Taylor Stack - Pre UTMB ETC Interview

Mont Blanc in the background has a way of rewriting your definition of “normal.” We’re checking in with Taylor Stack from Chamonix as UTMB week starts to buzz, and he shares what it feels like to train in a place where even the “easy” routes quietly stack thousands of feet of vertical gain.

We talk about the practical reality of Alpine trail running versus Colorado mountain running: bigger relief from a lower start, fewer truly flat miles, and terrain that can surprise you even when the map looks friendly. Taylor also gets into the mental side of being in a legendary venue, the temptation to over-explore, and how he’s trying to stay disciplined with a big effort coming up.

Then we zoom in on ETC and why racing early in the week is such a gift. Taylor explains how he plans to use the rest of UTMB week to spectate OCC, CCC, and UTMB, and why watching the gear logistics, nutrition, and crewing up close can be the best prep if you want to race OCC next year. We also hit course recon, what elevation profiles miss, the joy of French food on a runner’s budget, and what it’s like to be just recognizable enough to get stopped for a photo while still holding onto that underdog mindset.

If you’re training for a mountain race, dreaming of UTMB Chamonix, or curious about ETC, press play, then subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a quick rating and review so we can keep telling these stories.

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Transcript

Quick Welcome And Subscribe Request

SPEAKER_00 0:05

This is the Steams Doth Placast. What's up, guys? Uh hey, before we get started, if you haven't already, whatever platform you're listening to this on, please hit that subscribe or follow button, whether that's Apple, Spotify, or YouTube. Those subscriptions go a super long way in being able to keep the podcast going and allowing me to continue to tell the stories of these amazing athletes and also do some of the race coverage and all the good stuff that we've been doing over the last few years. And also, if you haven't already, please give us a rating and a review if you haven't. Yeah, let us know what you guys think about the podcast and hope you enjoy this episode. Thanks so much for tuning in.

First Impressions Of Chamonix

SPEAKER_00 0:49

All right, Taylor Stack. Welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast. How's it going, man? Going well, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:55

Thanks for having me back on.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

Yeah, yeah, dude. Living the Euro life. I'm jealous. I was we were talking off uh offline. I was like, man, I'd it'd be really nice to have some croissants and be running around uh Chamonix in that area now. How is it? Is it is it starting to get busy this time of year right now?

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Yeah, it's definitely getting pretty busy, and I can't tell how much of that is just like the normal tourist traffic around here because it's definitely a very popular area outside of the whole UTMB scene. But yeah, you're starting to see more people who are doing the UTMB races kind of rolling in, and the vibe is kind of building for the races. And yeah, it's kind of fun to witness that. I have never been out to Shamini for UTMB, so um, yeah, it's kind of cool to just experience that iconic scene.

SPEAKER_00 1:43

Yeah, what do you think of that? Your first time here. Is it does it live up to your whatever expectations that you had? I mean, you've raced all over the world now, but this is Shamini is a little bit different. That vertical relief of Mont Blanc in the background just seems so kind of picturesque and crazy. Does it does it live up to your your expectations?

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Totally. I mean, yeah, getting here, I knew I've seen pictures and like I knew that it's a beautiful place, but it's just like it looks insane. Like it's hard to believe that it's actually real. Like the just the whole massif with the ridges and like super jagged tall peaks and the prominence and the big glaciers and everything. Yeah, it's like definitely a different flavor of mountains than you have back at at home in Colorado. So yeah, super, super beautiful place and it's fun to explore.

Training Discipline In Mountain Candyland

SPEAKER_00 2:31

But on the explorer topic, I feel like as it is Candyland, is it easy to get like carried away in training and like overdo it? Like, oh, I want to go hit this peak today and go do this tomorrow, or is it easy for you to kind of rein it in knowing that you have uh another big race just uh in a couple weeks?

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Yeah, I mean it's it is very easy to take it a little too far, like you know, stack up the vert a little bit too much. Um yeah, I mean, like you map out routes here and it's like, oh, this looks like it'll be pretty flat, but it's like it's hard to get less than you know 3,000 feet of vert in a normal run out here, and really easy to get even more than that. Um, but at the same time, you know, part of the reason I do this is to like experience cool places and travel, and it's like I don't want to waste any days that I have out here. Like I want to go, you know, see the cool stuff and and like explore and look at glaciers and and whatnot. And the training's good, you know. It's but you uh you definitely get a lot of art and um but yeah, it's been fun. But yeah, you do you have to kind of sometimes rein it back a little bit and be like, all right, maybe I'll try to keep it chill in the valley at least a couple days this week just for my body's sake.

How The Alps Differ From Colorado

SPEAKER_00 3:44

Fair enough. How different is it from because uh I'm sure the most of the audience knows this. Like you you live and train out of the Gunnison Valley, Greater Crested Butte area. Um obviously there's not the crazy altitude, but like just the difference in trails. Like, is it way more straight up, like the way they build their trails, less switchbacks? Like, what's the just this the difference in style? I know we have a lot of dirt roads in Colorado. I know there's less of that kind of over there. Um, so do you and do you like it better?

SPEAKER_01 4:12

Yeah, to me, it seems just like the terrain itself has a lot more vertical relief, and um, maybe it's not quite as much like the different style of of building trails and whatnot. But yeah, I mean, in Colorado, you know, we have our mountains that are like 12 to 14,000 feet or whatever, and a lot of the mountains are a similar elevation around here, but the thing is you're starting so much lower. Um, so you know, you can get so much more relief from that. And yeah, I mean, it's there's just nowhere really flat to run. So um, but yeah, it's super cool. I I think it's fun, and you know, you stack up a lot of vert and it can kind of shock your body a bit if you're not ready for it. But um, it's it's super beautiful, and like that's the type of running I like to do anyway. So yeah, I'm loving

Glaciers, Ibex, And Choosing Routes

SPEAKER_01 5:02

it.

SPEAKER_00 5:02

Anything in particular you wanted to hit while you were out here, like for instance, like the the Shamini VK or like just the courses and stuff or any any like um I know I think I've heard like some of Mont Blanc is actually closed right now just because of like rockfall and stuff like that out of uh uh I forget what the area is. But anyway, to make a long story short, anything that you've wanted to hit um particularly that you were able to knock off your bucket list or plan to uh before you leave.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

Yeah, nothing like specific kind of route-wise, but um I some of my key things I wanted to do were like see some big glaciers, which I definitely have, and there's a lot of that around here, which is sweet. And that's like what we don't have in Colorado, so I I definitely wanted to have some time to like explore that. And then I also want to see some Ibex, which I have not yet seen any. So I hopefully sometime in the next two weeks I'll be able to see some because I know everyone sees them, but I just haven't gotten lucky yet. Um so yeah, kind of those were the two main like objectives for me. And then otherwise, I just like to look at the Strava map and like see what looks cool, or like look around and you know, see a drainage, like, oh, I want to go up there and yeah, kind of making my routes day by day and and just kind of spontaneously doing what looks fun.

SPEAKER_00 6:18

Cool, cool. I know in Colorado we have obviously bighhorns and mountain goats, but uh do you guys have mountain goats in Crestabu? I know some of the elks do. Like I've seen them on like maroon stuff like that, but uh down by where you guys are, do you have the mountain goats?

SPEAKER_01 6:32

We do have them. They're not very common, so it's like a pretty rare thing to see them from my experience. Um, nothing like you know, in Montana where you see them all over the place. Um, but yeah, you see them occasionally, but it's like a pretty cool, rare sighting when you do see them. They're awesome, dude.

SPEAKER_00 6:49

Yeah, and to see an Ibex over there would be even doper. Like that's yeah, I uh the nerd in me like totally nerds out on stuff like that. That would be very cool. Let me know if you see one. That would be cool. For sure.

SPEAKER_01 6:59

They're they're all over apparently, but I haven't gotten lucky yet.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

So I've seen so many people on Instagram that have taken photos of them and it'll be like in their reels and stuff like that. I'm like, oh dude, I thought they were like hyper, and then maybe this is just me not paying attention, but I thought they were like hyper endangered or kind of like critical and they're hard to find. But yeah, I've seen tons of pictures this year, so maybe they're maybe they're on the move. I don't know. Yeah.

Why ETC Comes First This Week

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Um the ray the ETC is an interesting race in particular because it's early in the week, right? And it's a hyper competitive race. Um, it's kind of nice, like the way it's situated on the calendar. Do you uh plan to like kind of hang out after and get to see, you know, spectate UTMB proper, CCC, and some of the other races and get to see what those are about?

SPEAKER_01 7:44

Yeah, definitely. I'm I'm glad that ETC's early in the week because you just kind of get the race out of the way, and then you get to hang out, like you said, and spectate and kind of support some of the other teammates and friends who are doing the bigger races. Um yeah, I'm definitely gonna hang around and you know, watch all of the other races. And I think that's part of the appeal of this trip is you know, I have aspirations to do OCC next year, and then who knows, maybe some of the longer ones sometime in the future. But um, this year is more about like come and race ETC, which is gonna be fun and competitive, and like definitely go for it, but also use it as an opportunity to kind of spectate and like get a sense of the course and the vibe and you know the crewing and like gear logistics and like how everything goes for OCC, um, which I'll probably try to do next year. Um, but I think it'll be nice to to at least see how it goes because I think you know, a race like OCC, you have to be a lot more dialed on your like gear and nutrition and whatnot compared to some of the shorter ones that I've done. And so I think just being here and like witnessing it will be a nice like opportunity to get a sense of like what I'm in for when I go for it next year.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

Now you've been qualified now for OCC for two years, right? Something like that. Because I know you've done Desert Rats, what, two or three years now in a row, something like that.

SPEAKER_01 9:07

I did the uh the like 20k last year and then the 50k this year. So that got me my qualifier for next year for OCC.

unknown 9:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:16

No, I think it's a smart move, man, to do this race first. I know like this year I put in, like at least personally for the podcast, like we're putting more effort into hyping ETC up just because like this the level, it seems like every year just continues to get higher for this race. And especially with it being an off-year for worlds, this is you know one of our de facto, outside of like uh maybe like D F D Clore, which would be the WMRA final, this is one of our kind of mountain classic championships in a lot of ways this year, with who who will be there uh and contending, which is pretty cool. It's cool to see it get like a bigger um just get more eyes on it every year, which is neat.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

Definitely. Yeah, I think it'd be cool. You know, it the level at ETC is definitely legit and it historically hasn't gotten quite as much hype or like prestige as the three bigger ones, but yeah, I think it's I think it's you know a perfectly respectable race and and like a high level of competition for that shorter format. And yeah, I think it's cool to yeah, maybe get a little bit more respect and more eyes, and you know, people start to care about it a little bit more, maybe.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Yeah.

Podium Goals And Competitive Field

SPEAKER_00 10:24

Now, a lot of the guys you'll be racing on next Tuesday, um you've raced before. You've raced a lot this year, actually. Uh, including, you know, from all the way from worlds to series and all to Zagama, um, so Broken Arrow, like Chisory and guys like that. Um I would say, I would be remiss to say you like you're definitely a favorite in this race. What would it mean to you to pull off a dub or get on the podium of something like this?

SPEAKER_01 10:48

Yeah, it would be awesome. I mean, I think that's always the goal going into a race like this, um, especially ETC, which is you know, maybe kind of thought of as a little bit less competitive as like an OCC or CCC. So, you know, like that win or podium is definitely kind of the goal for me going in, and that's what I'm gonna be, you know, my mindset during the race and trying to fight for that that spot. But at the same time, you know, it is super competitive still at that top end, and um, I know there's a bunch of strong runners, but yeah, I mean, I think I'm one of the guys who has a chance to take home the dub, so we'll see what happens.

Course Recon And What Profiles Miss

unknown 11:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

Let's what do you think of the course? Have you been out on uh to Cormayer yet and gotten to see it? I have not. I've seen the like course map and elevation profile and stuff, and I think this weekend I want to go over there and just run through the entire thing just to get an idea of you know what the terrain is like. And because I know kind of the vert profile, but a lot of the time that doesn't kind of tell the whole story about what the surface is like and how technical it is and whatnot. So I'm definitely gonna try to run the entire course because it's a short enough race to where you can run the entire course beforehand and and get a good sense of it. So that's one of the objectives for this weekend.

unknown 12:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:06

I feel like on paper, I mean, we'll we'll get to see when you get to go see it, but uh, I feel like on paper it suits you very well. I mean, 9.3 miles, 4,000 feet of vert. I feel like for some of these shorter things, like you've had great success at, you know, for instance, like our US mountain running championships at two years in a row from 24 and 25, you've had good success as well at Worlds being 12th. Um I feel like this uh this will suit you, I would guess to very well.

SPEAKER_01 12:31

So yeah, I hope so. It's definitely a similar kind of length and profile to like yeah, like US mountain running champs or like a Cirque series race or something like that. Um and I've started to dabble in like a little bit longer stuff, but it's gonna be fun to to go back down to like a shorter, fiery, kind of fast, intense effort because I really do enjoy those types of races, so I'm excited. Nice, nice.

Eating Well In France On A Budget

SPEAKER_00 12:57

Dude, how's the food been out there? Are you uh are you getting all the pizza? Like what's been the go-to uh like snacks and stuff like that?

SPEAKER_01 13:04

Yeah, the pizza is great, the cheese is great. You know, we're going through like at least a baguette per person per day with like nice little like salamis and cheeses and stuff like that, and croissants at the cafe, fun little pastries, um trying to get groceries as much as you can and cook to like not be too hard on the wallet, but um, it's also fun to like you know experience the cafes and go out and and get stuff too. So, yeah, it's been great. Food's awesome.

Brooks Camp Advice And Team Energy

SPEAKER_00 13:34

Nice. And uh Brooks Camp, how has been kind of just like with your Brooks teammates and stuff like that? Has that been uh just like rewarding? Because a lot of these guys and gals have uh done these races before and have a lot of experience. So I'm sure that's been a ton to be able to bounce ideas off of them or just get advice and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 13:51

For sure. Yeah, it's always fun to come over here and like mingle with the European Brooks group because you know, we don't see them a whole lot. I guess doing Golden Trail series and you know more international races like that, I've interacted with a lot of them, but there's always you know some of them, especially on the more like ultra side of things, I haven't met. So it's fun. It's just fun to get to know people and yeah, and like a lot of them have like moved up to ultra after having like a long career of being a shorter distance athlete, and so they know you know ETC and OCC and Sears and all, and yeah, and you can, you know, they have more experience with those races that I'm currently focusing on. So yeah, and and you get a sense of yeah, talking to them, you know, like strategy and and kind of course beta and stuff like that. So yeah, it's nice for that those like strategic things, but also just fun to hang out and and get to know some of the the European teammates.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

Very cool.

Fame, Underdog Mindset, And Sign Off

SPEAKER_00 14:49

Last question for you. Uh do you still have some anonymity over there? Or like have you been stopped at all by like fans of Golden Trail that want to take photos with you and stuff like that? Or or are you still kind of still tailor, or have you kind of reached that that level of people knowing you yet?

SPEAKER_01 15:05

I think just a little bit, you know, people I think people who like paid attention to Zagama kind of know who I am. I think that was a big um thing for like my visibility, but I think I'm still flying mostly under the radar, and I kind of, you know, in a lot of ways I like to have that underdog mentality where Lori Noban's really like talking about you. Um, but it's also fun, you know, occasionally someone will be like, oh Taylor, can I take a picture? It's like, oh wow, like you know, we've got some fans over here. That's crazy. Um, but yeah, we'll see over time. Maybe I'm still like somewhat new to the scene and like haven't had too many big high profile races yet. So I think yeah, I'm still a little under the radar, but it'll it'll be interesting to see, you know, if I become more recognizable in the future.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

Enjoy while I last, dude, because you know, sooner rather than later, it's gonna I keep saying it. Everybody's gonna know Taylor. So pretty cool, dude. Um thanks. Yeah, thank you so much for coming on. Told you this would be a quick one. Um, genuinely appreciate it. Wishing you the best of luck at ETC, and uh we'll be in touch, man. Sounds great. Thank you, James. Yeah, appreciate it, bro.

Sponsor Message From Cetus Insoles

SPEAKER_00 16:12

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