History and Future of Sky Tavern | Yale Spina and Steve Wentz | E17
Generations of Reno kids learned to ski at the local ski hill, Sky Tavern, including our guest Yale Spina, a legendary ski aerialist and stunt man who is now the Board Chair of Sky Tavern. First formed in the 1940s through the efforts of Marce Herz gathering up children in her station wagon and driving them up the shoulder of Mount Rose, Sky Tavern has become an institution for local youth ski development. Our discussion with Spina about the past and future of Sky Tavern and his trajectory in life is both fascinating and inspiring. Steve Wentz of Momentum Trail Concepts, who Spina regards as a Picasso of trail building, also joins us to talk about all the exciting developments at the new Sky Tavern Bike Park. We cover a wide range of topics including family lineage, youth development, leadership, commitment to community, adaptive cycles, making rad trails, night skiing and leaving a legacy.
Cam Zink Invitational | E10
Recorded in the SendRadder, the Toyota Sunrader 4x4 mobile recording studio, @pow_bot and @trail_whisperer were invited to the @camzinkinvitational north of Reno to experience the athlete-only event and interview some core lords involved with it. Our first guest was Ian DeQueiroz (@manawolf), co-founder and CEO of @sendy_app, charter partner of Mind the Track and primary supporter of the Invitational. He tells us the fascinating story of SENDY’s Ukranian software development team building the app in the midst of war with Russia. Ian also traveled solo to Kiev in the middle of war to visit his heroic team and launch the app on time! Then at minute 52 of the episode, we sat down with @hank.wilkins and @iwanaga_damon – the lead builders of all the massive jumps at the Invitational. We learn about their backgrounds as riders and trail builders for @sensusradtrails and the @truckeebikepark , how you build massive jumps for the most talented athletes in the world while also building approachable jumps for the general public and youth. Thanks again to @camzink for letting us be the random gawkers at his property, and thanks to SENDY for supporting the show! Rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Spotify and help spread the word. #mindthetrack #mindthetrackpodcast
OG Van Life Living | Christina Thayer | E9
Episode 9 is all about #vanlife and being on the road living out of a vehicle. Recorded in the back of Trail Whisperer’s 1990 Toyota Sunrader 4x4 RV, the boys chat with guest Christina Thayer about her 20 years living in a 1976 Volkswagen Westfalia Bus called Buttermilk, her nomadic lifestyle and the endless adventures and occupations she’s had over the years. The best way to describe Christina is “Renaissance Woman”, as her exploits include rock climbing, mountain biking, dirt biking, whitewater rafting, skiing, surfing, logging and working as a trail builder, house builder, van builder, hairstylist, interior designer and chef. A self-professed woman with career ADD, Christina seems to have found her calling as the current Trails Program Coordinator for Washoe County. This episode is a smorgasboard of topics, driven by the fact that Christina has always been nomadic, enabling her to live a fascinating life doing lots of different cool adventures.