with a new sled

and new chassis and I was kind of being utilized a little bit as the poster child for for that new riding style, which was, which was awesome. And so, you know, I go to Articat. They have this new chassis and I'm like, guys, I just want to help. Like, how can I help show people how cool this sled is? And they're like, hmm, well, here's a, here's a duly. Here's a trailer. We're going to pack it full of sleds. Why don't you just go work with our dealers and show people how cool it is? And so I took an entire winter off and got a company credit card and got paid to go ride some vehicles with customers of the dealership, which was the big light bulb to me of like, wait a minute.

Sharing this. Yeah. Yeah. Building the network or building the community, essentially. So how would you advertise? Like you just go to the shop and say, hey, put up a sign. Anybody want to join on a Saturday ride type thing. Call the dealership.

Hey, I'm going to be in your neck of the woods. Get on the horn. Call your 10 best customers. Let's go for a ride. I'll help you sell some snowmills. Okay. Yeah. So that was kind of the gist of it.

And so got to do that for a year. That opened, like they saw the success of that. That gave me an opportunity to actually become the district sales manager for Utah and Idaho. So ended up like, so now I'm like. They sell machines there. So, I mean, that's good. Yeah, yeah. So now I'm like checking off all these boxes, right?

Like as that 14-year-old kid working at the dealership, stealing all the brochures and, you know, I'm like, man, it'd be cool to work for a manufacturer, players, Articat, whatever. And so I'm working for Articat now. Like, I'm doing it, you know. So, but I should be happy and satisfied. Everything's good. Yeah. I'm making money. I'm networking.

But you weren't satisfied, were you? Dude, I'm wearing like slacks and having to go to sales meetings. That doesn't sound cool. It's terrible. I've never seen a guy dressed like that that I said, that guy's a stud. He's having fun. He's living the life. I never thought that once.

Even with opinion issues. Still never thought that. So this entire time, so I'm a district sales manager for a couple of years. this entire time I'm trying to make the freestyle thing work. And so we were just a few years behind in the snowmobile side of things versus what the Moto guys were doing. So X games and Moto is like big and, you know, everything is about extreme and all this stuff.

And so we couldn't get snowmobile freestyle into X games. So what that meant was, yeah, we were doing freestyle shows like all, all. all over and I was getting to do some pretty cool things like we went to Russia and did a freestyle show in the Kremlin um you know I was I and I could I could make some I could make some money but it wasn't enough to like quit my sales job and do all these things and and so it wasn't until you know we get the call like hey X games there's going to be snow bill freestyle are you in I'm like 100%. And so how do you think they made that decision were the tricks like getting to a point where the viewers would appreciate it so it'd make good TV now. Yeah. And because you guys, I mean,

I could see where, you know, with the Moto guys, those bikes are so small compared to a snow machine. So to get a bike to do what you want way easier than a couch. Yeah. How much the couch like 500 pounds, right? So to get them to do anything to make a trick. That seems hard. So a couple. So a couple things led to it. When you're miles from the truck and breaking down a big bull, you can't afford a knife that won't hold up. That's why I built my own signature blade with Montana Knife Company that keep hammering packout. It's lightweight, razor sharp, and built in the USA to handle everything from caping to cordering. This is my go-to backcountry knife, tough, reliable, and made for hunters who push hard. Here's the deal. The last time we release a packout, it sold out in under 24 hours.

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And use code, keep hammering for 10% off. your purchase fuel the rebellion and keep hammering X-Gains was so I'll use the word desperate to they they were desperate to keep holding on to this freestyle motocross thing like summer X games was a huge hit they're trying to promote winter X they were literally having dirt bikes jump on snow at winter X games and we're just like bro yeah this is what this is made for right here we're over here we're doing this And, you know, Brian, when he was on here, he, so he got really hurt at the last X games that they did freestyle motocross in the winter. In the snow.

Yeah. Yeah. He hit that ice. Yeah, dude. Landing ramp. I mean, it destroyed him, you know. I think just didn't something. Yeah.

Handelbar. I remember that. Yeah. So that was, that was kind of the like, okay, we need to switch this up a little bit. Yeah. This is not safe. Right. And so we got the call.

And so this is what was challenging for me at that time. So, you know, I had been doing freestyle contests, like, you know, I got my first big break. It's the next doing the first one, right? So that's like, that's 99. And kind of fast forward, I'd been doing some. So, oh, six. So six, yeah, seven years of this, like doing freestyle demos or, and contest, Red Bull was kind of starting. to see how there was some momentum here.

And I'd won a couple Red Bull contest as well. One up in Alaska, one in Milwaukee, like some cool ones, some pretty big events. But I was able to win those without doing a backflip. And at the time, you know, backflips on a snowmobile were few and far between. But had people ever done one? So Jim Rippey in like,

2001. He was a crazy sucker, like base jumper, all this stuff. He's like, I think I can do it on sled. So he's like the first one, not even like a real snowmobiler. And he goes in Hux one. And then, so someone does it and says, this is possible. And so then here comes all these other crazy suckers. And I, so I bit that carrot as well. What was your best trick up to that time? it was called a holy grab and a holy grab would be let go of everything yeah exactly yeah and i still to this day i mean i love i love doing it you know like just jumping and you literally let go of your snow bill and then you just come back that is sick in russia i missed i missed the comeback yeah and you landed on the ground thankfully i made it to the landing but like i mean just splatted on my

belly just boom yeah from how high up did you get i mean you know we're we're 50 feet in the air you know falling 50 feet just on the ground yeah dude yeah yeah so will you hurt at all no i'm built like gumby i swear yeah this is this is crazy and you know you try not to talk about these these things but i've never broke a bone whoa no but like we were talking about today what's up with your ankle what are you wearing nothing. Like everything else is wrecked. Yeah. Dislocated shoulder.

Legaments in both ankles are jack. My knees are not super happy. My neck sucks. But for some reason, my bones are pretty damn strong. I would think like, so I'll just explain what I think. And then you tell me how wrong I am. But I would think like to do a backflip on a 500 pound machine, I would think the ramp has to be especially like, it seems like it has to shoot you up.

Yeah. kind of. So straight up. And then it seems like it would be risky because if that fucker landed on you, like if you didn't get all the way around, yeah, I mean, you could die.

Yeah. Go ahead and check out the old YouTube for a bunch of those fails. And it happened, it happened a lot. Like the learning curve was terrible. And so, um, kind of,

okay, so I'm going to back up just one step from getting the announcement for X games. I, you know, Jim Rupy does. the first backflip. Now all these guys in slednecks are like, dude, we got to go do backflips. And so I'm like, yeah, okay, I get better go learn the backflip.

Yeah. And so same deal. We go out into the backcountry. I was actually in Utah. Go out in the back country, shovel this freaking moonbooter. And like, okay, who wants to hit it? I'm like, God. Yeah, this looks terrible.

And so that was in 2005. I went, I had to attempt. My first attempt was pretty, miserable. I ended up bailing, like getting upside down, but having no idea like what it should feel like. Because here's the thing with jumping is, you know, I've been jumping for since I was 10 years old. And you are taught in your head when you jump and the nose is high, you hit the break and it goes back to level. Yay. And you land. In a backflip, it's the exact opposite. And it was so mentally backwards of every. you have to hit throttle yeah okay because those the throttle create you know the momentum kind of

exactly yeah yeah and so um they build this moonbooter the first one i kind of like kind to get upside down and bail and my sled tumbles and nothing happens to it the next one i actually almost come around i land in the nose i go over the bars it totally rips my complete front suspension off and like kind of tomahawks right next to me and i'm just like it gets you know, the thought in my head of, damn, I'm not, I'm not ready yet. I'm not, this isn't, it wasn't the right jump. It wasn't, like, it just, it wasn't ready.

I wasn't ready yet. But when we get the call on the announcement of, it's your turn, like X games, I was like instantly, I mean, before I was even done with the conversation, I'm like, backflip, guy, I better go get this figured out. Yeah. And so, you know.

Well, you didn't have to because, I mean, you could have went to X games and not had the back. Well, I wouldn't have won. Right. Yeah. So it's like, you know some people probably made that decision. Yeah. Like, I'll just do other tricks and hope everybody else crashes or something. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And that's 100% like what the, what was going on. And so, you know, again, those seven years of contests, I was never, I was never the best. like freestyle guy, but I, I could win because I could have a, a perfect run, right? Like a flawless run with no backflip. And a flawless run with no backflip would, could be a dude who would have a one backflip, but then maybe straight air a jump, for example, right?

So like, I could stay relevant and stay in the mix without having to do a backflip, but I knew that wasn't going to cut it here. Yeah. And so, and this whole time, I'm a DSM. I'm working my ass off. Like, it's hard work. Yeah. Traveling a lot.

And it's two weeks before X games. I haven't really got to do much training. And I'm like, if you, are you going to do this or you not? Yeah. And so ended up going to a buddy's place. He spent a bunch of time and money and effort and built what we called the compound of some replica jumps that we were thinking would be at X games. Yeah.

And ended up, we don't, we don't have five hours to talk about the entire journey, but it was the most mental thing to that point of my life that I, I'm a pretty, I'm not pretty, I'm a very self-motivated person. It doesn't take, I don't need to see someone go do a backflip and say, well, can you do that on that? I'm going to go do it. Right. But like it was so like getting defeated in 05 trying to do the backflip.

Kind of like from a mental standpoint set me back a little bit. Man, dude, can I do it? Like I just, I wasn't comfortable. A little nervous to getting hurt. And but we get to this moment in life. The path is right there. It's like, dude, here's what you've been working for. Like you can go this.

way if you want. You can go, we'll call it the easy way. It's still nothing easy about going to X games and just competing. Yeah. But if you want to win, you need to figure this shit out and you need to go backflip. And so, um, and for the snowmobilers watching this, you guys have seen some of the videos of like the trials and tribulations of learning it. But, um, my very first backflip, I stuck, um, off, off of a ramp. But I did probably 430 in runs. where I just was a pussy and would, I'm like, okay, this is the one, and come around the corner and just,

I look at the ramp and be like, screw this. And, you know, I'm like sitting, I'm sitting on the sled, hand in my head in my hands, just like, I can't do this. Yeah. I hate that word.

I hate it. And it was interesting. I had a filmmaker that had been filming, for me for Slednecks for many, many years, named Clayton. And he comes up to me and he's like, dude, you know, we've been through, I've seen you do a lot of crazy shit. And today, I'm telling you there, actually, let me take that back. He's like, I've seen a lot of guys who said they were going to go do the backflip

that I was scared shitless for. And I'm not like that with you. I know you're going to stomp it. And it was just, it was, I could relate. because I've seen some guys where I'm like, that guy does not belong doing what he's about to do, right? Right. And it was that little message that clicked in my head.

And he's like, yeah, yeah, I could see that. I should go do this. Yeah. And then stuck it. Wow. Yeah. How'd that feel? See the hairs.

Yeah. It was just, it was, I wish everybody could feel a moment like that in life. because what it does, and it wasn't even about that I just did a backflip, I was able to conquer something mentally that I literally told myself I couldn't do. And when you can, we always try to have little wins every day, right, or in life in general. This was a big win. And what that did is that just made, I mean, it just leveled up, right? Like it's time to go to the next one.

and to come in. Because was that one luck? Exactly. I know. So when I landed, the first thing I said is like, holy shit, now I got to do more. And the next one I actually came up short, wrecked my ski,

but I was like, I got this. I know what I did wrong there. You know what it felt like. Yeah, exactly. And then after that, it was like, I just started doing them for fun. Yeah. And then you could feel like if it was going to over rotate

or under rotate, you know what to do, slow it down. And it was the, is the coolest feeling ever. I can still feel what it feels like. Yeah. And so this is two weeks prior to X games. So I roll up to the event and no one like not, I mean, again, it's not like I posted this

on Instagram at that time, right? None of that existed. So no one really knew that I had the backflip in my bag of tricks. They always knew me as the dude who could kind of do okay, but couldn't backflit, you know? And so I show up to X-Wit. games first practice you know the coordinator is like who wants to go first I do I do I want to go and so I just go in practice and like second hit just flip and they're like uh-oh Brand has a backflit you know and and so a bunch of cool things about that particular event and

the winning and everything but you know the the course wasn't just like a couple little ramps in a circle that they do now this was a real course like legit and it had this this big 100 foot downhill death gap. Like, dude, it was, it was gnarly, like real gnarly. Like, where some of the guys didn't hit it. What made it so gnarly? So what made it gnarly was, okay, two things about this jump. So we show up to X games, and they already have the course done,

and we're looking at the jump, and you're just like, is that for us? Who had them set? Who set it up for them? Do you know? So X games had, you know, basically all the same guys that design and do the snowboard stuff. Okay. You know, they basically had, here's how much room we have. We want to have it be gnarly.

And like this is the first event. So we want to capture everybody's attention. It seems like they would have talked to a snow machine guy. You would, I mean, I, so I think here's what happened. I think they just said, this is X games. Let's make it. real. Crazy.

It's crazy. Yeah. And so basically what it is is the course went up the slope of the hill. And so when you turned at the top of the hill, you had to get back down. And so they built this giant, giant. And so you were flying probably. Yeah. Well, what was interesting, and that's what was really, really tricky about the jump is you're coming downhill.

It was a hundred feet of gap. But the takeoff was like here and the landing was down here. So as you're coming in, dude, all you could see was nothing. Yeah. You couldn't see the landing or anything. No. And you're coming downhill. So what was so.

So you don't know until you're in the air. And here's what happened is. So the riders look at it and they're like, no way. We're not hitting that. Let me ask a question. So if you came down and because you didn't know where the landing ramp was, Could you be off, like be at an angle and like miss it? Luckily it was big enough.

It was big enough where you'd have to really do something dumb. Okay, gotcha. But what was so hard is trying to figure out like the question you asked, well, how fast do you hit it? Yeah. And so and the problem that there's two problems with the jump initially. And so is it was really steep the takeoff and the landing was way the hell down here. And so what happens is,

you're up here and you're landing way the hell down here. It's going to hurt. Yeah. It's a long way. Yeah. And so a bunch of the riders said this, it's not good. And so they're like, okay, well, we'll, we're going to change it. And so they, they mellowed out the takeoff a little bit and you couldn't really do anything with the landing.

That's just what it's down the hill. That's what it is. Yeah. And the coordinator, my buddy Joe. Joe's like, hey, I need you to come in tonight and I need you to hit that big jump. And I need you to tell me if it's good or not. I'm like, okay. So like this was after practice.

And, you know, he calls me. They had to know whether it was realistic or not. Yeah. Yeah. And so it's crazy, dude. So I'm at X game. This is before the event. There's no, like nobody here.

And I literally have this entire place to myself. And it's all lit. And I mean, it was, it was surreal. Like, it was magical. I'm like, I cannot believe this is, I'm doing this. You know? And, and I just had, I was, I had so much confidence. We, I would have hit it the other way.

Yeah. I'm going to hit it. I'm going to hit it. And so. I'm like, okay, I'm going to hit it, but I still don't like how steep the takeoff is. So I go up and I come around and I'm like coming into it. And, you know, you just like the first hits suck, man. Yeah.

You just don't know the speed and you're kind of guessing. And the worst part about that one was, again, like I told you, having that ramp up here, here, at the highest point, I'm probably 100 feet above the ground. God. You know, fall like a sack of shit. It's a straight ice wall to the landing. Well, also, and I would think if you came up short into that. Dead.

Dead, dude. I mean, just right into the wall? I mean, dead. You're dying. So that's just going too slow. Yeah. But the way the jump was, it would be pretty easy to go too far and then land in the flats and then you're dead again.

Yeah. Both those aren't great. You really need to hit the landing. Yeah. Like and that's like a perfect math equation then. It really is. Yeah. Yeah.

So I come in. I'm like, okay, it's time. Let's, let's hit it and see what happens. And I hit it and I'll never forget. So my buddy, um, who was kind of helping with the course and, you know, keeping everything good. He's like, I couldn't watch and I've never been able to do that. I've never, never had that feeling.

Yeah. He's like, I was just, I was literally scared for you. Yeah. And so I hit it and I just, I'll never forget that feeling. I mean, I hit it and I'm like, holy shit. I'm way up here. And I landed about as good as you could land and it was, it was rough. Yeah, like I still hurt.

I slap land and I hurt and I was like, and I told Joe, I'm like, dude, the gap is fine. We just got to mellow this thing out so guys aren't scared to hit it because we need to do tricks off of it. Yeah. And so they did. Like we just had to get that first one out of the way. Yeah. And then I was like, hey, mellow this thing out. Leave the freaking landing. We'll be fine. And then let's start, let's start hitting this thing. Yeah. And so in the back of my mind, I'm also thinking like, this could be the separator to do a backflip off of this. And you could do a backflip off that thing? Don't know.

But I knew because again, like I was telling you, I wasn't the best freestyle guy there. There were guys that were better. But I knew like if I step up and I backflip this big one, that will trump. Yeah. Pretty much anything else. Yeah. So that's what I did. And that was 2007.

Yeah. So what happened when you hit that? Um, so and uh, yeah, so this is, I mean, it's awesome. Tell me about the competition. Yeah, yeah, competition is sweet. So, um, qualifying run, like, I, so I had, I had, and it's hanging in my closet, still have it. I have my run taped to the bar, right? Like, so, you know, Superman seat grab, blah, blah, blah, like all, all the trickless, right?

So like, um, mapped out on, on the course here. And then, so for qualifying, I go out, stomp or run. I mean, I'm riding with, like, the most confidence I've ever ridden. And, you know, my sled's good. I feel good. Like, it's just, it's such a incredible feeling. That's magic. It was magical.

And so I'm number one seed. And, and I had a, I had a nemesis in the old freestyle world. a guy that I loved to death. His name's Heath Frisbee. And he, he would, he beat me quite a bit. He was, he was better than me. And he had a red bull athlete. Also, this is when I get my monster deal.

Oh, okay. Right? So like, I get the monster deal literally weeks before X games. Okay. Because monsters kind of scramble a little bit. We need to have athletes in there. And so, so I'm this monster guy now. And Heath was a Red Bull athlete.

for quite a while and he was he was a shit man he was he was really good and so um heath was fourth seed and so during so it was first versus fourth so now i am going against heath in the in the metal round so first versus fourth second versus third winner goes to the gold medal round yeah right so i'm like okay all good is a tough break because it'd be not I should have him in the other. I didn't want him. Let's just say that. Like, and when I did, you know, it was prior to that, if I knew I was going head to head

against Heath, I'd be like, man, I just hope he screws up. Yeah. Because then I might be able to get him. And on this one, I was like, I mean, I kind of had that same mentality. But at the same point, I had in the back of my head, I'm like, if Heath puts down a clean run, I'm going to have to flip that big one. And but I was really hoping he messed up. Yeah.

You know. But were you going first? So. Or does first go last? I get the choice. Oh, good. So I'm like, all right, Heath, you're up, bud. Good luck.

And this is what I love about how the whole event went down is. So Heath went and stomped a run, like the way I know he could ride, but a lot of the times he would have that one little bobble that would give me a chance. Yeah. And he went and stomped it. But no backflop. No, not on the big dog. So we have a window. A window of opportunity.

And what was cool is, you know, so like you've got the announcers right before the finals round. They're, you know, they're going around to the athletes and like, what do you guys think? Is anyone going to hit the big, the big dog? Yeah. And they were in my trailer and they asked me, that question. He's like, you think you'd hit it? I'm like, I think I could do it if I have to. Yeah. And that got turned around a little bit on the broadcast. Like, rumor has it. They got to make a better story. Exactly. Rumor has it that someone's going to attempt a hundred

foot back flip tonight. And I'm like, that me? Who are they talking about? So he stomps his run. And I'm like, okay, plan B. So here's what we're going to do. We're going to do our entire run. And I was The way it laid out, you did the course twice. Yeah. So come up, do the course. The first jump off the big dog, I was doing that big holy man. So like, dude, it was, it was big. You know, come off of it, just throw the sled.

I'm just floating 100 feet in the air and then grab the sled. And then so basically what I was saying is so I'm going to do my lap, my first lap. I'm going to go up the uphill. And if I have a clean run and I have an opportunity, I'm going to make that turn. and I'm going to flip it because that'll be my last hit. And so complete lap one, all good. So wait, so if you didn't have a clean run, then chances... Then I'm out.

Yeah, then it wouldn't matter. There's no chance to risk the back one. Exactly. Yeah, even if I would have flipped, if I had a bad... Yeah, before. Exactly. It wouldn't have been enough to... It wouldn't have been enough.

Yeah, so just all risks, no reward, really. So there was a little bit of pressure, like, on just the normal. Yeah, because you have to nail all those exactly to make that worth something. Yes, yeah. So it was, the nerves were heightened. I'm like, just go do a clean run. Like go do a clean run. You know how to do that, do all the tricks you know. And then at the end, let's figure it out. So that happens. And so this was the cool part. So I land on the last uphill, make the turn to come down to the big dog. And I make that turn, and I literally, in my helmet, out loud, I say, all right, let's flip it. And I just, I come in and, and it's cool because, you know, with a backflip, you come in a little slower and then you gas it off the ramp.

And so watching, like, the telecast and listening to friends recollection of it, of like, we could tell. something was different because I like I'm up on the bars I'm going slower and you know I come in and I just yeah and and and and Chris Brad down here celebrating just learned how to do a back flip two and a half weeks ago I got I did too yeah I felt something on my neck is that cool I was just thinking about like what that must have felt like to land that fucker it reminds me like Degan has that I think he did the 360 he landed kind of on the edge of the ramp, but fought it up. Yep. Right?

Yep. It reminds me of that. Yeah. Like that same moment. Yeah. And it's, you know, we talk about looking at these beautiful bowls and how you could recall every, you know, moment and smell and wind and all of that. And, you know, that was one of those moments in my life for me is, shit just slowed down, man.

Yeah. Like, I came in. I had a, like, I felt the pole off the ramp. I'm like, okay, I'm not going to die. Yeah. You know, I've, we'll get around. Yeah, we'll get around. Yeah.

And, you know, I was a hair short on the landing. Like I kind of caught the knuckle just a little bit, but it was, it was good. But held on. Yeah, held held held on. Part stayed on the bike. It did. Yeah. Yeah.

And, and, you know, that was, that was, that was it, man. What? And then what did you do? I'm sure I've seen it, but like, what was your reaction? Were you just fucking amped? Yeah. I was. I mean, there was no hiding emotion there. I was like, and really, the emotion was not that, oh my God, I'm still alive and I just landed this. The emotion was, I'm still in. I'm going to

the gold medal round. Like I knew I beat Heath right there. Right. So that's what I was amped on was that. Like, yeah, dude, good job. Show goes on. Yeah, show goes on. So fast forward. So now I'm in the gold medal round, right? Like I'm the worst you can. get a silver. Yeah, which, that's pretty bad. I mean, dude, that'd be like you rock in a silver tooth. Why don't you, I want that gold medal on here. I should have brought it. Not a kidding. I should have brought it. We've had an Olympic gold in here. Oh. That would have been nice, nice little book into it. But no, that's, I love it, dude. So yeah, you're right. Gold is not the same as silver. You're right. A silver tooth here. People would be like, what budget? Budget cuts?

What's going on here? So yeah, I totally get it. I love it. Okay, so one last to kind of tie this story together on that was. So, so I win this. And now I'm up against Alexander, Norgaard from Norway. Super good, dude, kind of new onto the scene. He had a normal backflip, but he was a wild sucker, you know, kind of missed landings. everyone else. So his run wasn't super clean, but here he comes. He rounds the corner. And I'm like, uh-oh. He's coming in slow. No. You know what that means. No. And he flips it. And that's the

last trick. People's. Yeah. Yeah. And so again, I chose for him to go first. Yeah. And so I'm like, mother ever. What did you have to decide whether his shitty run prior to that was enough to warrant going for the back for Bernard or did you know you had to? So now I'm head to head with Alexander. Yeah. Okay. For the gold medal, or for the gold medal. Yeah.

He goes and does his run. Has it, they're not, it's not perfect. He even has one little straight air. And so at, when I saw him straight air, tell me what the time? Yeah, sorry, straight air. He hit a jump and couldn't do a trick. Oh, so just wrote it out. Yeah.

Yeah. And I'm just like, I mean, everything in my body got this sense of relief because I'm like, dude, I don't even have to flip the big one now. I'm just going to go do my stock running and I'm taking home a gold medal. Yeah. You know? And then I see him come in slow and I'm like, what? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. And he flips. Because most people knowing they had a straight air wouldn't risk the backflow. Yeah. But he's like, well, this is my last chance. Yeah. And so he sticks it. And so I'm like, did his score come up then? Yeah. And it was big. Yeah. And that's all I'm like, Dang it.

I got to go do it again. So I went in and it was kind of, kind of, it was even more nerve-wracking, like, making sure the run up to the big hit was clean, right? Because I'm like, I don't want to get a little complacent and screw up that. And then, you know, just not, I wanted to make sure I was good. So I had another really clean run up to the big dog and then I'm like, well, I live from the last one. What's like, I don't think I'm going to die. And then I stuck the second one.

And I mean, I knew like they didn't have to tell me the score. Yeah. You know, so. Was that one better than the first one? No, I actually came up even shorter. Oh, really? And it was funny. I landed like on the deck, but I knew, you know, the judges are watching.

And so you're trying. And so I, I knew I was coming up a little short. I'm like, dude, just stomp it out, stomped out. Exactly, right? And so, like, just held on with all my, and gritted my teeth. And I remember I bruised both heels when I landed. And I'm like, don't show that. Don't, like, just claim.

Look, I said claim it, right? Like, just, and I, yeah. God, that hurts, yeah, you know? It's like when you hit a, like, your video and your honey, hit one of the guts. Perfect shot. He was quartered away. Yeah, perfect smoked him.

So that was You know Like we talked about That was just you know One of those life-defining moments where I had the option of going the easy way or the hard way and Damn straight. I We got another show James Yeah

Another documentary Have you had a documentary on all this shit? No Because like this story from all the way from you know 14 or whatever and then working in a thing and then Winning the X games gold and do this is such a good story Well, thanks, man. Yeah, this is sick. Yeah. So it continues to get fun after this.

So here's like, here's a real shitty part about X games. Okay? So I win the X Games medal. But my day job is I'm a district sales manager for Articat. This is not as cool, dude. Dude, this is no joke. So I go get my medal, like, you know, Jamie Little, doing the interview for ESPN.

I got Nate Adams, all iconic freestiler, hand in me my medal, you know. He bonds, I think. Yeah. Doesn't he? Yeah. Yeah. And so I had to be in Minneapolis the next morning for a meeting, a sales meeting.

Could it be any more different than winning next? I mean, you can't get further apart on the scale of coolness. I get my medal. I jump in my parents' truck. and like everyone's partying, you know, for me and everything. And we drive three and a half hours to Denver from Aspen. Should have quit. What are you doing?

I know, but it was like... Go out like a G. But this is part of the story, too, because this is, I got to go back to work. That's okay. It, it... I remember my boss telling me, he's like, hey, I'm good with you doing the freestyle thing, but work is first. And so, and I accepted that.

I'm like, well, thank you for understanding. I will, I will do, I'll do my part. Well, wait, he didn't understand though. It's like, thank you for not understand. So I, I mean, no sleep. And talk about like, you know, I went from the ultimate adrenaline high that a person could ever get in their life. And, you know, that dumped.

And I'm like in the security line at the airport. And I fly to Minneapolis and I'm a little late to the meeting. And it's like, it's a. big sales meeting, the CEO is there. It was like the annual sales meeting or something. It was the big one. Okay. Yeah.

So it met something. And so I walk in. I'm late and like there's a hundred dudes there and they literally stop. They stop everything and they look back and they, you know, give me a big, big round of applause and I was like, it still wasn't worth it. I wish I was at home. That was kind of cool. And it was.

And it showed to, you know, my boss and the guys that, you know, thanks for the opportunity to let me do that for one. and but I'm I won out. It reminds me of, so I ran in Boston with Lance there in 2008 and I had to get back at work. So Boston, that's on Monday. So I took Monday off, but I had to be back at work on Tuesday. So I finished that race Monday, Patriots Day in the airport with the same clothes I ran in. Didn't go back to the hotel, sweaty from the marathon.

And I'm standing in security line listening to my voicemails because I didn't know I was on TV the whole time because I was with Lance. My wife is saying they watched me on TV and she had tears in her eyes and things like that. But I had to get back to work. There's no, it'd be nice as to hang out, enjoy the moment, but we had jobs. We had jobs. So I get it. Yeah. Yeah.

So that opened up the next door and the next chapter of my life. So, you know, X games, it paid like for me, it paid some good money. Did you, did it pay for winning or just? Yeah. So I made like I had I got 25 grand from Monster for winning first place and 25 grand for X games. So I got 50 grand. Yeah. And I'm used to making a thousand dollars doing a freaking demo in a hayfield. Right. You know. Yeah. So. But you know, this was all kind of like I got the master plan now. But I need I need resources. I need money. And like and in the master plan. And like. And in the master plan was. I was so kind of rewind, go back to, you know, when I was doing that tour with Articat, we're going to the dealerships and riding with these people and these people were like, whoa, dude, this is awesome. How did you learn how to do that?

I'd love to learn how to do this. Do you do like clinics or rides or anything? And I was just like, I could. Light bolt went off. I could. But, you know, I need like 10 snowmobiles and I need a lodge for these guys to stay at. And I need, like, so, yeah, I wasn't quite there able to do it yet. But 50,000 bucks at X games, that's like, that's going to help start that.

That's awesome, dude. So that, but then came the next big phone call and the next big decision in life. So again, DSM making good money, traveling, not getting to ride as much as I want. So that could be a long career path, make lots of money. But I get a call from sled necks. And they're like, hey, we got a call from a Hollywood producer. they need a stunt double for a Vin Diesel movie, a snow bill guy. You in?

I'm like, yeah. He's like, there's a couple kickers. You need to go to Sweden for a month. And so, you know, it was for me, like, it was an easy decision. I had to figure out, okay, so what is this going to pay me for the month? Like, what's, what am I doing? Do you still have bills? Yeah, I still have, yeah.

And I know if I quit this DSM job, like, I'm not getting it back. And is that what, what are you going to do? And it was, again, like, as I was making the decision in my slacks and my pointy damn shoes, fuck this. Yeah. It was a, it was a quick call to my boss at Articat. And I'm like, dude, I've got a really cool opportunity. And I'm going to.

take it. Yeah. And so, were you good at that job? I loved it. Yeah. So I went there with another, were they happy? Yeah. Okay. So you did good. It was, it was sick. Yeah. Actually, the movie was terrible. Yeah. No, I mean, were you had, were you good at your sales manager job? Oh, I think I really was. Really? Yeah. I was, I figured you would be. Yeah. Because you seem like you're just going to give all you got to whatever you do is what it feels like. I actually really enjoyed it. I loved. I mean, you know, I'm a passionate person. Yeah. And so.

Passion sells too. And but that's, that was where my ethics and the passion really got kind of jumbled in that job. The way I got paid was to sell units. When I've got a dealer that has like 34 units on the floor, they only sell 50 a year. And I have to go in and tell them, I'm like, dude, the only way you're getting flooring to cover these 34 units that you, can't pay for and you can't sell is you dude you got to take another 54 and they have no choice because they can't pay for the interest and but do but I got to get paid yeah and I've really struggled with the ethics of that model um because they were going to get stuck with those machines oh dude you were

burying them they were going to go out of business yeah sell at below cost yeah and yeah you can't run a business that way. And that's, to be honest, why there are very few Ma and Paa shop dealerships anymore. And you can see this. I mean, now they're all of these mega stores and they're owned by car dealerships. Yeah. You know, it's, it, it was a, it was a tough model. And the position I was in is to basically bury them if I wanted to make any money. And so, um, I was, but I, I enjoyed the job. It was a great stepping soon and afforded all these relationships. I ended up meeting like just great people, which helped me along the way in other endeavors. And so I don't regret doing it at all.

But, you know, that, the decision to quit the job was more of like, man, I just don't like the morals of it. Yeah. And I have no idea what's going to happen with this stunt work deal. And I hope I can make it. Benefits probably. You probably had good benefits. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was like what a guy. looking for a job like that. It was the best. Yeah. Freedom. Yeah.

Yeah. But so instead, I cashed that all in and said, I'm, I'm going to go be a stunt double for Vin Diesel. Yeah, be a movie star. Yeah. Yep. And how'd that go? That was like one of the coolest things I've ever got to do.

And so me and a buddy, another sledneck rider, we, we flew. They booked us tickets. first class to Sweden. And we spent a month over there, dodging bombs, getting exploded, jump. I did a backflip over there on a different manufacturer sled, ghetto ramp. It was kind of sketchy. Did this big, like, big cliff drop with, like, wearing this costume and, you know, a gun and no helmet. And, like, you know, it was, it was cool.

I got to meet Vin Diesel. And it was really, it was pretty surreal. So we're on set and everyone's like, dude, Finn's going to be here today. And, and I was like, oh, I didn't know if we were going to get to meet him or not. Yeah. And so he flies in on his freaking private jet, has vitamin water, like, especially air dropped in, you know, like.

And he was so cool. You know, he's coming and, hey, he's, like, what's it like to be a sledneck? He's like, and he literally started reciting like one of the lines from the previous years movie. Like, he was a fan. Yeah, that's cool. He was a big fan.

Yeah. And I'm like, I'm thinking to myself, like, what was it like to fly here in a private chat? Yeah. And so that was, that was super cool. Almost killed Vin Diesel, not on purpose. Yeah. He's like, I want to ride one of these things.

And I look at the producer and he's like, no and I'm like all right cool let's go yeah and um ended up you know taking him around and he's like yeah look dude what's over there I'm like I think you you'll probably be all right and he goes up and he turns left he shouldn't have turned left he's coming down like through these cliffs and he jumps off the sled the sled cartwheels and he's just like claiming it and uh so um that and you know that night he's just hanging out with us having dinner my wife actually ended up flying out there, which was super cool to have her there. So it was, he was just a real dude.

Like, you know, that was super fun. That's great. What an experience. Yeah. So took that money, you know, that's kind of all in the same time frame. Take, took that money from X games, from the stunt work stuff. And like, okay, dude, we're going all in. We're going to start our own business and started our backcountry guiding business,

Burant's backcountry adventure where, you know, basically it was. And in the early years, it was like, can you hang? Yeah. Like, you know, come on out. What year was that? So that was like that 0, 09. Okay, gotcha. Yeah.

And then that's what you've been doing since then, basically. Yep. Yeah. Yeah, I've been doing that. And it's been a wild ride, man. It's learned a lot, you know, just starting a business is scary and, you know, entrepreneurship and just, you know, at that time, like, just, leveraging everything. Yeah. And that was like 2008 was a tough time with the economy. So it's,

it's interesting you bring that up. So the savior of that year like this is what I love you can. Like attention to detail. Dude, it's awesome. So yeah, oh, hey, it was a horrible year to start for the U.S. economy was terrible and everything. But so our neighbors to the north up in Canada, they love snowmobile. And they're done. dollar was really good when our dollar was really shit. And so they would come down. So that, those first couple years, 50 to 60% of my business was coming from Canada and our and or overseas. And so we had a lot of international people coming down for that. And so yeah, so that was kind of, you know, started. And so now, you know, focusing everything 100% on,

couple things. Like, so the guiding was the one thing, but, you know, the, the biggest thing, and we talk about, you know, this, this helmet here. Every time I put my helmet on, I was like, all right, what am I going to do to, to differentiate myself from everybody else? And so I, I love, like, every day I ride, no matter with if it's clients, whatever, I'm riding at 110. Mm-hmm.

And I don't know any different. And, like, got, we, we were talking about this on the run. run today when guys are like, do you ever get tired of a similar building? What, you guys ask me that? I'm like, how would that happen? Yeah. I mean, I can't get up this stupid mountain. Yeah.

This one defeats me every time I'm going to get up there. Right. And so like, you know, just having that mindset of wanting to continue to push and, and win the day. Yeah, it's, that reminds me too. People, because I do kind of the same runs every day. People like, don't you ever get bored with that or whatever? And I'm like, no, I mean, I don't, I'm just running.

I'm running. I'm pushing myself. It doesn't even matter where it's at. This just happens. This is a cool, cool place to do it. I could do it every day. I'm not looking to be entertained every day by, I don't need to go to Disneyland. You go get ice cream afterwards.

I just trying to get a run in. Dude, don't get me going on Disneyland. I just got back from there. Did you? How was it? No. Oh. I love you, honey.

Sucked. It's a lot of walking there. Yeah, it is. Dude. So I would much rather do Spencer's like we did today 27 times than how much we had to walk. But no. That's the only time I've, I mean, I took the boys there one time for like a few hours and we never did Disneyland.

But Joe used to go to Disneyland when he lived in LA and I don't even know what the VIP passes that he had. But you just walk right up to the front of the line. And then when you get done, it doesn't even matter what it's Space Mountain, whatever, like, has a longest line, you get done and they're just like, do you want to go again? You just stay on as many times as you want. And you see these people who are all sunburned sweaty.

And the line. Stay in line for six hours. And you're like, yeah, let's go again. You guys want to go again? The lightning pass, pal. Oh, is that what it is? Oh, yeah. It's like, aren't they like 15 grand or something?

No, well, maybe back then, but like now it's, I don't know why everybody doesn't do it. I think it might have been the lightning pass XL or something that he had. Yeah, because they brought food all the time and drinks. But anyway, without that, no. I don't want to stand in line for it. Because when I took the boys there, we were there like the whole day, we did three rides. Yeah, exactly.

I mean, this sucks. It's a different type of challenge. The rides were fun, but, you know, Yeah, it's a lot of time. So how did, so way back in the olden times, we went on a run. We did. Was that in Aurora, Colorado? Did I do a seminar?

Yeah. So tell me about that. Yeah. So what it was was Bass Pro, it was a new Bass Pro opening or something. And they had you come out to do a seminar. Yeah. And you and I had connected on this thing called Facebook. back in like 2011.

And it's funny. I was joking with James today about that. Like it was it was a time where like I just sent you a message. I'm like, hey dude, you seem pretty cool. And you're a bow hunter. What's up? You want to hang out? And you know, and you're like, yeah, cool.

I'm going to be in. I still do that. So I know. And it was, yeah, it was just neat. So let me let me rewind though like how do I even know you like or of you so somebody handed me a good buddy of mine yeah handed me this book right here nice um like in that 2008 2009 time and he is so he was my hunting buddy okay and we would hunt up at grandpa's cabin you know and and we would god we were terrible and didn't that i mean you think back of how we

hunted back then and it's a, you took your bow for a walk a lot. Right. Yeah, bow hiking. Yeah, bow hiking. But he handed me this book and he's like, you got to read this. And I think it's literally the only book I've ever read. Seriously. And it, I mean, it changed me forever from.

And it's, I think this is what's, you're a very humble person, which is awesome. But this didn't just change me as a bow hunter because like back then, I mean, I was, yeah, I was kind of, I was, you could call it hunting when I was running around like with a Primo's freaking call like, you know, just doing the deal. But, you know, this, this changed my approach on life. Because it proved that those two options that we have, the easy way or the hard way. the hard way is pretty damn awesome if you can stick through it yeah um and so um this is how i became to know of you and then um saw you were coming to colorado reached out like hey can i like come hang out and uh and you said yeah sure i'm going to be here and if you can make it cool and so uh go down there watch your seminar and then you know like you love to do uh basically invited

everyone in the seminar, hey, I'm going to go to do a run just in the back here if anyone wants to go. And, you know, 10 or 12 people signed up and, yeah, I'll go run. And so, yeah, we got a good run in. And then we actually went to dinner and had, you know, cool conversation. And that was the last time I saw you. Yeah. As what 15, probably 15 years ago. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's been a while. Yeah. Yeah, I've been, you know, keeping up with you. staying in contact, but since then, now you're, now you're a big bull killer, dude. So tell me about your bow hunting since that time. Yeah. You killed an awesome bull last year. Yeah, I, man, I, I love, you know, I'm a snowmobiller. God put me on this earth to ride a snowmobile. I

know that for sure. Um, but damn, I love bow hunting. Um, and, you know, it's, because it gives me a lot of the same successes, failure, sensations, all those things that I feel on my snowmobile of, you know, like if it's really hard and I fail at it, man, I love that because it means that I just still need to be better. And, you know, I guess with bow hunting, it's hard. It's just freaking hard from the physical aspect, a lot more mental than I thought. it was going to be. And more rewarding than I thought it was going to be. I mean, you, like, you know, we were talking about doing backflips at X games and the

hairs raising on the top of your arm and every single bullet that I've killed, I have that times two, it feels like. Yeah. Because it feels like it's, it feels like it's almost undoable at certain times of the season. Like, I don't know how much. to do this. Like, I've done everything right, but that fucking stick was in the way. Yeah. You know, or the, like, the wind's been good for four hours straight and it does one swirl and I'm out. Yeah. What do you mean? I know. You know. So devastating sometimes. It hurts so bad.

Yeah. And so, you know, I would say bow hunting has really helped define my life in a couple aspects. I never really trained for snow mobility as far as like I mean I kind like you can say you're working out when you do 20 pushups and maybe that's kind of what I was doing. Yeah. But you know after reading the book and like knowing like oh well if I I'm only going a mile in if I want to go three miles in, that's a big difference. If I want to not carry my Jansport backpack and I want to carry all the gear, I need to I need to do this. for real. And so, you know, started working out and getting ready to chase those critters around in the mountains. And it was amazing how it transformed me from, and again, like, doing something that no different than the backflip, when you harvest a bull with an arrow, it gives you this newfound confidence that you just didn't think you could ever do that.

It feels impossible. And it's crazy. You asked me how many bowls I've killed and I was like, I don't know, dude, like close to 20. But every year I think to myself, I'm like, man, I hope I can get one. I have the same feeling. You know? Because it's like our previous success doesn't mean anything.

It doesn't. This year. Yeah. Still got to work just as hard. Got to get the break you need. Got to still capitalize. There's a reason why most people fail. Yeah.

It's really hard. I, you know, in talking about, you know, kind of transforming life and attitude. And so, so I'm 47. I'm not getting any younger. But I feel I love the mental state that I am from, like, accomplishing goals right now. It's like, I feel like I can just go do anything. But which also brings the next challenge of. So it's all good to say I can go run Spencer's in seven miles a day,

but your body has to be ready for that too. And so that has been really enjoyable for me as well, is getting my body into a place that is going to hopefully let me stay at this pace for a really long time. Because it makes me sick to think that I couldn't go run around in the mountains and chase things. Yeah. you know um so i'm it's funny i in 2023 i used all my colorado points and i'm like i'm going i'm going to use my points i'm going to draw my unit that i've been looking at you know yeah and so i told myself we're doing this to the level that nine years of points warrants yeah so um

so i quit drinking and And, you know, we're like MountainTuff.com. I'm going it all in, right? Like seven days a week working out and scouting every day. And it was an incredible experience. Just all of it. Like just trying to understand and figure out like what the body was actually, what the potential was.

And to see what, like, how far you could push. and I'm like, dang, dude, I could never do what I'm doing without this commitment to being better. And I've been able to, you know, so like that was the last time I drank. I loved the feeling. And so now I don't work out just to go bow hunting. I work out to go bow hunting. I work out to keep up with these young bucks on the sleds. Yeah.

And it's just changed my lifestyle forever. And it's been so enjoyable. And, you know, I love that I'm here getting to share this with you because, like, you're a big part of it, man. So I really appreciate that. Well, yeah, that means a lot. It's a, I'm just so thankful that today you told me, what you ran today is the furthest you've ever run. Ever run, yeah. And I, that's my goal when I have people come here is to do something they've never done.

A lot of times it's shooting a bow. They just haven't shot a bow, so they don't know what that's about. but with you to hear that because you are you are a a specimen like a physical it's like what you do what you do is physical right so you are fit but to hear that you know that was the furthest you've done and you did so well today and ran ran so well i just loved hearing it but what i want to hear your opinion on like the bow rack and getting your going through the your bow with wayne because that's also another one of my favorite parts to having guests here is just shared mostly i just selfishly, this isn't for anybody but me.

I love sharing what I'm, what I'm passionate about with people who I, you know, respect and I respect you. So I'm just sharing what I do. I run, I shoot bows, I hang out the bow rack. We talk about hunting. So how was the bow rack today? Well, selfishly, I mean,

I was excited to come on the podcast and get to chat with you, but dude, I was coming to see Wayne and the bow rack. The herd bowl, man. He's the herd bowl. And just such a first-class operation down there. And just Wayne is, he's such a stud, man. So I got to tell you just a quick story about Wayne.

So last night, so I got in here, today's Thursday, whatever, doing the podcast. I flew in yesterday, you were tied up. And so I'm like, I'm going down to the boat rack. I know, so I'll kill some time. And so I go down there. and Wayne was out doing some scouting, which is awesome for him.

Yeah. And just, you know, I hung out and talking to the guys and there. I was like, do you know of like a 3D course around? He's like, oh, Wayne's got one at his house. You should just run out to his house.

And I'm like, okay. Like, that's kind of weird. Yeah. But I'm like, okay, here's the address. And I get out there and I pull into the driveway and here's this dude, no shirt on. and like pressure washer in his hand.

And I'm like, God, this feels pretty awkward, you know? And but like, first thing I noticed, I'm like, I knew Wayne was older, you know, he was like 65. And I'm like, look, you know, I'm like, dude, this dude's ripped. I'm surprised he had a shirt on today in the bow rack. And so I'm like, oh, man, I'm sorry. I hope I'm not bothering you. Like the guy said I could come out here and shoot my bow. and, you know, went from one of those looks, and I do the same.

I have people show up with my place randomly, and you're just like, oh, damn. And then, you know, he, and, but four hours later, I end up leaving there at 9.30, and we BSed and talked, and it was just awesome. And so then today, you take me down there, and he grabs my bow, and he's like, you know, he's doing the one eye and looking, and he's like, no, right, give me that bow. and just, I mean, he's just a wizard. Yeah. You know.

A bow is shooting perfect now. Yeah. Fixed me up and just I, it's going to be expensive to me flying to Eugene every time to get a little work done of my bow, but it'll be worth it. They're so good. I just like how, you know, I think your rest was sucked in a little bit. And so your sight ran out of room. But he just made a few tweaks like that. And you're shooting perfect bullet holes and out there hitting X's, it was, it was beautiful.

Yeah. And I've got a great shop I work with. at home, C&K Archery guys. And, and, but, you know, it's like when guys come to me on the snow bill side of things, it's like, it's what I've done my entire life. And it's, you know, everyone has their little tips and tricks and tweaks and stuff. And so it was, I love just watching Wayne do what he does. And he's, we've talked about this, you know, a bunch today, that word passion and talk about,

I mean, he is the definition of that word, you know, which is awesome. Oh, yeah. It's like, and I feel so lucky to have the. the bow rack. Oh, it's right there. I mean, it's, it's, yeah, without it, I wouldn't be, I wouldn't have the success I've had, you know, because my bow wouldn't be set up right. I wouldn't have been around winners and people with positive attitudes and people that look at life the right way. And that, that's part of being in a, in a good community. And I've just been lucky enough to grow up in a community that has lifted each other up. Yeah. Yeah. So I just, I love

sharing the bow rack with people and i'm so glad because wayne he's got a good crew there so he's been he's always working always doing shit on this house or building his house so i didn't know for sure if he was there so i'm so pumped he was today yeah um my favorite thing about last night spent a time you know i again followed your journey for a long time and and we got to to tell a lot of roy stories yeah um and that was that was pretty special man i uh i miss roy and i don't even you know i don't know him Yeah. But I feel like I know him. And I just know the type of man that he was through, you know,

Wayne and you. And that was pretty enjoyable last night. Yeah. No, I mean, Wayne, Wayne loves telling stories. Yeah, I talk like four words. Especially about Roy and bow hunting. Yeah.

Or if he knows where you're from, he knows every inch of every country all over the United States somehow. Yeah. And so he'll talk about it. It was super enjoyable. He's like, you know, I don't know. There's something about being a storyteller

that I hope that time doesn't do away with because people are so distracted with so much shit. I just hope that the art of storytelling is not lost because those are the people that keep history alive, keep people alive, keep legacies alive because they just keep talking about it. And they're so powerful to, I don't know, just our society. So that's what I love about Wayne.

Yeah. Well, and I think in this day and age, it's even more important to, and it's something that I'm trying to instill in my kids is, you know, the same thing that like we're, the reason I bow on is because I'm a provider. I want to provide for my family. I want to be self-reliant on myself. And I don't want to have to rely on anybody else. And I have that same philosophy when I go into the back. country on my stone bill is like i don't need i'm i'm here to for me like that that's what i'm here for and to be self-reliant and and it's easy to not be like that these days because everything is so easy you know we we can have we got way too much comfort and ease but uh did you have questions yeah oh boy i think i got these ought to be good I think I have the best Fuck Mary Kill to do it. I already know what it is.

It's snow machines, bow hunting. Yep. I didn't know what the third one was going to be. I got it. Oh, wait, just wait. Just settle down. Snow machines,

bow hunting. God, I don't know what is the third one. See, you would have had to have lunch with him. We had a good lunch. Back story. Okay. So, fuck Mary Kill. Snowmobiling.

Dirt biking. Ah. And bow hunting. Shit. Okay. Yeah. So what is it? Yeah.

Cam hasn't heard much about the dirt biking side of things, but, you know, it's, dirt biking's very awesome too. Yeah. Gets into some cool country. Well, let's go to the easy one to kill. It's dirt biking. I enjoy it, but it's not bow hunting or snowmilling for me. No, it's not.

Okay. What about the time with your son? I know. Yeah, true. Oh, you don't care about your son now. That's sad. He loves it. He's going to be so much better than me that I won't even see him anyway.

See, we can justify anything. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. My wife wants me to be happy and she's so pretty. Shoot. Anyway. So this is where the next one is this is a tricky one. And okay, here's how I'm going to tell.

If there's been certain times in my life where the Mary would have been snowmilling 100%. Right. X-Gaibs gold. Dude. What are you supposed to do?

Yeah, exactly. That would have been an easy one. Yeah, I'll F. bow hunting back then and I'll do this is me. This is my life. I'm marrying snowmilling forever. But, however. Times change.

So, and this is like, this has been kind of an approach on life too that's been pretty enjoyable. is being able to, if you go back to six years old to 47 years old, is these little checkboxes that you get to do in life. And so I like doing the checkbox and then moving on to the next thing. So like, I want to work at a dealership. That would be sweet.

Okay, cool. Dealership checked off. What's the next one? Man, it would be so sweet to work for Polaris. Okay, cool. Work for the manufacturer. What if I win X games? That'd be like.

And then so. just I always want to go to the next thing. And so like there, you know, again, we talk about the cool helmet. You know, there was a time in my life where I was one of the top riders in the world at riding a snowmobile. I kind of like, I'm checking the box. Yeah. You know? You did it.

I did it. And like I'll always have a place for it in my heart. But like right now, I'm marrying bow hunting because I was. want. I can't, I haven't checked it off yet because like it's still way harder than it should be. I understand. We like to master things. Yeah. Bow hunting is a tough one to master. Yeah, but I get it. Yeah. I love it. Because you got it's got, you have to have something that moves you every day. Yeah. And you know. And that's what's been fun. Like we kind of talked about, bow hunting has made me better, a better snowmobiler. Yeah. And that's been fun. And you know, there's a new up and coming like,

group of riders that are phenomenal man and it's i love seeing it and i love helping as much as i can to like just keep pushing the sport um you know i'm not going to go do x games backflips anymore i just don't need to or have a desire to but so that's that's my i like it i like it i like it anything else okay um we kind of talked about this earlier but this specific question actually comes from macy or podcast editor. And it's just around, like, Brampe built and as a business owner, kind of what's something that you're not willing to compromise or sacrifice, even if it's maybe not the most profitable in the short term,

but that you stand by as a philosophy. Dang, that's pretty deep. But it's awesome. And halfway through reading that, like I got a kind of snicker on my face, because I was just thinking all I had from the beginning was my passion. And that is something, if you truly want to be undeniable in your pursuit to get something done, you can't fake that passion. And so that's what I feel for my business side of things is like, I'm not selling shit just to put money into my bank account. I'm selling it because it's what I truly believe in.

I don't put my name on a set of Fox shocks just to get a check. I put them on there because, dude, I work a crap done in making sure that if you spend your money, that you're going to have a good experience with the product because my name's on it. And I've just, I have, yeah, I've made a lot of mistakes along the way and that happens. And I'm like, dang, dude, I wish I would have done that different. but that's for me like that's what my whole business is based off of is is trust and you know someone is giving me their money to hopefully have a better experience and and I better not screw that up yeah so I I love that I still feel that way from a passion standpoint too

because as soon as I don't that's when I know I'm I need to be done yeah because I don't want to, I don't want to fake it. Right. I like that. So you stand behind your business and what you sell and what you stand for and people, they know if they come to you, they're going to get quality. Yeah. Yeah. It's not just, you're not just going through the motions. I like, I mean, that's the, that's the impression I got from this whole discussion and just from, you know, following and knowing you, but mostly from today is that, yeah, you are, you know, got your introspective. and you care about others and you want to do the right thing. And I'm thankful to know people, someone like you. I'm thankful to call you a friend. So thank you, Chris. Thank you, Cam.

I appreciate you coming all the way here and spending the day with me and means a lot. Thank you. Yeah, we had some fun. That run, I was so nervous. I told you I jacked up my foot really good in April and I haven't been able to run since April 2nd. And it would be like someone coming to me and I'd be just like, oh, yeah, we'll just take it easy today and we'll just kind of rip up here.

And I hate that you're hurt, but when you text me, you're like, I don't know, I'm, I kind of got this thing going. We'll just go for a slow pace. I was like, oh my God. Thank God. And how it was easy. It wasn't too bad, right? Sure. Yeah. No, I, I, I really enjoyed it. It's, um, I loved everything about it. I'm just, you know, I was, yeah, it's just, it was cool, man. You're just a good, you're a good dude. And that's what's been so enjoyable about, you know, being in this space is meeting guys with like minds, you know, like Brian Barney, Dan and Rammy. Like all those guys are just, they're salt to the earth and they're just like us, you know. And when you surround yourself with people like that, it is hard not to be motivated to get shit done.

I agree. That's why I have this show so I can trick people into coming here. Well, I will, I would love to, yeah, it's, I'm glad I came. I'm glad I survived the run and all the rest is gravy, dude. You did good. Well, I'm going to have you sign my new helmet here. Deal. All right.

Thanks, guys. Keep hammering.