Not too many professional snowboarders, or race car drivers, come from the streets of Great Falls, VA. Tristan Herbert is the only person I know to have owned both those titles along with a few others. A naturally gifted athlete who always seems to land on his feet, Tristan has used up more than a few of his nine lives on his way to running the US Race Programs for Lamborghini and Audi. It’s a story full of injuries that changed Tristan’s career path time after time.
Tristan Herbert Show Notes
2:00: What is Tristan up to at Audi? Travel, responsibilities, and everything else.
4:00: Why Tristan is the ideal candidate to wear the suit for Audi but still understand everything that the race team has been through. He is also the logo police based on his prior career as a graphic designer.
6:00: Born in Leesburg and growing up with a charmed life in Great Falls, VA and realizing it was a total bubble to grow up into
8:00: Taking a year off after high school, riding Mt. Snow, getting on the Budweiser Ariel Assault Tour and enrolling at Keene State and how that was a strange college experience.
10:35: Evo (listen for special offer) and Patrol USA Use TPM10 at checkout on the site and get 10% off
12:25: The pressure and risk of snowboarding today and what happened when you got injured on the Budweiser Tour.
15:00: The day Tristan decided to jump out of the back of pick-up truck going 100 MPH and treating everyday like it is his last after going through that.
20:25: Diecutstickers.com (Listen for 10% off your first order with DCS 15) and RESQWATER
21:25: The first career changing injury for Tristan happens on his motorcycle and ends any hope of a pro snowboarding career. Three years later he tries to ride and does his tib/fib. He’s back on his board now.
24:55: Moving to DC after college and starting to race motorcycles and then how does he transition to race cars?
25:00: Getting sponsors, winning Am Championships and then winning a pro race that he was “lucky” to be invited to.
26:40: How is he able to pull off racing while working full time at a design firm?
29:00: Turning his passion into a career based on his athlete skills, driver skills and marketing background. A crazy interview opportunity turns into a gig as the Lamborghini Motor Sports Manager. His whole life changes here.
31:10: Moving on to Audi in 2014 to manage their US R8 program.
32:00: Is he still able to race now that he is a suit at Audi?
32:40: Link to Tristan’s brake failure video
33:25: Link to Tristan driving through carnage like Cole Trickle and T-Boning someone at 100 MPH.
35:00: What is next with Audi? Launches, races…….
Cole Seely’s road to Supercross stardom is a lot different than most. It starts in an apartment in California, where his parents put everything they have into Cole’s career….and then Cole quits racing at 16. When he returns months later, the pressure is lifted and it all comes together for Cole. He consistently places in the top 5 in 250 class and then moves up to 450’s. Right now, Cole is at the top of his game and at 27, the next few years should define his career.
Cole Seely Show Notes
1:40: What is Cole doing in West VA and how are the injuries healing up?
4:33: Where he’s lived and moving to Florida for intense training.
7:44: Riding a bike for the first time without training wheels at 3 years old and BMX
9:00: How did he get into moto and was it a struggle for the family to make moto happen for Cole?
10:48: Why did Cole quit moto and what was High School like for him?
14:00: What did sponsors and family think when he quit?
15:01: Coming back with nothing to lose and trying to land a spot on a team
16:00: Cole’s Sponsors: Honda, Alpinestars, Spy, Adidas, Troy Lee Designs, Stance and many more
16:39: Evo (listen for special offer) and Diecutstickers.com (Listen for 10% off your first order with DCS 15)
17:40: How does he turn pro in 2009?
18:52: Racing at altitude and wrecking himself in SLC in 2012
21:44: How much is he traveling during an average year?
23:30: Patrol USA Use TPM10 at checkout on the site and get 10% off and RESQWATER
25:11: Getting second in 2014 and how he dealt with that
26:05: Being part of a factory team and not having that luxury
27:09: 2015 racing 450’s, winning his first race, and adjusting
28:25: Does Cole party at all in a world where people like to get loose?
30:40: Conflict on the track. Rubbin is Racin
For most of JT Holmes’ 20+ years as a professional athlete, he’s been looked at as a pro skier and he still has that title. These days JT moonlights as a wingsuit pilot, off-road racer, and stuntman, all at a professional level. He’s worked to achieve some great things in the mountains, air, and on the big screen over the years while experiencing more loss (people doing what they love) than anyone I know. JT lives in a world of risk and he gets ‘real’ talking about death, his avalanche, and his career in general.
JT Holmes Show Notes
2:58: JT’s racing career is coming together and he’s winning. He even has sponsors (for cars and his other pursuits) and wins money. Red Bull, Squaw Valley, Polaris, Urban Armor Gear, BF Goodrich Head Skis,
7:04: Born in Boston but a 100% Californian at heart. Palo Alto is home for JT’s formative years
9:00: Growing up the son of a doctor who was into rad shit
9:50: What is the scar on JT’s lip?
10:50: What sports did JT play growing up?
12:04: Moving to Squaw Valley Academy and that life
13:12: Evo (listen for special offer) and Patrol USA Use TPM10 at checkout on the site and get 10% off
14:00: Being on a team was a means to an end for JT, Jonny Moseley and realizing he wasn’t that good at moguls
17:10: An encounter with Shane McConkey and Jeff McKittrick that put JT on a path that he is still on today
21:40: JT is wise beyond his years at 14 years old and evaluates the options of how he can become a professional skier
24:23: JT decides freeskiing is his path to professionalism and contests are the way to get noticed and Kirkwood in 1998 is what puts JT on the map
24:30: Diecutstickers.com (Listen for 10% off your first order with DCS) and RESQWATER
28:17: Going back to public school and graduating in 3 years at 16 years old
28:53: Getting his first sponsorship outside of his freestyle program while skiing in a tie and sweater
31:00: Being on K2 and moving on to Volkl and then reaching out to brands and people to make sponsorships (Sessions) and shoots happen. Getting his first checks
38:00: How did his and Shane’s relationship evolve though nerding out on gear and Shane fueling JT’s increasing interest in parachutes.
40:33: JT’s first BASE jump (Chris Davenport, Aaron McCgovern, Jeff McKittrick, Othar Lawrence and Shane) in 2002 with absolutely zero experience with skydiving or BASE minus one illegal tandem jump when his was 16 in NZ
43:49: Learning to BASE jump (50 jumps) with Jimmy Freeman
46:10: How important are his gut feelings to what he does for a living and big airs with Julian Carr
48:57: Shane taking things too far and the funniest McConkey story I’ve never heard
53:00: Looking back on Shane’s accident, what would he do differently now that he’s had time to evaluate everything
56:11: JT is a professional in airborne sports and he does not endorse them
58:30: Has JT been to therapy for the losses he’s witnessed and experienced?
59:23: Living through an avalanche. JT is buried for almost 7 minutes in 2016
In a world of big personalities, adrenalin fueled exploits and high risk, Andy Farrington is the calm voice of reason. The youngest member of The Red Bull Air Force, Andy is looked at as the quiet, badass who can pilot a wingsuit like no-other. From cancer at age 2 to 25,000 skydives at age 33, to wingsuits and Hollywood, nothing can stop Andy Farrington
Andy Farrington Show Notes
1:51: His last big trip to Jordan with Miles Daisher
3:20: His family history of skydiving starting with a downed plane in the war
6:54: Checking skydiving off their bucket list
7:44: Jumping in the womb and growing up with skydiving in the blood
9:36: Cancer at two years old
11:48: Making money in skydiving in the 90’s
12:07: What sports did he play growing up? Traveling the world for Paraskiing with his parents
13:40: How many kids in the Farrington family and what’s the craziest thing that happens when the family gets together?
15:19: Who sponsors Andy these days. Red Bull, Squirrel Wingsuits, Smith and K2
16:20: Evo (listen for special offer) and Diecutstickers.com (Listen for 10% off your first order with DCS 15)
17:56: How are they traveling all over the world on a skydiver’s salary?
19:09: Getting his first tandem jump in Austria at age 12 and then waiting for four years to really jump while dreaming of being a skysurfer
22:46: Jumping 16 times on his 16th birthday
24:20: Spending his life in the air and close calls
27:00: How many people close to him has he lost and what does he think of the risk?
29:40: How has technology changed everything that he’s doing? How has it changed in wingsuits? The flying up video
32:19: How has proximity flying upped the game?
33:18: Being in the movies: Transformers, Godzilla, Iron Man
37:00: Speed riding and when he started doing it and the Red Bull Unrideables
39:17: Red Bull Aces and how competitions change the game
42:58: What’s next? How do you push it?