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The Steep Stuff Podcast
#170 - Christopher Fisher
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Chris Fisher just came back from a three-month Ecuador adventure that started with almost no plan and turned into a full-on human-powered volcano mission. From a base in Quito at high altitude, he links long bike days with climbs on Ecuador’s biggest volcanoes, chasing a “Big Ten” style objective that becomes nine summits once he decides an actively erupting peak is a hard no. We get into what the miles actually feel like, including a brutal opening push to Cayambe and the reality of riding loaded on highways where the risk is out of your hands.
We also talk logistics that make or break a bikepacking and mountaineering trip: mapping routes with CalTopo and Strava, finding cheap hotels, staying fueled with local food, and why Ecuador can feel far more accessible than people assume. Chris shares the one sketchy moment that nearly derailed the trip, then explains why he still encourages people to explore the Andes and the Amazon with smart awareness instead of fear.
The biggest shift comes in the rainforest, where an immersion with a Kichwa village reframes what “enough” looks like. That lesson carries into what’s next: a possible return to Everest to support Tyler Andrews, a growing focus on bike-to-climb projects like the Tour des 14ers, and candid thoughts on the current state of FKTs, sponsorship, storytelling, and launching a YouTube channel with Erin.
If you like big objectives with real heart behind them, subscribe, share this with a friend who loves the mountains, and leave a review so more people can find the show. What part of Chris’s approach would you borrow for your own adventures?
Follow Chris on IG - @chrisjfish
Contact Chris - chrisjfish.com
Photo - Santiago Gurrero (@santigurrerog_)
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Welcome And Audio Disclaimer
SPEAKER_00What's up guys? Welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast. I'm your host, James L'Oriello, and I'm so excited to welcome return guest Christopher Fisher back to the show, fresh off of his Ecuador Big Ten, which is a uh human-powered project where Chris biked uh all around Ecuador, including the Amazon and multiple other locations, uh, to climb 10 of Ecuador, the top 10 of Ecuador's largest volcanoes in what looks like just an epic, epic voyage. Um definitely find out more about that on his Instagram. Uh so yeah, we talked all about, we kind of debriefed his entirety of his uh last expedition. Um we talked about plans for the summer of 2026 where Chris is going to be taking on the Tour des 14ers, which is a bike-powered, or I guess you could say human-powered uh record of the Colorado 14ers, climbing each 14er and then biking to the next one in just slog fashion, which is pretty awesome. Love love to hear more on that. Uh I can't wait for him to kind of go after that record. Uh guys, one uh one little thing before you dive into this, the audio quality is kind of shit. I feel really bad. Um, just didn't have a great internet connection on Chris's end. Um, and I had to uh do a bunch to clean things up in post-production. And uh yeah, I need an audio engineer. Put that in the budget for 2027. Um but yeah, not ideal audio quality. So I hope you guys do get something out of this one. Uh still I'm gonna go gonna post it. Um, you know, still want to get that one out there, but um, yeah, audio quality is not ideal. So I do appreciate your patience on this one. And uh yeah, thanks so much for tuning in, guys. Appreciate you all. Ladies and gentlemen, we uh Fisher. Welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast. How's it going, buddy? I'm good, man. Thanks for having me back. Oh, dude, I'm so excited to chat with you. You've been on uh it's been so fun following uh like your your travels over the last like six months to three months, like everything you've been doing. It's been it's been a lot of fun, dude.
SPEAKER_01Living vikation. I appreciate that. Yeah, I appreciate it, man. It's been it's been good life, so I can't complain too much, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. How uh well, you're just getting back really within not so long back to America. Uh have you had time to kind of debrief and think about your your three-month trip to uh Ecuador?
SPEAKER_01You know, it the debrief kind of happened throughout the entire trip. Um it it was just a constant thought process of you know, just going through processes of my thoughts and just putting together, you know, who I am, what I am, what I want to do with my life. And so, yes and no, like I haven't really sat down and thought specifically about the trip itself, mainly because I've already done a lot of that um throughout the trip and you know I gained and learned the things that I was excited to learn. And so yeah, you know, more so just moving into the next groove of life and getting ready for what's next.
SPEAKER_00Very cool, very cool. Well, let's talk about it then. Let's let's unpack your trip. Um, I guess I want to kind of talk about what you did, talk about you know all the volcanoes that you were on. I want to talk about your trip to the Amazon and biking around the Amazon. Um, let's I don't really know where to start. Maybe you could start with like the beginning of your trip and like your plan. Why there? Why did you choose Ecuador?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so Ecuador's been on you know my list of plans for some time. My my good friend and climbing partner, Tyler Andrews, he's been training and based out of Ecuador for almost 15 years, I think it is now. So he does all this high altitude mountain training, and even he was doing marathon training there back in the day. So like Quito is uh it's a big city, several million people, and it's right around 9,500 feet. So you can live at altitude and then run up to almost 16,000, like right out of your back door. Um, and so it's got access to to big mountains, high altitude. You can get to uh 5,500, almost 6,000 meters just a couple hours down the road. And so, yeah, it's like a perfect training round for high altitude, big mountain objectives. And uh yeah, Tyler really is the one that kind of put it on my map and like let's do it, let's go check it out.
SPEAKER_00Sweet, man. So, how did how much planning did you do? Are you like one of those people where you're just kind of like on the on the whim, like let's just let's just do this? Or did you like actually thoroughly think out like all the places that you want to go and objectives that you wanted to hit?
SPEAKER_01I'm very go with the flow kind of guy. You know, I had some some tinted planning. I was actually gonna do an objective with my buddy Corey Wallace, he's a professional mountain biker. We were gonna do pretty much what my project was, but a little bit different. Like, we were gonna do uh a human-powered Kayambe, Codopaxi Timborazos at the three highest points in Ecuador, and that's what we were really planning on doing, but unfortunately, he had some issues with sponsor funding and stuff like that, so he wasn't able to make it down. And um, instead of pushing it out a couple months, I decided to just like create my own project, and there was like no planning involved. I I pretty much was sitting with uh Erin one night and she was asking what I wanted to do in Ecuador, and I was like, I don't really know, I kind of just want to get on my bike and ride and see what happens. And um, that's kind of where like the initial thought process started for my project. And then I think maybe a few days later I was in some shop or somewhere and I saw a poster of like the 10 highest volcanoes, and I was like, okay, you know, instead of just riding aimlessly across the country, this could be a pretty cool objective to attempt. And so yeah, I mean I I kind of made the you know, I turned the Chimborazo Kotapachi Chimbra uh Kayame project into like a 3x larger volcano project, and instead of just doing the three highest, I wanted to do the 10 highest. And those 10 are all above 5,000 meters. So it seems like a pretty worthy project to attempt. Um, but again, yeah, I I'm very go with the flow and I don't plan too much. You know, I did throw like some random dots on the map before I got to Ecuador, like places I wanted to see and things I wanted to do. But again, I you know, I didn't even hit half of those. So Wow, it's crazy.
SPEAKER_00And talk about the the biking aspect. We'll get into the individual, like I do want to ask you about chimbarazo cumbre. Is that how you pronounce it correctly?
SPEAKER_01Chimburazo is the highest point in um so cumbre is like the summit. Okay. Cumbre means summit. Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.
Training Freedom Versus Strict Routine
SPEAKER_00I do want to talk about that, but I also want to talk about the biking aspect. Like you you have really become, I don't know. I feel like since I started following you and since before, even before I got to know you, like you've always you were a runner, right? You were you started off doing all this vertical and uh you were setting the record for the vertical, and then you kind of become this multidimensional athlete by incorporating Big Mountain Bird. And then you set the FKT on the winter 14ers, and then now you kind of get into biking and skiing, and you're kind of you're this multi, true multidimensional athlete. Uh so maybe talk about how like you've progressed in your own right with the different skills that you've learned and as a person over the last few years.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. You know, like you said, I am a multi-ath, like I'm a multi-sport athlete for sure. Um, I moved to Colorado to ski, and that's kind of what I did for the first three years. I skied like 150 plus days a year. Um, and so that was super fun, and then getting into the climbing and the running and all obviously all that was super fun. And same with the biking, like I always had a mountain bike and I always rode a little bit, and then uh, you know, I I did a race maybe five years ago, the Firecracker 50 in Breckenridge, and I didn't really have that great of a time. And so I I put the bike down for a few years and picked it back up back in 2025, so just last year. And honestly, it's just so much fun to be able to be on a bike and really be free and just go further, see more, and do more. And yeah, you know, I like I don't like putting myself in a box, you know. It's like there's a lot of people who are really great runners or really great riders or whatever, and I like to be pretty good at all the things so I can combine them into making like grand adventures, you know, multi-sport grand adventures, and that's really what I'm more about now. And you know, I you know, FKTs are still gonna be out of my plate, like I still have some FKTs I'm looking for for this year and things like that, but I'm also wanting to incorporate the the multi-sport aspect into the FKTs and some of the human-powered stuff, and so it's been like a real fun progression of you know, getting pretty efficient and competent in a single sport and then doing the next one, and then the next one, and kind of adding it all together. And so, yeah, I think for me it's just the complexity and the diversity of like movement, moving my body in different ways has been super enjoyable, and it inspires me, you know, it motivates me. Like, you know, one of the main things, the biggest takeaways from the trip was like I've been on the fence for a couple years now of like where I want to go as an athlete, whether that's training very specific for you know 100 mile races and big mountain objectives versus just doing whatever I want to do that sounds fun and feels like a good project, even if it's super hard or super easy, you know. And so now I'm trying to really like pull back the reins and not put limits on what to do in the world of adventure um based on you know elite performance, if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_00It does. It does. It's so interesting because dude, the last time you and I chatted like on the podcast, it was like maybe a few weeks, it was like maybe even a week before Barclay. And like you were you were about to embark on that. And I don't know, I just find it really interesting because, like you said, like there are athletes in our sport, most athletes in our sport are like just really do one thing. Like, and they and that's great, they make a a living out of that one specific thing for their craft. But I find it really interesting, and I think it should be uplifting for not just the audience, but for just people that are interested in the space and want to make a living out of it too, or make a career, or whatever this is in our sport, make a go at it, if you will. Um, that you can do a bunch of different things, you know, you don't have to just do one thing.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. I think that's you know, it's so cool to be able to move your body in more ways than one. And I and like you said, like I completely get why people pick one sport and stick with it, and especially the ones that are chasing that elite status and want to win and be the best. And that's great, but you know, that's not the majority of people out there. The majority of people aren't elite and may or may not ever be elite just because it's like they don't have the time for it. And so, yeah, I think you know, if they can inspire people to move their bodies in any which way that makes them feel good and have you know a good feeling about themselves and what they're doing, then that's great.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I'm kind of going off on a tangent here, but I'm just going with the flow with my with my questions. I gotta ask you about Tyler. Tyler is a teammate of mine on Las Burtiva, and I find him to be an interesting cat where you guys are are like obviously friends. And I just gotta ask you, like, what has that been like? Because he comes from a different background than you. He's like a high predig pedigree, and not that you're not an amazing athlete, you're an incredible athlete in your own right, but you come from a different background. He comes from this high pedigree running, cross-country, and track background. Um, how what have you learned from him? And because he's chasing big objectives in the mountains as well.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Yeah, Tyler's a great dude, first off. He's one of my best friends. He's a great climber, obviously, an amazing athlete. And so, nothing bad to say about him. You know, and quite honestly, we're almost like complete opposites when it comes to the approach of how we train and how we go about um objectives in general. You know, he's very, very routine-based. He does the same thing almost every day, um, as far as like, you know, his routine wakes up, does whatever in the morning, goes, does his workout, probably at the same place almost every day, and then has the rest of his day pretty it's pretty much the same day thing every day. And it works so well for him. You know, he's very he knows how to really focus in on an objective and put together a routine that helps him succeed in those objectives. And so, like, for me to watch that, it's been really um inspiring knowing that like there's other people out there like him who are putting together super strict routines and succeeding in the things that they're doing. And so, you know, I've learned a lot from him as far as like training goes and intensity and workouts and like how to move faster and train smarter. Um, and so that's been really fun, but I've also learned that I don't want to be anything like him in the sense of routine. And I've told him this, so he he's he's not gonna be like, what the hell? Yeah, it's like it works well for him, it does not work well for me. Um the r like I love I love routine when it's necessary, but I also love you know the freedom of being able to pick and choose where I want to go and what I want to do when I want to do it. And when you're training for a big objective like Everest, um, and you have a very specific training block for the speed record, you can't really do that, you know. Um, he's very tied into his training regime, and it's great. He's he's a good dude. I love the guy. Um, so I hope that answers your question a little bit. It does.
SPEAKER_00It's just I just find it interesting because you guys are like just kind of different in the even like personality sense, and I just find it super interesting because he's yeah, he's like uh, I don't know, like this. I don't know. He's just like a professional's professional in a lot of ways, where the dude is so so guiled. I mean he posts about very professional. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I find it interesting. It's yeah, it's uh yeah, it's cool. And I I love how you can I don't know, I'm starting to get this more in my mind where I used to just be a very insular person and not train with others. And I think that's a stupid approach. I think it's better to train with other people to learn more things and improve, and I think that helps a ton.
SPEAKER_01No, absolutely. And he he's helped so much with that. He helped me train for a marathon, put together a whole regime for me, like regimen for me. Um and you know, obviously we've climbed big mountains together and done some pretty cool things together, and we still will. It's just yeah, and it it it it really helped me learn what I wanted to do because like I tried to kind of follow the routine style of his like training for you know several months at one point, and it worked. Like I got faster and fitter and all these things, but also I kind of lost a little bit of the the joy of really what I wanted to experience in adventure, you know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's interesting, dude. I just had I literally was just having this conversation with Brad Barrett on our on our run a little bit earlier because he's he's more of an FKT-oriented guy, and um, but like doesn't like the structured training like I do, and I have him out there doing hill repeats with me, and he's like, What am I doing? This I don't want to I'm gonna go run in the mountains. Um whereas I'm like, well, if you I'm very dialed, so I'm like, if you do this, this, this, and this, you know, it's gonna you know translate into X about a few stuff.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, personality is like it. Yeah. Yeah. Aaron's kind of just the same as Brad in that sense. I'm like you too. Like, I like doing workouts. Like today on my bike, I did, you know, intervals. I did five or seven times five minutes on with a few minutes off. You know, like I still do practice that intensity because I don't want to I want to be good, I want to be fast, I want to be strong in whatever I do, whatever sport it is. Like, yeah, I do add-in workouts and train similarly to you and Tyler and all these others, but not very specific all the time, you know.
The Ecuador Big Ten Plan
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's just it's it's in dude. Our sport's so weird. Like it's uh it's such a soul sport that like there's so many different ways to the show up fit and does skin a cat. It's it's yeah, it's interesting. Right. Terrible phrase, skin a cat. Yeah, I don't know. Uh all right, let's I want to get back because I got away from Ecuador. I got off on a tangent. Um I want to talk about this trip. We already kind of talked about the planning, but I want to get into what you specifically did. Um I want to talk about the biking. Maybe you can start from beginning to finish. Kind of like almost last time, where I kind of just let he gave you the microphone to talk about your experience, and then I kind of asked about some space off of that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so you know, I spent the first five weeks based in keto with Aaron, kind of training there in the hills. Um, so that's kind of how the the first part of the Ecuador trip started off. But really, what the meat, meat and bones of the whole trip for me was um when I figured out what I wanted to do, which was bike pack. Well, not really bike pack. It was kind of bike packing, but not like I was staying in hotels because they're so cheap and they're everywhere. Um, but essentially what I did was human-powered from Quito all the way through the highest volcanoes in Ecuador. So there's 10 of them. Um Kayambe, Antisana, Codopaxi, Elonisa Sorri Norte, Tumaragua, Carde Oazo, Chimpadrazo, Alatar, and Sanghai. Sanghai is currently erupting and has been for some years now, and so that one's already taken off the table. I'm not going to go climb an erupting mountain or volcano. So it got dwindled from 10 to 9. And yeah, the objective was to bike and climb these peaks, um, human-powered, as well as like I had my buddy Santi uh joining along to the video and film pretty much the entire process. We're making a short film about it. So there was a lot of support involved, but it was human powered to, you know, I picked up my bike, put it back down where I left off the whole way. Um, and then after the project was kind of concluded, I rode back through the Amazon to finish the loop. So that was that's the overall summary of what I was getting into down there. Wow.
SPEAKER_00Okay. How many, how many miles via bike did you do you think you did? Or did you do?
SPEAKER_01Um, it was around 1200 miles total. Okay. Uh something like that. It might have been 1200 miles total with on foot, too. Okay. I rode way more than I climbed. Like the mountains, a lot of vert, but the miles aren't there's not a lot of miles in these big volcanoes.
SPEAKER_00What were you at any point, like I mean, obviously people think uh I I I love South America. I think it's one of the most interesting places, and if people haven't been there, put it on your list because it's it's a magical place. Danger, but there is perceived danger. This isn't like uh, you know, there's there's different gangs, there's different things. Were you ever in like any sketchy places, or do you have any sketchy stories?
Safety Scares And Road Risk
SPEAKER_01I do have a sketchy story. It wasn't from my ride, actually. This was like the first week with Ecuador. Um Aaron and I were headed to Banyos, which is like a jungle town at the base of Tungaragua, one of the 5,000 meter peaks. Excuse me. And we parked at a gas station and I was in the bathroom for like 60 seconds, and I walk out, and these dudes are stealing our bags out of the car, and I swear I locked the car. Um, but long story short, I saw them doing it, and I ran up to the car, grabbed all the bags back out as they were peeling off, and I all I lost was the GoPro. Um, I had like all my camera equipment, all my like computer stuff, all my expensive shit. And we almost got robbed for all the stuff that mattered. So that was the only time we had any like sketchy issues. Um and when I was on my bike, never had a problem. Like I rode through a lot of poverty-driven areas and a lot of a lot of that, and I saw a lot of sketchy people, but I never felt unsafe or in too much danger. Um, I think when you're in the mountains and in mountain towns, and in the Amazon, it's it's kind of like it is here. It's pretty laxed. People are pretty community driven. Um, I know for Ecuador, especially the the coast is the more dangerous area. That's where like their cartels are and their gang violence and stuff. And so we never went out there, um, probably for the better. But yeah, you know, I never I never really felt super sketched out. And I I would advise I like I would encourage people to not let that stop them from going to experience one of these places because it's amazing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, I don't know if people even know this. Like, there's more gun violence in like some parts of our country than there is in like in most parts of our country than there is in some of these places.
SPEAKER_01And America's green. It's like, uh, dude, this is like one of the most dangerous countries in its own sense. You know, there's there's violence and people killing each other all over the place in cities, and so there's no more danger in keto than there is in like Chicago or even Denver. It's the same shit.
SPEAKER_00Exactly. That's interesting. There's bad people. How was uh the planning as far as like your route planning? Did you have like were using Gaia? Like, how did you kind of link together these roads and places that get, I guess, in between these peaks?
SPEAKER_01Sure, yeah. I use uh Caltopo and Strava mostly, and so you know, I would put the points on Caltopo, but you know, Strava has a real nice feature where you can kind of just press a point and press the next point, and it'll make a route for you. And so for the most part, I would just like like, for example, I would go from keto, put a point, and just do it at the base of Kayambe where I knew the refugio was, and I would look at it and be like, yeah, it looks direct enough. And so then I would just try that route, you know. I I was on a gravel bike with like a minimal suspension fork, and so there wasn't a whole lot of mountain bike trailing. Um, although I'm sure you could probably keep it pretty trailed or gravel oriented. I rode probably 85% road, um, which you know makes things easier, maybe a little less, maybe 80% road. But regardless, yeah, I was using Strava or Cal Topo to map out where I was going, which works super easy, super well.
SPEAKER_00Did you have any uh any experiences where like you either ended up on like a highway of some kind, or like I'm just curious because I was talking to Kyle Richardson about something like this recently, and uh he was trying to route uh something from New York City to like Maine, and he ended up on like a massive highway at one point, like in a total. Horrible.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I rode on a lot of highways. Some of like the main stretches of the of the ride was on highways. And you know, it's like one of those things where you kind of have to accept the risk if you're gonna do something like this. And I understand that someone could hit me and kill me at any point, and I just had to accept that, and it's kind of a scary thing to accept, especially when it's way out of your control, right? Um, so yes, I rode on a lot of highways, and it was super sketchy in a lot of places, but also like super worth it to be able to, you know, connect everything human-powered and just the places where I was off the highways and like was more off the beaten path. It was just incredible. I mean, I I wouldn't have traded it for anything.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's amazing. Dude, what were the hotels like trying to stay at some of these hotels? And uh because I know you said you were they were kind of cheap, so I'm sure, but even things being cheaper there, I'm sure you get like five-star great stuff. It's probably amazing.
Routing Tools And Daily Logistics
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, there's everything in the mix. Like most places that are cheaper, you shouldn't expect American standards. Um, you know, bathrooms and rooms are a little bit more dirty than you would typically expect in in the States to go to a hotel. Like if you were to get like a$10 to$20 hotel, it's you know, it's good. It's good enough. It's like a two or three-star hotel, and it's usually got breakfast included. And so for like what I was doing, I mean, I was wearing two shirts and two pairs of shorts the entire time. Like, I don't give a shit if it's a little dirty or whatever, you know. I I lived in tea houses in the kumbu for months where they're not washing any of the sheets or comforters, and so, but yeah, I mean, they're like they're like in the Amazon, especially. I was staying in a few places that are kind of more more resort style for like 25 to 50 bucks a night, and it's like a place in the States that would cost a few hundred bucks, you know. Like they have the nice amenities, the pools, the hot tubs, access to the river, and like good food and you know, nice things, and so it's just way cheaper there to do anything, um, which is amazing. Like the dollar goes such a long way, and for Americans especially, I would I would super encourage people to go check it out because you can do so much with so little once you're there. Um, it's really just getting there, you know.
SPEAKER_00Well, I mean, dude, yeah, I'm a big fan. Big fan of South America. What uh food and cuisine, like what's your favorite uh food coming back from there? Because, like, I mean, dude, there's ceviche in Ecuador is so damn good. Like, there's so many good like dishes.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, there's a lot of good. I love ceviche, it's one of my favorites, always will be. Uh, I had a lot of infanadas. Um, those are always, you know, easy go-to, easy stuff, and so those are always good. Hmm, the best food. There was a restaurant called Somos in Tito, and they had like traditional Ecuadorian food from like indigenous people. Um, you know, a little bit more luxury style, but it was super nice, super good food. Uh, and I don't remember all the names of it, but they do make a lot of different foods out of their plantains. So, like, they use plantains for like a dozen different types of food, and they all taste and feel different, which is really cool. Um, I think the best food we had for me was when we did this. Aaron and I did a uh like an indigenous tribe immersion thing for a day where we gotta go down a river and like hang out with the tribe. Um, and they cooked us breakfast and you know, the river fish and all their super fresh fruit they just pick off the trees that they grow in the backyards. Best food I've ever had. Yeah, I mean, they they grow something like 200 plus different fruits in Ecuador alone, and so it's all fresh, all good, way better than anything you get in the states. Um the fruits, the produce, it's all good. Like, do you like dragon fruit?
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. You know how expensive it is here? Yeah, not cheap. No.
SPEAKER_01Did you just pick it off the tree there? Or like well, not not exactly. I'm sure you could if you knew where to go, but like they were selling like a sleeve of five dragon fruits for a dollar. Oh my god. You know, where it's like five bucks for one here, and it's not even great. So that's a good example of you know how cheap things are. Interesting.
SPEAKER_00Dude, talk about this immersion that you guys that you guys did with this with this tribe. That sounds really cool.
Food Finds And Cheap Stays
SPEAKER_01Yeah, we wanted to do like some some bird viewing to see if we could find some uh like see some parrots and toucans, and so we hired this dude, Eric, out in uh Tenna, and he brought us on a little bird tour. So it kind of started out as uh we walk like early in the morning we took a river boat down the river and went to this clay lick where we've got to watch like hundreds of parrots feed on the on the I think it was magnesium in the morning, something like that, which is pretty cool. And so a bunch of wild parrots feeding, and then after that, we went over to uh a local quichua uh village where he's got good ties. Eric is a quichua himself, and so he knows all the people and he does this for a living. And so he brought us over there, and there's no access there besides boat, and so you take a river boat to get there, and these people live off the land, and it was incredible. Like all the plants and stuff that they have. They show, I mean, they probably showed us a dozen or more plants and showed us all the uses, like how they make plastic fiber, for example, out of leaves and certain medicines. Like, there's a the dragon blood tree that they cut and it releases this like red blood, and they use it for like sunscreen and different types of moisturizers and things. And so it was really cool to be able to learn and see how plants are really their medicine and their food. So it's like the jungle is literally their pharmacy and their grocery store, and it was super cool to be able to see that like firsthand and watch how you know the people they prepare foods, prepare meals, and they cook under it's different like they cook over open fires and you know use leaves as plates and eat with their hands, and it was it was amazing. I mean it was like these people are truly living like in harmony with nature, and it's very inspiring to see that there's people out there living like super wild lives and not giving a shit about what we give a shit about, right? And they're they're okay with it, and they love it, and so it yeah, super inspiring to see that. Um, it was one of the coolest experiences we've ever had. Um, yeah, I mean if you have another question about it, I'm happy to share more, but yeah, it was really cool.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think like the bigger question is is like, what's your takeaway on that, dude? Like, we we live in a world, especially in America, where it's like everything's nine to five, everything's how can I get from the next thing? How can I get the better car, better this, better that? It's kind of it's not my favorite way of living, let's put it that way. But then you come across these people that like don't give a shit about any of that. Does that does that change you? Does that change your perspective at all?
SPEAKER_01You know, yes and no, like I still am who I'm gonna be, and like, you know, I'm an American, and so like I like nice things too, but it makes me more like grounded, I would say. It makes me want to be more grounded with who I am, where I am, and really just be more immersed in nature when I can. Um, because nature truly is healing, and there's just so much out there that's free. Like you can walk out your door and walk to the park or go down to the trees. I mean, it's costs a couple bucks in gas or something, but you know, nature's almost free nowadays, and you can go out and experience it and really be one with nature. And I think for me, that's just that's the biggest takeaway is to be more immersed in nature when I can, um, and just to be really present with it, and to be, you know, I think when it comes like the materialistic things, to be less um needy, um, if that makes sense. Just to, I don't need, you know, if I don't need it, maybe I'm not gonna get it, you know. Like, there's a lot of things that I want, and I still do get those things, you know, and I buy those things, but it just like it it makes you more humble. I it makes me more humble to like or want to be more humble, right? To be like give, you know, more giving, I would say. Like, I think one of my biggest takeaways was like the more I give is better for not only the other person, but for me too. Like, I don't I don't want anything in return when I try to give, like, whether it's thoughts or even just like a shirt off my back, but yeah, you know, these people though, they don't need anything. I mean, they have everything that they need in in their jungle and they're living off of it and they love it. And so, like, why can't we just you know be okay with the lives that we live? You know, I think for us, everything is so stress-driven. I really am trying to like step away from that mindset of being stressed all the time about certain things and like putting um like expectations on who I'm supposed to be or what I'm supposed to be doing. I think that's probably the biggest takeaway is just like taking the expectations out of my life and just living. Yeah, so like quick summary. So I think for me, like the biggest takeaway is just to be more okay with the life that I'm living and to place less expectations on what matters.
Amazon Village Immersion Lessons
SPEAKER_00Yeah. 100%. I think it's no, it's a beautiful way of answering it. What did you have? Like, did you have any like preconceived ideas of what you thought something was going to be like for this experience? And how was it different? Or what what did you walk away from? Anything that like opened your eyes and was like, this is this is different than what I thought it was going to be.
SPEAKER_01No, I don't know if I really had any like perceived thoughts of like what to exp what to expect. Um, I really tried to go into this whole project with no expectations. Um, and that's the way I went into it, and it really helped me become more one with or more present with the project itself and just with where I was moving. So yeah, I don't think anything really stood out as like crazy different than you know what I was expecting. Cause I wasn't expecting anything. I was just gonna take it for what it was, and that was that was my idea was whatever comes my way is what it's gonna be, and I'm gonna be okay with it the best that I can, you know. And so no, I think it was all it was all great. I mean, it was perfect. Super cool.
SPEAKER_00Uh I have a question about Aaron. So Aaron was there, broke the code a paxi FKT. Um, obviously huge deal. Um you but you guys did kind of separate projects as well. What was that like trying to figure out, okay, well, you're gonna do this, I'm gonna go do, I'm gonna go over here and do this. Was that ever difficult at any point? Because you're you're you're there kind of together, and then she's gonna go do her thing, you're gonna go do your thing. What was it like trying to plan that stuff?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it actually worked out really well. So, you know, she did Aconcagua too, and she left for Aconcagua pretty much the same day I left for my bike journey. And so for the next two and a half weeks, we were not even in the same country. So the first two and a half weeks of my project was super easy to coordinate with her because she was off doing her own thing and we weren't together um or in the same place, so that made it real easy. When she came back, you know, she wanted to climb Chimborazo with me, which was still on the list that I had to do, and it changed things a little bit. Like, you know, um, she wanted to do the Coda PAX the FKT and do it supported and all this stuff, and so you know, I for me I just dropped off like my bike where I was and joined her and got in the car and helped her out with those things. Um, mainly because like during those specific times where I was helping her, the mountains that I was trying to climb were in bad condition and I couldn't have climbed them anyways, and so for me it wasn't that big of a trade-off. Um, so it wasn't super hectic, and there were some times where it kind of got a little frustrating on either end of like, oh, like I really want to be biking to the Amazon right now, and you want to go to Baxsea or something. And it honestly, it wasn't that big of a deal. Um, we're pretty lax when it comes to trying to help each other out. Like my project, Santi, my good friend, joined for pretty much the entire thing besides the Amazon stent. And so I had somebody with me, and Erin was doing her own thing, but we we work really hard and try to be there for each other when we can. And you know, sure enough, she joined me for the last peak that I climbed the project, and I got to help her with a couple FKTs, and it worked out great. And she joined me on a few rides to the Amazon, so it was all good. Sweet.
SPEAKER_00Dude, I what was it? I mean, did you did you think the gravel I I'm just out of curiosity, because you said you did a lot of um I'm sorry, I'm all over the place with these questions, but you're good. You brought the you brought the gravel bike with you. You said you did a lot of biking, either some of it was on the road or a lot of it was on the road. At any point, do you think you're like, wish I would have brought a mountain bike with me, or was the gravel bike the way to go for this this type of trip?
SPEAKER_01Well, what I did, the gravel bike was perfect. I put on uh a front suspension fork, which is like maybe that much suspension. So not a lot, um, but enough to where the bumpier roads were pretty smooth. And I think I'm a pretty decent bike handler, and so like the four by four roads I was riding down, I was still able to fly down them and have fun. And I had mountain bike tires on the bike, and so you know, I was able to have a bit more cushion through the ride and the and the bumpy stuff, and I think with it being about 80-85% road, the the gravel bike was the way to go for me. Um and you know, that was my first time really doing something like this. I didn't really know. I was just kind of guessing, and my guess was pretty close to being right. Um, I would do it the same way I did it. And quite honestly, I probably could have gotten away without mountain bike tires, like probably could have gotten away without the fork, but it definitely made things more comfortable when I got into those places. Um, you know, they were not super long-lived, so it's like, could I put up with it for a couple like five or ten miles? Yeah, but it made it much faster, smoother, and more efficient. Gotcha.
SPEAKER_00Talk to me about the um just uh like trying to do the stents from like from a mileage perspective. Like, did you ever get cooked? Like, were you ever doing like 150, 200 mile a day where you're like, oh shit, like I'm I'm I'm pretty tired after all this, and then trying to recover for the next day. Like, were you taking breaks in between to try and recover? Um, or like how how was that as far as trying to complain recovery and and spacing things out?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I was really trying to do the product as fast as I could, in a sense. Like I wasn't going FKT style, like I was still gonna sleep eight hours a day if I could, and all that kind of stuff. So I think in the first 10 days I climbed six peaks, and then it really just kind of went off the edge, and I didn't climb anything else for another two or three weeks. And so, like the first 10 days was pretty, you know, we're going hard and doing something every day and with no rest in between. Um, and then it kind of turned into a roller coaster of okay, we're resting for a few days and then doing something, and that's kind of how it went. But there were some pretty gruesome days. Like the first day actually was probably one of the hardest. It was uh I had a 60-mile ride with uh 11,000 feet of climbing up to the Kayambe Refugio. And so the last 16 miles was like 7,000 feet of climbing and just 16 miles, like really steep to be carrying all my crap. Like I had all my stuff on the bike, you know, and so day one was quite brutal to be honest. Um especially not having done that much vert on a bike in a while, it it felt hard. So um there was a couple other days, like I did another 100-mile day, I had a few other like pretty big vert days, like 10k days. I think my biggest vert day was like 12k. Um, but yeah, I mean, some of it was pretty tough. I, you know, I'm pretty good with recovery and chilling out when I need to. And after the first stage of the project, again, you know, it was a lot more go with the flow, you know, just taking what I can when I can get it. And so there was a lot of recovery in the mix. Um, but I was never like so beaten down to where I'm like losing muscle mass, or you know, it's not like summer 14ers where I'm going four and a half days straight with literally not sleeping at all. You know, it was it was fairly lax, but also probably more intense than what most people would do, you know? It's fairly lax water.
SPEAKER_00What what was your water situation like? Were you stopping at like places where you can get just like bottled water? Like how did you or were you filtering? What did you do about the water situation?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I don't think there was ever a time I had more than a liter and a half or two on me. I there's Ecuador's so civilized that I was never extremely remote. I was able to get anything as far as like snacks and water within every five to ten miles, probably. I mean, maybe there was like a 20-mile stretch without stuff. Um but I was just buying water bottles from the stores and just refilling my stuff and getting cokes. Like a Coca-Cola is 50 cents, and a water bottle is like a quarter, and so it's super cheap. And I didn't I didn't filter any water. I don't think I ever drank water from the mountain. I think I just got bottled water because it was so cheap and super accessible.
SPEAKER_00Wow. Of the peaks you did, what was the most arduous? Like what was what's anything stick out to you that was like, damn, like this was pretty full on, or were they all pretty difficult, like as far as like rigor goes?
Balancing Projects With Erin
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, I would say so I didn't get all I got eight out of the nine that I was climbing, and the last one that I wanted to do is the most technical. It's a legit alpine climb with like mixed alpine with ice climbing and rock climbing, and unfortunately, the route wasn't in good condition, like almost not climbable, um, unless you want to climb like a 510 D slab with a waterfall going down it where you can't place any protection for 80 feet, and so not my gig, and probably like nobody else's. Like I couldn't find anybody that wanted to do it. Um, and so that was a pretty difficult thing that I didn't even really get to attempt. But there was a couple climbs that were hard, like uh the Wazo, for example, it's a very short route, but the last pitch of the mountain, maybe the last 150 feet, is like 5'7 climbing, and it was we were doing this in a downpour. Me and Santi were climbing it together, and I let it. It was pretty legit. Like, we're just getting rain on the entire day. Um, and all the rock is super wet and slick, and so like I'm being very careful placing gear and my feet and hands, obviously. So, like, there was a little bit of that, but to be honest, like Codopaxi and Chimburazzo and Kayambe, besides the altitude, like they're pretty simple mountains. They're most of them are pretty chill. Some of the route finding like on Sasonic can be kind of difficult, but most of them are pretty easy.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, how would how was the um the altitude for you? Obviously, you are so uh you know, altitude acclimate like acclimatization is not really a problem for you, especially after being sure, you know, on some of the biggest mountains in the world. So that's not really an issue, right? Do you even prepare for that or just kind of just go with the flow?
SPEAKER_01No, not really. Like not when it's a lax project like this. Like if I was going for the speed record on Everest, for example, then yes, I would take the acclimation way more seriously, like Tyler does, you know. Um, but like you said, I'm I'm pretty good at altitude. Like I can I've literally lived at sea level for six weeks and then went to the Atacama Desert and climbed a 6,000 meter peak in five days. Um, and had no problems. I mean, I didn't feel great, but I didn't have any issues. So no, not I didn't really do any real acclimating. Like my acclimation was me when I climbed the volcano. Like I climbed Kayambe, and that was the third highest peak in Equator. I'm like, okay, that was my acclimation day for the project. So how high is that particular peak? Uh it's like 5700 meters, which is oh around like 185.
SPEAKER_00That's high. Holy shit. That's that's higher than I forgot. It's pretty high. That's that's crazy.
SPEAKER_01It's it doesn't feel great though. Like Trimborazo, we did when I did Trimbarazzo, I had been at sea level for all close to sea level for almost two weeks prior. It's like I felt the altitude, like it doesn't feel great, but like I I know myself pretty well and like what I can push through and when things get pretty, you know, legit like pretty real, and never really had that. Um, so yeah. Altitude, it's it's uh it's a beast of its own. I mean, it's not easy by any means, it's still hard as fuck, but yeah, I my body just I guess works better.
SPEAKER_00Fair enough. Fair enough. All right, dude. So I gotta ask you the question. You're back now, you've been back for a little bit. You're a Texan now, you're like a Texas citizen or back in. I saw your Instagram story. I was like, you got your Texas driver's license. What what are you what are you doing? Like, what's next? What's the plan?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, man. Um I'm actually trying to make a decision right now on whether I'm gonna go join Ty and Nepal or not. And quite honestly, Ty doesn't know this yet, but I don't know if I'm gonna go. Say that again.
SPEAKER_00Sorry, I later.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so Ty is going back to Everest, and he has invited me to go back. Um, expenses covered and all that good stuff to you know support him and whatnot. And I'm I don't know, I haven't made a decision on if I'm going yet or not. Um, so that's kind of up in the air. I'm really just trying to enjoy being home and kind of getting into a groove of you know adventures that I love doing here. Like Aaron and I are going out to Utah in a few days. We're gonna do some slot engineering and some climbing and stuff, and you know, I'm really just looking forward to doing more of the things that I really enjoy, um, rather than going right back to another big ass mountain and suffering. So yeah, I'm I'm trying to make the decision, but I think like the next big thing on my list is tour to the 14ers. Um going for the FKT on that. So I want to go after Joe Grant's FKT on that. And if you know I don't know if you know what that is, but it what it is is human powered.
SPEAKER_00Such a cool one, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. Human powered link up with the 14ers, bike in between. I'll do it self-supported, so no support um besides what I can get and bring. Um, and I think the day the the time limit's 31 days. So I'd be trying to do that in less than 30 or so, and that'll be. Uh who knows? I mean it's summer now pretty much, so who knows when I'll do that, but probably June or July. Um so I'm really excited for that one. Yeah. Yeah, I'm really looking forward to like the more of the bike to climb adventures. I feel like there's not a lot of people doing that yet, and it's pretty unique, and I enjoy it. And so I can do a little bit of both. Try to go hard and fast while doing something cool. Dude, that is sick.
Hard Days On Bike And Rope
SPEAKER_00Well, if you ever want people to join you on a leg, I would totally link up to uh a biking segment to uh to a peek with you. It's good training, it's fun stuff, especially dude. I actually on a different topic about Colorado 14ers. I was actually this is funny, I was literally just talking to Brad about this because I told him you were coming on the podcast. And we were talking about the winner record, and I just wanted to bring this up to the side. Is no surprise? No That's my question. Why did nobody go for it? We have like the worst, the like literally the worst snowpack on record. Nobody goes for the winner 14ers record this year.
SPEAKER_01I'm so shocked. It kind of pisses me off. You know, like I did it on one of the heaviest snow years, and I'm like, and nobody's gonna go for it in the worst year in like over a hundred years. Like, come on. It doesn't make any sense to me. Like, there was one dude who was he was kind of chatting with me about it, and he was I think he's actually gonna attempt the summer 14ers this year, but he was talking about maybe doing the winter 14ers, and I was like, uh, dude, yeah, you gotta go do it. I mean, it's gonna be the easiest year ever. And sure enough, no one did it. I'm like, I mean, I get it. Most people can't get a month or two off of work, but like somebody could have.
SPEAKER_00You know, yeah, but it's like such a prestigious record. I mean, I'm surprised. Like, because so many they've made such a big deal about the summer record, obviously, or for the in you would think that this one was gonna be, yeah. I don't know, very surprised.
SPEAKER_01If I if I would have been here in the state, if I would have been here, man, I would have probably gone for my own record, honestly, and done it in half a time. Yeah, yeah, easy. Like, I remember seeing on the form somewhere, some guy was like, Well, sometimes when there's less snow, the mountains are harder to climb. And I'm like, in what world?
SPEAKER_00You know, like where? Here, here's my question, though. Had somebody gone for it though and gotten it, would they have been given a ton of shit because it it's like really wasn't we were more spring, if anything, conditions. It was pretty, pretty not a very exciting winter. Do you think he would have it would have been like asterisk, like what put an asterisk next to it?
SPEAKER_01No, I don't think you would have been a little bit.
SPEAKER_00You had to go for the gauntlet, dude.
SPEAKER_01Right, yeah. I don't know if it would be to the point of putting an asterisk next to it, but like There would have probably been a little bit of shit given here and there. Like, yeah, it wasn't real winter conditions, and like what I did was real winter conditions, like pretty legit. And so I don't know. I would have supported the person if they would have gone for it regardless. And so, yeah, it just surprised me that nobody did it. And it's kind of a bummer. I mean, yeah, yeah, it's really a big bummer.
SPEAKER_00Do you think someone's gonna break the summer one anytime soon? I'm surprised you didn't say you were gonna go for that over the tour, day 14 earths record.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, there's a kid going for it. God, I forget, I forget his name. We were texting a couple months back. I think he said he's going for it this year. I don't know, man. It's really fucking hard. And so like it's it's probably one of the hardest FKTs out there and at all, like quite honestly. What Andrew did is just incredible. And I think I would like to go back for it one of these days. Um, I don't know when that'll be still. I I probably mentioned this in the last podcast, but you know, Andrew did when he was like 43 or 45 or something, but I'm like 30. So I got time. I got time. It's it's one of those ones that I would I want to go back for, but yeah, I don't know. I mean, there's just not a lot of people attempting it. It's a very scary record to attempt. It's hard. It's real hard.
SPEAKER_00It's interesting, dude. What's your take on like I feel like, man, we talked the last, I don't think we talked about the grand and FKT and all that stuff since like is FK like especially because you know I would consider you more of an adventure-based athlete. I think you would probably consider yourself that as well. Like, is FKT relevant still, or do you think it's not? Like, I think it's it's up to you guys. You guys continue to push this thing forward, and with the amazing feats and things that you're doing, I feel like you you hold it up and keep the sport alive and keep the soul of it alive in a lot of ways.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, I think FKT is still alive. Um, but it I don't know. Like, I have my own thoughts and opinions, and I think that the fact that there's just so many routes nowadays that who really gives a shit about half of them. My personal opinion, like it just kind of eludes the whole thing. Um like I I love FKTs and I love some of those big routes and what Aaron's starting to do with like the seven summits, and it's like super cool stuff, and I think those more prestigious mountains and records are like where the proving rounds really are, you know. And I think she would say the same. And yeah, I don't know, it's it's hard because outside bought FKT and they kind of haven't done shit with it, and it really sucks. Yeah. They haven't done it, you know, and I don't understand why. I don't think anybody understands why, but I don't know if it's dying or if it's kind of in the same limbo state as it it's such a niche sport that I think that it could be really big if given the right boost. Um, and outside is obviously not doing that, which sucks. Um, and I I think the FKTs are really cool. Like, I love doing FKTs, like I love going for certain FKTs, ones that inspire me, and really more like the project-based ones, like the summer 14ers, where you have to like build a project. Um now, obviously, like writing up and down the grand or long, like they're super prestigious uh routes and records, and they're extraordinary in their own right. Yeah, it's different. So, yeah, as an adventure-based athlete, like I I really like the the longer stuff that takes more thought and planning to make a reality, um, if that makes sense. And so, yeah, I don't know where FKT is going. I mean, I don't know if Aaron's the only one to hold it up right now or what, but uh seriously, dude.
SPEAKER_00Like you have like your Michael Jordan, like Aaron redefines, like literally is like the Michael Jordan of this thing, like redefines like really what it means for women in the sport, not just women, but she's beating everybody. And it's like I just wish she would get more like there would be more backing, more, more excitement behind what she's doing. Sure. And I'm glad like you know, Tava and and brands like that are behind her doing it, but like still, like I don't know, it almost makes me wonder if FKT should be athlete-owned and shouldn't be owned by like this large corporation that's not really doing anything with it.
SPEAKER_01No, absolutely, I think it should be. I I the fact that a corporation owns it kind of ruins it. I think it should, excuse me, I think it should be athlete-owned. I think it would function much better, and they have much better community too. Um, you know, a couple of the people that work at FKT, they're great people and they they're trying to do their best. But when now play doesn't want to put any funds or effort into it, it's like, what can you do? You know, and yeah, it's hard. I there's like you said, you know, Aaron's doing extraordinary things on the women's side, and there should be a lot more women doing this. Like there should be way more women that are chasing, you know, these records, and I think there's an avenue, a career, a potential career path for people, like for women specifically in this. Like, you know, men's sports are so diluted nowadays, I think. Just like there's so many dudes in sport, and there's so many elite sport, like dudes in sport, and it's hard to become one of those people, right? But like for the women's side, it's still not really tapped, and I think there's a huge opportunity for women to get into that sport and make a name for themselves, you know. It's like anyone, like any adventure or mountain women's. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00So I don't know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I agree.
Texas Reset And Next Objectives
SPEAKER_00Um dude, are you gonna be are you what about racing? Like, I know you did Barclay last year, which I was I was kind of really impressed that you you did the damn thing. Like, are you gonna go would you want to go back to something like that or do like a different kind of race?
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah. Absolutely, it's on my list. I'm I'm uh I don't even know if I'm really supposed to say it, but in theory, I'll be running it again probably in the next couple of years. Um, so yes, that's the the Barclay is on my list, and that's one of the the few races that once I do, you know, have my shot again, I will be taking that very seriously. Um you know, before doing my Ecuador project, I really wanted to do a hard rock qualifier and try to get in hard rock because I think I could compete in that and do pretty well, especially if I train properly for it. But again, it's like one of those things where I go back to, you know, as an adventure athlete, I just find much more joy um in doing all the sports and adventuring where and when I want to. And so I don't know if I'm gonna be doing a hard rock qualifier anytime soon, or if any, that's gonna come to life. But the Barclay is definitely gonna it's there, and I'm and I'm going to attack that one hard. Um I would like to do a couple of circus cheese races, probably not you know competing at the high levels because nowadays they're those guys are pretty fucking fast. I would like to go through Yeah, it's it's crazy. The sport's just growing so fast, and so yeah, I don't know as far as rate like real racing goes. I don't even know if you consider Barclay real racing, but probably not a whole lot of that in my future. Um, like maybe some gravel bike backpacking races. There's one in Peru that I'm looking at maybe doing in the summer. It looks pretty cool. It's like a five-day, 750k uh gravel bike race. It looks pretty fun. Um but yeah, I think you know, I'm definitely structuring my adventures and quote unquote races around things that actually inspire me and that I want to do and that are fun, and not because it looks good or it looks good for a sponsor or something, you know. Like I don't really care about all that.
SPEAKER_00No, and this is where I'm going with this conversation because I find this interesting that so you're you're partnered with RAB, and I'm not saying they kind of let you do whatever you want, but it doesn't seem like there's pressure. It seems like you can go do what you want to do, and that there's storytelling around that, and that that keeps, you know, that that obviously offers a great for a great partnership.
SPEAKER_01Sure, exactly. And those are the kind of partners that I'm really looking to continue to build with. Like we just sign on with nomadics, and I'm on my second year with Now Foods, and they're all so lenient on what we do, and they just love the adventure and like the place that we go, you know. And so being able to tell the stories the way we want, and like the story that we want to tell is what's important to these brands, and obviously, like for Hoka, that's not the case. Um, so it, you know, like I would never partner with Hoka probably because for one, they probably wouldn't even consider me. Um, and two, they're just we're not aligned, right? And so yeah, I think as far as spar partnerships and sponsors go, it's it's definitely more of that if they're not gonna be lenient about the things that I can do, then we're it's just probably not gonna work out.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. No, it makes sense. And I I the storytelling component is is interesting too. I know you kind of alluded to that you were doing a some storytelling around the specific uh I guess the specific project that you just came back from. Will either be a short film released from this, or is that what they're kind of working on?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, so I've got all the footage in the hands of my good friend Gay Robick over at F4D Studios, and they are currently putting together a short film. Um, we're gonna try to pull in some, you know, my sponsor backing to help finish the editing and put into film festivals, and I think it's gonna be a really strong story of not really objective-based, although there's objective inside of it, but more so of like my progress as a human and as as an athlete and like what I'm learning and what can be applied to other people's lives. And so I think it's gonna be a very powerful story. It's gonna be really cool. Um and on top of that, Aaron and I are about to start YouTube.
SPEAKER_00Say that again?
SPEAKER_01Aaron and I are gonna kick off our YouTube channel here very soon.
SPEAKER_00We have Okay, I've heard jugglings about this, but I wasn't allowed to tell anyone. I think you told me last time, last time I talked to you, and I never said anything.
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SPEAKER_01I feel like I was learning the secrecy. Yeah, Aaron and I we we've been talking about this for like two years, and we have so much footage of all the places we've been to, but we can we never find the time or energy to want to edit it all. And so our good buddy Santi, he's a young kid and he's full of stoke and wants to be a foot, you know, he is a photographer, videographer, but he wants to excel at it, and so we've kind of created this opportunity for him to step in and help, you know, film and edit our YouTube videos, and so it takes a lot of load off of our back, and we're putting a bit of money in his pocket too. Not we're not making him rich by any means, because we're not rich either, but um yeah, it's it's exciting. We we have two videos almost wrapped up and ready to be put out on air, and we're you know, we're gonna put them out every two or three weeks or something like that. And so yeah, it'll be fun to share more of our adventures and the things that we're doing in more depth um than just like a post with some pictures. I know we've been talking about it for a long time, but we're we're close to releasing our first one. Um, we're just wanting to make sure we have everything dialed to where we're all happy with the product before we put it out there, if that makes sense.
SPEAKER_00Dude, I love this. You realize, I mean, you know this. But like there's no need for brand partners anymore if you can like make this YouTube like successful. Like I know there's plenty of athletes that basically like once they retire, they just live off their YouTube because it's so popular. So if you could do something like that, it you it just I don't know, it's a different income stream and it makes life, I just feel like you're in charge. You don't have to worry about having to sp sign with this person or that person, it just makes life different, you know.
SPEAKER_01Right, exactly. And that's what we're looking forward to most. Like, we love all the sponsors we work with now, and we hope that they want to back us on the YouTube and you know, hop into certain episodes and help support that financially too. But yeah, like you know, if if it grows over the next three or five years or whatever, it's like a lot of people make full-time livings off of YouTube. And I think that the things that Aaron and I are doing, you know, they're they're exciting enough, and there's enough adventure pack that there's people would watch it, right? It's like we're always doing something somewhere, and I think there's enough where people are gonna be like, oh yeah, I'd watch that. So that's what we're hoping for. And if not, it's like whatever, like we want to do it so we have it for ourselves too. But yeah, there's definitely like an objective goal with it, and I think it could work out really well.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, I think it's a smart move, dude. And like I and the thing about you know, you for you guys specifically with what you do, it's not just like, oh, I'm just trail running. No, no, no, no. There's like so much more layers to it, and it's such a different, like more adventure-based thing that you're gonna pull people from so many different audiences and niches. It's not just the little trail running niche. So I think I'm exactly. I mean, dude, look at like mediocre amateur. I don't know if you've ever watched that guy's YouTube. I must watch every one of his videos, they're amazing.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, exactly. And that you know, that's kind of the idea, is just to have this like diverse style of adventure videos, you know, like okay, here we are in the big mountains, now here we are in the desert, or here we are on the Amazon, and now here we are back in the big mountains, you know. Like there's just there's so many things that we don't ever share that should be shared, or should be in the sense of I think people would really enjoy watching. Um so yeah. It'll be fun.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, dude, I love it. I love it. Anything you think we missed? Anything that we wanted to hit on that we didn't think we covered?
SPEAKER_01Man, as you know, we we could really go into depth about all these topics for hours just like we did last time, but I think we did a pretty good job at making it as condensed as we could.
SPEAKER_00Fair enough, fair enough. You know, you're like I hands down, I had so many people after your last episode to reach out to like even my dad was like, that Chris Fisher guy's fucking awesome. I was like, Yes, he is. So yeah, I appreciate it. Yeah, uh you got an audience, bro.
SPEAKER_01It's fun, man. It's it's fun having conversations with people that truly care and want to hear and you know, just are a part of the adventure as well. And like, dude, you're I consider you a good friend, even though we haven't done a whole lot together and like we've had great conversation. And so, yeah, it's always fun. I hope we can get out and do more together at some point.
SPEAKER_00Yes, yeah, dude. I 100%, man. We definitely, whether it's at a at a race or something, even just like adventure stuff in the mountains this summer. Hopefully I can, you know, I'll pop in and get to uh you know, get to see some of your work on uh Torday 14ers or something. We'll link up. Don't worry.
SPEAKER_01We'll make something happen for sure. I know Aaron's thinking about doing something on the incline here soon, and so maybe we could all connect through that at some point. Yeah. I will still be able to file from there.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I gotta I'll message her and and I'll we gotta get her on because that we get she's over.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, she said she'd be stomped.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, sweet. I mean, she's one of your first guests, and so there's a whole lot of new stuff.
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SPEAKER_00Oh, hell yeah, dude. I haven't talked to her since she was with Sportiva. Or like had her on the podcast since she was with Sportiva. So it's been another one Yeah, y'all are over too. Y'all got big time, big time. Well, Chris, dude, I don't want to take up too much of your time. Thank you so much for coming on. I love these chats, and uh, we'll keep them rolling, man. We'll uh we'll do another one. Absolutely after after two day tour-day fourteeners.
SPEAKER_01So perfect, man. I look forward to chatting again and let's get out in the mountains here soon.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely, dude. Thank you so much. Have a great rest of your day.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you too. Cheers, buddy.
SPEAKER_00Oh, what'd you guys think? Guys, just want to apologize one more time uh for the um audio quality. Chris was and I recorded this when he was uh off uh I guess you'd say not off grid, but off of Wi-Fi. Um and just we had a pretty poor uh audio connection there. So I did my best to clean it up in post-production, but I hope you guys were still able to take something away from it. Super but much super bummer, but um obviously for round three, we'll get him uh we'll get him in studio or something to uh to enhance that quality and make it a little bit more enjoyable for the audience. Um guys, the best way you could support Chris is to give him a follow on Instagram. You can find him at Chris JFish on Instagram. Give him a follow if you don't already. He's always uh in there talking about some of the cool things that he's been up to. Um one thing I just love and appreciate about Chris is his ability to uh get himself out of the box. The dude does not um you know live in the box of just a runner. He does so many different things mountaineering, skiing, climbing, you name it. He's a multi, multi-faceted multi-sport athlete. So uh really appreciate it. Thanks so much, guys, for tuning in.
