#19: Dustin Martin: A Life in Ski Racing and Tracking Whitetail Deer

This week we had the pleasure of sitting down with Dustin Martin. Dustin was born and raised in Stowe and operates ARFA Property Management with his father Mike and has been a coach at Mount Mansfield Academy for 11 years. Dustin is an accomplished ski racer and raced at the college level at St. Lawrence University and has an impressive tally of victories at the Stowe Ski Bum races. When not working Dustin can be found tracking the elusive whitetail deer deep in the Mansfield back country and is the co-founder of Northwoods Whitetails. On top of all that Dustin just completed the 80th Stowe Derby on alpine skis!

Transcript

0:07

Welcome listeners to the Octagon podcast, where we explore the stories, people, and places that make Stowe, Vermont so legendary. I'm your host, Ted Thorndike, joined by my cohost, Mike Carey. We are excited to introduce our guest today, Dustin Martin. Dustin was born and raised in Stowe and operates ARFA property management with his father, Mike, and has been a coach at Mount Mansfield Academy for 11 years. Dustin is an accomplished ski racer and raced at the college level at St. Lawrence University and has an impressive tally of victories at the Stowe Ski Bum races. When not working, Dustin can be found tracking the elusive white tailed deer deep in the Mansfield backcountry and is the co founder of Northwood's Whitetails. On top of all that, Dustin just completed the 80th Stowe Derby on alpine skis. Welcome, Dustin! Thank you guys. Yeah, welcome. Yeah, good to, good to have you here. Last time I saw you, you were at the starting gate of the Stowe Derby and Alpine skis. Absolutely. Yeah. How did that all come to be? It's always been a goal of mine to want to do the Stowe Derby, and if I were to do it, in my alpine skis. And that is all from the origination of the race, the whole four of them wanting to race each other from the top of the mountain down to the, Downtown still and Just hearing that story and just being so invested in wow actually hooking on a pair of skis and out and skating all the way into town I just thought back in the heyday is just the competitive nature that they had and just how how awesome that would be To be around that generation and then all of a sudden hearing George Torme and just, his legacy in this town and that just inspired me to Want to do it. And so I've never had a chance to actually do the show derby because of one growing up ski racing We're always just so busy and then this year I circled on the calendar. i'm gonna start training and probably five, six weeks before the Stowe Derby. And I'm going to start, really grinding away at training for this thing. I'm actually going to do it. And as soon as you announce it. Two people. Absolutely. You're committed. So it just takes that little bit where yeah, I want to do the Stowe Derby in my Alpine skis, I'm actually signed myself up. They're like, Oh, are you sure? you passed me on sunrise and toll road. You flew by me. And I'm obviously I'm going to catch him in the touring center on his Alpine skis. I never saw you again. so he passed me at covered bridge. And, okay, he passed me, whatever. And then I get to the finish line and he's there. what the heck? Because I assumed, oh, I think he manages, some of the condominiums that covered bridge. he probably pulled off and had a beer with somebody, with your buddy, I was like, yeah, he probably just did that. it was just like having fun. And then I got to the finish line. So funny enough, yes, I had made sure I had talked to Adam probably before maybe throw a couple of beer shots in there, just in case things go south and let's, make a day out of it. But, I felt good about it. That's incredible. Yeah. Very cool. Yeah. you mentioned training. Were you specifically, going up the tracks? we manage the townhouse association, which is right next to the toll house lift, and I actually parked right after work. Okay. Park my truck right down a chop and walk out to where we make that corner of underneath the power lines. Yep. And I would strap my skis on and I would skate all the way to Covered Bridge. Wow. And the first time I did it, let's just see how far I can go, maybe just see how it goes. I kept on going and it was just it was a beautiful day. It was sunny. It was warm you know close to 30 degrees and I know these woods like the back of my hand. I was just enjoying myself Yeah, and I just kept on going and as soon the next thing, I cover a bridge I can do this. And as soon as I hit that moment of I can do this, I am all in, I am all in. So then I ended up just, I'd go home every day. We ended up finding a treadmill for free a couple of years ago. I hadn't even used it. Fired that thing up and every day, and I would just start running and I'm not a runner. I hope you know that. Alpine is a gravity sport. Yeah, Yeah, and so I just started training. I get tired going from the gondola to the quad when I'm skating up to the quad, yeah. Oh, that's cool. I didn't know. You know how calculated you were I saw you at the start line. oh cool, but I don't know man next year maybe Mike alpine skis No, i'm not doing that. I'm not signing up for that. I think a light at setup Maybe I'm not rolling it out for me. All right. Dustin has inspired me. So I do need to say, I need to give Michelin LeMay a shout out. She also did it in the Alpine skis. Oh, she did. Yes, she did. and her and I, right after the race was done, where we both looked at each other, that was hard, but that was awesome. how you feel as soon as you cross that finish line, You can do that. and we do want to try to inspire more people to do it with us. I'm thinking about it. It's let's do it. let's make that new category, the Alpine category or whatever you want to call it. that's how the race originated. Let's make its own category out of it. You're obviously an incredible, derby alpine, racer. What about regular ski racing? We knew that You grew up in Stowe as a ski racer. Yeah. You raced in college for St. Lawrence. how'd you get in the sport? Yeah, exactly. How's it shaped your life? No, I started skiing when I was two years old. Between my mom's legs, she'd bring me up all the time Got right into it and went to the Mount Mansfield Ski Club As soon as, J6. As soon as I was allowed in. grew up with that program. all the way up to eighth grade, actually, where they had the academy at Foster's Place before they moved to the new location now. And, we were the last, my year was the last year at that Foster's, location. And then they moved up to the road to the location now. And grew up through the entire program. I took a post grad year with them as well. Got accepted into St. Lawrence and I skied all four years at St. Lawrence At a really high level and made it to NCAAs, which was my ski racing goal we skied out in Bozeman and what a phenomenal experience that was Made it really far with ski racing, made a life out of it, and I would not have changed one thing about it. I absolutely loved it all the way, so much so that as soon as I graduated, I wanted to start coaching as well and give back to what that program gave to me. So I graduated college and, started coaching. you, grew up racing at Mont Mans Field Academy and now you coach. How has the sport of ski racing or maybe even the Mount Mansfield Ski Club just changed and evolved over time? I'm guessing it's a different game than when you first started as a J6. how has it changed? I wouldn't say that it has changed a lot the amount of younger kids that we are bringing to this program to what Mishi has developed right here It's been pretty awesome. So we're trying to bring more of these kids into this sport And it's pretty cool watching them trying to develop these kids Into ski racers, but if they don't become ski racers, at least hopefully that they fall in love with the sport of skiing and if it's changed in a way, I don't really know. I don't think it really has that much. The core is still, yeah, the core is the same. Exactly. It's cool to hear just that the goal is to develop. Excellent ski racers, but also, Hey, let's have fun. Let's build friendships. Let's love skiing. And I think that's great to hear. Sure. I want to try to develop, be the best ski racer you can, but if not, let's have these awesome experiences while we're out here. What do you think separates the super high level? how do you achieve that? Is it mental? Is it determination? cause you're talking about split second differences, right? Totally. and it was my, J3 year, which now we call new 16. I was very good before that, up until the J3 year. And then all of a sudden as I hit that, I don't know if it was just my body development and I just I just didn't get my growth spurt until a little later on and all of a sudden I'd see all my friends take off and I actually wasn't as good of a ski racer. am I like my losing my ski racing career here away? Am I fa away? Is this isn't for me And then all of a sudden, one day it just clicked. And as soon as it clicked, I can do this and I can bring it to the next level. And it was one race I went and it's a point system once you make it up to a certain level. I scored a really good race and then all of a sudden I, it was two days back to back and I just lowered my points by a lot right there. And now all of a sudden in my head, I can beat these guys. and then the next race, it was just improvement. And as soon as that, I just took off. And it was right at the end of the J3 year into, the, was it U18s And it was a J2, like as you're entering the point system, I would enter the next year. And The slow improvement, as soon as you know that you can be there, you can compete with these guys, it takes it to another level, and so I stayed at that level all the way up until, college, and then I scored this, massive race, I did it super well, I ended up, winning a fist race in the Eastern Cup, and it was all because, I carried the same momentum like determination I'm this good But then I got to this Eastern Cup and I looked around I should be better these kids and these kids are passing me all of a sudden Yeah, and so then that race I was started just 30 second and I was shocked I thought seated a little higher than that and I ended up just getting pissed off about it And I went down and I won the race. and that is what really helped me out my college career And it was just just those little steps, step by step, just knowing that you have it in you and wanting to work harder. yeah, knowing what to work on, right, little fine tuning of everything, right? That's what's so incredible about Ski Research. the coaches are there to get you back on track Yeah But it's up to you to want to bring it to that next level to shave down that little bit I always think of Bodie Miller, cuz isn't that The balance of ski racing you need to get down the fastest time possible. But if you go too fast You'll crash. So that's got to be such a tightrope to walk. how did you achieve that whether it's a mindset or just checking your speed because that I would imagine that is just such a tough But he was a very good at cutting down his line. I mean he was another type of ski racer. That's for sure did you have a best? Type of ski racing GS. Yeah, GS. GS was my event. That was your event. That was my event. I absolutely loved GS and I just I loved the technical part that allowed you to go fast if they had super G In college, I would have been a Super G skier as well. I just, I was built for the speed and wanted to just send it down the hill. Or downhill, even better. I know. Did you ever do any downhill races? Yes. Yup. I went up in Sugarloaf and I did a few out west. That looks frightening. Yeah. Birds of prey at Beaverton. Hell yeah. Unbelievable. Yeah. Yeah. I did ski bum racing. GS was my favorite. I am the worst ski racer in the world. I can ski anything. I cannot ski racing. It never clicked for me except GS. I felt this is a little more sense to me. slalom was just crushing to me. I had friends that learned how to ski two years ago and they would be beating me. Yeah. Well, we're just going to pivot a little bit. as I mentioned. You run ARFA property management with your father, Mike, and you're getting ready to take it over. Yeah. Understanding, give us a background on, how many properties do you manage? what services do you provide? Yeah, absolutely. So my grandfather started this business. he, Built all of Stony Brook and Hillcrest and also the Cover Bridge condos, actually phase one of them. as well as the townhouses? and so he Came up here built all of these places and my mom would come up all the time and ski all the time and then eventually they would get a place in one of the townhouse associations and they would come up and Ski and she absolutely loved it and then that Met my father and they built this property Management business around them. 1990 is when they started and they had a very good, successful business. and, everyone loves my parents. And so it was really easy for them to do, great work. And, I don't know who has not worked for ARFA. I did. I did one summer. Exactly. I did one summer. it's so funny. It's just you find these high schoolers, it just was the place to go for, the summer work. Totally. And especially, so I have a brother and a sister, older brother, nine years older and a sister, five years older. Stowe High basketball legend, Dana Martin. Yeah. Dana, if you're listening, we're wondering when you're moving back to Stowe. probably a while since you just bought a house in Mississippi. Questionable. Exactly. The opposite of Stowe, Vermont. Exactly, exactly. But, growing up through Stowe High School we would always get friends and people that would want to have a summer job, they would come and work for ARFA. They did a fantastic job of the summer work and maintaining people. But, so where we've gone so far, we take care of all of trap family lodge. Oh really? Yeah. We mow everything up there. We don't keep it busy. Just that alone. Sure does. we take care of five different associations across town as well as a lot of private homes. So if people have issues, are they calling you at midnight? I don't know, got a leak, might show up later, gotta be some crazy stories, right? If there's leaks, oh yes, and my dad cannot wait to pass all of that stuff on to me. Exactly. He's been waiting for this day for a long time. He cannot wait. You're just on call in case something happens. you get the high school kid maybe to do that, but I don't know if you can trust the high school kid at two in the morning. Exactly. so we're right in the midst of, I'm taking over the business from them as they're looking to retire. So cool. Yeah. Nice. And when you're not doing that, you've stepped back a little bit, you've coached for many years, what has it been like working with Mishy? She was one of our first guests on the podcast. What's that experience been like? Awesome human being. Yeah, she initially in the May. actually funny enough. I listened to your guys podcast with her and her first year with the, with Mount Mansfield was, when I was a J3. Oh, for real. So she was my coach when she first came here. and then she was my teacher at the academy as well. And so I've known her forever. She's awesome. makes work, fun and you look forward to going into coaching with her and Being on the hill, nice. What age kids do you coach? U twelves. U twelves. I was, yeah, I was the head U 12 coach for a while. and since then I've, as I've slowly stepped away, I'm still helping out with'em, Yeah. I know my nephew has really enjoyed working with you. Yeah. Having you as a coach. He talks about you a lot. you touched on a little bit, especially about, what has Allowed you to be a successful ski racer. What advice would you have for any racers or parents listening out there that, maybe do you want to take that next step and be successful in ski racing? Yeah, great question. it's the amount of work you want to put in. If you want to make it there, if you want to, ski racing college, make it to that next level, you need to set that goal. And then. Figure out how do I get to that goal and you don't just Look at that overall goal. You have to make little goals to get to that big goal Yeah, and it's an entire timeline of how you can get there You can't just expect to be there. You need to work hard to get to that point and that is not Just during the winters you need to train all year round and this is one point. I really want to stress It's not all ski racing. you need to do, all sorts of different activities, whether it's working out, whether it's going mountain biking, whether it's running, whether it's just, playing soccer, doing other sports, because those, when you can make a quote unquote athletic move, you don't learn that just from being on skis. you need to bring everything into this one equation. And You figure out that big goal that you want to make it and then okay How do I get there and you train you focus on that all year round and doing these different activities? Yeah, the year round point I think is good. Yeah, I see the kids mountain biking and Katie Hill and hiking for sure So when you're at st. Lawrence and you're at a high level, did you think? I want to go pro, I want to go to the next level, or is that, that's got to be even a gigantic jump, right? Totally. and I knew I wasn't at that level, I knew I could make my overall goal, which is NCAAs. But as far as being that gifted to being at the very tippy top Yeah, like you got at you Something You can't just try how many people get to that level? That's exactly it 30 40 you look at the ski team Yeah. So same. did Matt Nittle have a stint on the US ski team? I know he's a pretty decorated, he's very decorated ski racer coming outta Stowe. What was he, NCAA champ and at UVM? yeah, I don't know if he was on the team or not. Yeah, I'll need to ask him that. we've had a bunch right? Come out of MMSC. Yeah, at the top levels. Right. You know Siegel? Yeah. Ryan's there right now and Ryan was a year below me, so it was his senior year. I don't know if he even knows this, but I saw him all of a sudden, like him and I were neck to neck. He was a little ahead of me. But then all of a sudden just seeing him click like that. Yeah, it was the end of the year. Spring series. He won back to back races. as a senior at Eastern Cup finals where everyone, like the top dogs are there and he won and it was just like, Whoa, dude. And then all of a sudden the next year it was you're game on. And next thing you know, when I'm at college, he's winning Norians I'm like, dude, you are crushing it. So yeah, that's cool. It's time to take a quick break and hear from our sponsors. This episode of the Octagon Podcast is brought to you by Stowe Living. Here's a message from Kate. Majestic Mount Mansfield embodies the spirit of Stowe heritage. And we're proud to present the Octagon Podcast, a true reflection of our amazing community. Stowe Living is honored to sponsor this podcast. We're helping you live your best life daily with stunning furniture, unique design, kitchenwares, thoughtful gifts sourced from around the world. Thank you Stowe for your continued support of Stowe Living and the Octagon Podcast. Yeah. as I mentioned in the beginning, when you're not busy working, skiing, coaching skiing, you are an avid whitetail deer hunter. Just a little bit. Yeah. Just a little bit. just tell our listeners, how did you get into deer hunting? Did you start at a young age? What was it? A. Absolutely. Yes. my father's a huge whitetail hunter. Whitetail Mike. Yes. Yeah. Big Mike Whitetail. yeah, no. we're very avid outdoorsman. My entire family, just loves living outdoors. And my grandfather, his father, Every November go to deer camp and bring us along. and that's how he raised us was every November we're going out in the woods where we're following him around and learning the ins and outs of being an outdoorsman and what you're doing, following him as he's hunting and he would actually, call it condo camp. So we rented, one of the townhouses, during, The November break of the school year, and we would go up and we'd, even though it's just, five minutes away from the house, we would go and spend a week at the, what we call it, condo camp. and we just hunt right from there right in the woods, And I was hooked, there was nothing better in the world for me to do than to just release everything. From, the real world into, getting in the nature and But as soon as he taught me how to track, holy smokes. Different ball game. Different ball game. And you're so focused on one thing of there's an animal at the end of this track. How are you going to catch up to it? And it was was built into me. that, that might relate to ski racing a lot of ways. It's just as far as okay, it's me versus the deer. How am I going to catch up to this deer and what do I need to do? You talked about ski racing. So it's like, how will you get there? You have to speed up, slow down, go, all the factors. There's so many factors. And Yeah, he taught me at a young age and I, yeah, I grabbed ahold of that and that's one of my biggest passions in life. Awesome. Yeah. So tell me, I'm not a hunter, but I'm super interested in hunting. you go out on a hunt, you're looking for tracks. Take me through the strategy, right? You're looking for big tracks we want to catch a big deer And we think they're hanging out in this area. Give me a little strategy insight. How does the day go? Totally So actually this is a great time to actually meet to introduce So I'm actually co founder of the Northwoods Whitetails as you mentioned and our Main focus is tracking and coming down to, you track an animal and as far as picking the track, the size, yes, the bigger the track you find, it's going to lead to a bigger, you would think a bigger deer at the end of the track. I've definitely gone to areas that I've never even been before. and walked out in the woods and yes, there's deer there, deer is going to leave a track. And if it's a big deer, it's going to leave a bigger track. So it's, so if you're walking in the woods and you look down and enough tracks over the years you can, Make that decision. Okay, this is a this is like a medium sized buck track But then if you see a track you see enough of them that is a big track that I want to follow That's and it's fresh dirt fresh track. Exactly And so those are little tips that you learn over the years of okay, that's a big track. How then you get into, okay, how fresh is it? And then which way is it going? And then, okay, which way is the wind blowing and you bring in all of these different factors And, as soon as you get on that track and you take off and then that track will tell a story. And so then you have to, break that story apart. okay, so this deer is traveling at this speed. it's looking for dough right now, or if it's going in a straight line, it's headed up to the top of this mountain. how fast am I going to be following this track? for how far, there's some days. Yeah. you're up to 10 miles on a track. it's all is up to what that deer is doing when you caught that track, how fresh that track is. so all of a sudden you see it stop and all of a sudden make a 90 degree turn. And that's when That deer is going to bed down, or at least all of my other tracks that I followed, I noticed that when it stops, it's feeding and it takes a 90 degree turn. All of those deer bedded down. So maybe I should slow down right now because I come around the corner, this deer might be bedded down. And so it's just coming up with these different patterns that you learned over the different tracks you've taken. And probably just the mystery of it, just the not knowing, it might be big, but, and probably a lot of those tracks, you don't catch up. Yeah, exactly. And see, that is the thing you do it day after day, because if it, if you were to go out, get on a track and shoot a deer, it's not called hunting. Yeah. And so it's, it's the mental fortitude. Yeah. The grit that you have, the determination and the persistence, day after day. Yep. So you mentioned Northwood's White Tails. What is that? Yeah. So that is a local guy that you guys might know, Joey Davis, stow guy. We were on the same state championship hockey team, 1999. That's awesome. Side note. Yeah, co founded, actually, and Tyler Maynard, another guy around here. We, we, all co founded the. Northwood's Whitetails. And It is our mission to try to inspire the next generation, or the non hunters, to inspire non hunters, to see the importance of hunting. And it's not to say that tracking Is the best practice of hunting, but to show them that there's another way. And the importance of tracking is that you need these big woods in order to go in to get on a track, because like I was saying, you could be on a track 10, 15 miles in a day, and if If you don't have woods, you can't do that. So we want to show them the importance of the sustainability, but then also the importance of, controlling the wildlife population And the hardest part is pulling the trigger. And at the same time, that's why you're out there. And we want to try to inspire people to want to, there's not just hunters that go out and just. Shoot deer from the road but there's actually Hunters that get out there in the woods and actually put all of this work into harvesting a deer that you come home and feed the family and We want to try to relate that to the bird watchers the hikers the mountain bikers the people that use the Recreation is exactly like us. This is the way that we use all of the big woods and we hope that we can sustain it for the next generation. Yeah, and we want to show the importance of that. That's awesome. And so you do videos and Exactly. So right now the way that we're doing it is we're filming all of our hunts. if you go on our YouTube page, you can see different hunts that I've done over the years And We're out there hunting anyway, so why not show it and we'll share it to everyone. And you know what the coolest part about that is that my biggest hunting buddy is my father. And he's not going to be there all the time. But, and so I will get to always have those moments because he is always in those films with me. And so it's just so awesome to be able to have that. And that's that's just something you'll keep forever. No, I think that's important, right? to understand it's not. Like you said, not just driving around shooting a deer. It's the nature, the sport, the, we wanna educate people. There's a lot going on, and a lot of people just don't know. yeah. and totally understand about that, but we want to educate people know that there's another way and this is our way. And we think it's awesome. Yeah. and we want to share that. Yeah. I want to try it. I want to go. Yes. I go out. Yeah. Let's do it. These guys got me into it. Yeah. But, yeah. And I think the essence of it, I think that's how I've been out in the woods. Exactly. I think it's cool too. it's really clear. You guys really respect and honor. The animal. Absolutely. I think that's really cool doing it in an ethical way. I think it's, I think it's great. I've, I watch all the videos a lot of nights I'm at home, I'll have hockey on in the background on mute. I'll just be like watching a video, my little dick. What's that sound? I'm like, just watching a video. No, it's, it's great stuff. Do you have a memorable hunt that really sticks out in your mind, memorable track or just something that you look back on, wow, that was one of the best hunts I've ever been on. every single. Hunt, I will always remember anytime I actually take an animal, I will always remember that. And I evolve, I save all of the horns You look at my wall and I can tell you the exact story. my very first deer that I ever shot was with my father. that was very memorable. I just shot a spike horn my very first buck. that got me hooked. I would have said this, at the Adirondack Buck I shot last year. And that's because my father was there, but then also my really good friend from St. Lawrence, Blaine and his dad was there. So we were, us four, so his dad and my dad were all there and we got to share the entire, few days in the woods together, all tracking deer and the camaraderie that you carry from going back to camp. And then all of a sudden someone shoots a deer, everyone comes in and just how that entire day unfolded It was just so awesome. Yeah, is it, would you say the more challenging the hunt, more reward? Totally. that's, that's exactly the tracking. The tracking. That's it. That's what it sounds like. It's just the more work you put into it, that is what, it's just the reward that you get at the end. What's the largest size deer you've? So the heaviest buck I shot was actually last year as well. I, it was a 220 pound, it was actually just a big six pointer, big frame six pointer up in Maine. but yeah, it was just a heavy buck and then I shot a really big 10 pointer. up in Ontario as well. yeah, Ontario sounds wild. I know. Unfortunately, so unfortunately it was super good. Yes. Yes. So it was really good hunting, but then all of a sudden, yeah, the wolves just don't come in. They came in and they got a few, they got a few bad. Oh, you should hear some of the stories. my, My father was telling me that yeah, All of a sudden, right at dusk, he's okay, I need to walk back to the truck and he's on the other side of this lake. And all of a sudden this pack of wolves just start howling and he goes, yeah, the hair on your neck just stands right up. I hope I have enough bullets. Exactly. Yes. Yeah. It's like a animal show on TV. Right. Right. so I've never hunted for someone new to hunting. what's the best way to get started? How would you get started? Get out and do it. Yeah. Just like anything. Find a friend, get out and do it. yeah. Exactly. it, yeah, it all depends on what type of hunting you're looking to do. if, if you're getting, looking to get into archery, it's just go grab a bow and then just start shooting, grab a target and just start practicing. Yeah. and I would definitely say. Yeah. You gotta practice. Because that's the thing. You get the chance. You've tracked it for the first eight hours. a lot of people, some people don't even shoot before and it's oh, I missed the deer or didn't hit it well. And it's you gotta make an ethical shot once you actually, you put all this work in. Yeah. but, so yeah. Just get out and do it. That's cool. That's, that means. Practice, then you go out in the woods and you learn the woods and walk around. Okay. All of a sudden I see your deer path right here. Why is this? Then you start asking questions. Why is that deer going this way? And why did it just stop? Why is it feeding right now? and then you learn from that. Yeah, there's a lot to learn. I did, I've done fly fishing and that's yeah, the best fly fishermen catch a lot of fish and the bad ones don't catch any fish. It's like a similar thing. You think it's easy. I'm just going to, there's an art to it. There's an art to it and a science and a learning to it. Yeah. Yeah. It's a whole different experience being in the woods with that mindset for sure. forms a whole new relationship. I think people associate that you drive around Stowe and you might see a hunter. on the side of the road, and it's oh, that's hunting. like walking. That's exactly what we are trying. Yeah. that is a hundred percent. Like Matt Viking and Katie Hill, and there's a hunter coming up on me. Why we want to show, what Northwood's White Tails is all about. Is to show people that, okay, you see a hunter on the side of the road. don't. Don't think that's not all hunters. 100%. And so that's what we want to show. That's cool. 100%. You guys are doing it right. There's no doubt about it. All right. Let's do some rapid fire questions. Oh, all All right. Question one. He's in the hot seat. Fresh powder day or a crisp fall morning in the woods? Oh, Depends. Is there snow on the ground on that fall day? I'm gonna say yes. I would say on, if there's three inches of fresh snow, I'm on that track. All right. What is your favorite ski run at Stowe? Doesn't need to be a ski trail. No. The angel food. Nice. Yeah. I love it out there. And that is probably with the whole being an outdoorsman, just being in the woods. I love those woods. You ever hunt out there? ha. Yeah. Yeah. Can't tell ya. ha. Executing the perfect ski race or executing the perfect hunt. Perfect hunt. So I was a St. Lawrence grad as well. Have you ever been to the TikTok? Is that even a real question? No. I'm gonna, I'm gonna change that. TikTok or Hoot Owl? Hoot Owl. Ooh, TikTok. Gross. Man, that hurts. It was gross. they both sound like good bars to go to. Yes. What's your go to apres ski spot and what do you order? I'm going to say. our new favorite spot is the Stowe Inn down here at Grant's. Grant's. I've been hearing rumblings. It is. About Grant's. Yeah. I don't, I, I didn't know. I forget about it. I'm not sure if I wanted to say that on this podcast. I think word's out on it now. I do have to say secretly. it's on here. We started our own mug club there, Yeah. Yeah. Wow. All right. So that's local's joint. That's right. Jonathan at the bar. Honestly, I do want to give them a shout out. They're doing an awesome job down there. we, I'm getting married this summer and, that's where we're having our rehearsal dinner. yeah, we love the place. That's awesome. Very cool. So we'll just pivot into a little more of, stow life for you. you grew up in stow. What was that experience like? being in Stowe, going to school, racing. it's cool. I got the best of both worlds because I got to grow up, Stowe Middle High School. But then also be able to go to the Academy. But still be home, essentially. Exactly. And at that time it wasn't a full time school. And so I would just go throughout the winter months. And I would not have changed a thing. That was so awesome to be able to have two separate groups of friends throughout, growing up, I threw out the weekends before I went to the Academy, have those ski friends. And then even when we are at the Academy, you're living with them all winter, and then you go back and you have your high school friends. So it was cool. I got the best of both worlds of just hanging out with multiple different friend groups and, yeah, I loved it. growing up, were there any local legends or mentors that have had a big impact? Scott Moriarty, Mo, Huge mentor of mine, him and I, yeah, really close and he had a connection with me of really knowing how he could get that ski racing to that next level. he. Made a click for me. He knew I got nervous and he started me, I think it was 63 races in one year. Wow. It's too many That is nuts. It's good practice. But after that I was not nervous, it was just, he's probably talking about deer hunting with you. Hey. He loved, going up to Sugar Loaf. He would have me sitting right in the front looking for deer every time. Yes. Yeah. That's awesome. you've been around STO a long time, how do you feel STO has changed as a town, since you were a kid to now? Yeah. you immediately think the amount of traffic And Vail buying. And then do you see the amount of people flocking here for powder days? it. it affects everyone that wants to travel up and down that mountain road. I would say that is the, that's the biggest thing, especially with us, with our business plowing and snow days, going together, we have to organize our plow routes around the mountain road. And so we have to go get all of those places done before 7am because as soon as 730 hits, you're not getting around. that is the biggest thing. It's impacted your business. it's impacted our business and we have to work around it. That is, I would say that's the biggest thing. And, the cost of living is going up and us being able to try to find workers. No one can afford to live around here, so it's tough for us we can't pay high wages, so how are we going to get those workers when they're getting farther and farther away from the town. Yeah, I doubt about it. Let's talk about, Ski Bum series, right? That's woven into the history of Stowe. And we know you've won a lot of those races. What do you enjoy about Ski Bum racing? What's the essence of that race that you still do it? No, that's great. So I've I just, I love ski racing, competitiveness I just love the historic part of the actual race. Ever since I was growing up, my parents would, they always did the ski bum race. I would always go to the parties with them So I've grew up around that and just the whole part of, the ski bum Tuesday, you go down on, on the downtown main street here in Stowe and you ask them, okay, who just won the UVM carnival. they won't know. And then you ask them who won the ski bu race? they'll tell you right off the bat of who won the ski bu race. it's funny. It's just, just being a local town that has some history behind it. It's just like the Stow Derby too. It, I hope we can Cool history. Those that's keep'em going. Exactly. And that's, I want to build that energy around these things. I don't want That's, we're lose'em. Yeah. That's what we're trying to do. It's I want to keep that stuff going. Keeps still unique, those kinds of things, exactly. Most importantly, what is Mike's best finish? Anytime he makes the first page, if he makes the first page on the results, he is psyched. So what does that mean? how many? I don't know. Mike who? Mike's his dad. Oh, your dad. Okay. Whitetail Mike. Yeah. Okay. First page. Yeah. First page. But he's been on the first page. Yes. Okay. Oh, when he does, it's a captain night. Yeah. Family celebration. Oh, yes. So you're all on the same team. Yes. Yeah. Who else is on the team? so when my mom was racing, my mom. Oh, yeah. And then there was actually one race where my sister actually raced, so we filled up a team. She should be racing more. I know. She's a good skier. yeah, we actually had an entire Martin team. What would you say is your hope for Stowe in the next five to ten years? Yeah, great question. I hope we don't lose these events, the traditions, what Stowe is built around, exactly what I was just talking about with the Stowe Derby and the Ski Bum Race, it's it's changing a lot, I'm not going to lie. You're seeing a lot of second homeowners, a lot of people coming in Not to say that, you still have the Stowe locals I just hope we don't lose sight of what Stowe actually is. And and I hope that we can keep these traditions. And it's not just the ski bomb race and this derby. There's so much more behind it. I just hope we can keep that, that local community there. And thriving. Yeah. Really? Yes. And the more people that come here, new people, they need to know about these traditions and take part and participate. We need to, exactly. And we need to show the energy and the enthusiasm that we have as locals to want to do it every year and build it up. Yeah, I agree. That's even the OW Derby. I talked to some people oh, I was gonna do it, but I didn't have anyone to do it with. I heard that five times and we need a way to have people do it and come and it's gonna be supportive.'cause once they do it once. They love it. Exactly. So quick plug though. April 12th is pond skimming. It's coming back to Stowe. So that's just another event that we fly wasn't on my bachelor party. Where's the bachelor party? It's going to be in Puerto Rico. So we do wrap up our shows with one question. If Stowe didn't exist, where would you live? Yeah, that's a great question. Can I, wherever the biggest deer I was exactly what I was just going to say, I'm, I've definitely somewhere on the East coast for me. I, I lived out in Bozeman I've been out Colorado I absolutely love them, especially the ski towns but I'm a season guy. I love seeing the seasons and being on the East coast and you going through what six seasons it seems no, I would say, can I say Elmore? Yeah, because that's where I'm building my roots right now. So I absolutely, I, yeah, I love it. Maybe up in Maine. Maybe up in Maine. Maybe. Rangeley is pretty cool. Rangeley is cool. I just love the green mountains. Yeah. I love these small towns. Yeah. I just love this whole Vermont vibe that we have here. Yeah, we have it pretty good. For sure. Cool. That's about it. Thanks a lot, Dustin. Appreciate it. Thanks for coming on, man. This was great. Hope you enjoyed that episode of the Octagon Podcast. Remember to like us on Instagram and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. See you next time.