BLISTER Podcast

Jeremy Bloom is a 3-time world champion mogul skier, a 2-time Olympian, an 11-time World Cup gold medalist, and an All-American football player that was drafted into the NFL. He's also the executive producer of an important new film, The Weight of Gold , which explores the mental health challenges that Olympic athletes often face. So we talked to Jeremy about his own background; the pursuit of ath...

Art Clay is the co-founder of the National Brotherhood of Skiers , and he and his NBS co-founder, Ben Finley, are the first African Americans to be inducted into the US Ski-Snowboard Hall of Fame. This past weekend, Jonathan Ellswoth sat down with Art at his home in Chicago to talk about growing up in Chicago in the 1940s; his first time skiing; the idea to start the National Brotherhood of Skiers...

Whether or not you’re a runner, you ought to know about the Skid Row Running Club and the Skid Row Marathon. We talk to the club founder, Judge Craig Mitchell, about why he started the club; his background; the duty of police officers to protect and serve; the need for minimum sentencing reform; and much more. TOPICS & TIMES  The judge’s running background (7:09) The Midnight Mission &amp...

Dotsie Bausch is a 7-time USA Cycling National Champion, an Olympic medalist, a featured athlete in the film, The Game Changers , and the executive director of Switch4Good . We talked to Dotsie about her very unusual path to an Olympic podium; her work at Swith4Good; and what we ought to understand about dairy products and the dairy industry. TOPICS & TIMES Dotsie’s athletic background (1:44)...

You are probably familiar with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but what do you know about the arguably more important National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)? NEPA is a critical piece of legislation, and each of us needs to understand what it does and why it matters so much. And currently, some major changes to NEPA are being proposed that could have extremely serious environmental and...

BlackAFinSTEM was started to encourage and support Black individuals who are working in — or who are just passionate about — the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, and also to encourage, support, and increase the visibility of Black naturalists and Black people who recreate and work outdoors.   So we talk to Tyler Jones , the co-organizer of Black Birders Week, about...

Last week on the show we talked to Sanjay Rawal about his new film, Gather , which examines the growing food sovereignty movement among Native American tribes across the United States. And this week, we are talking about why and how we need to re-invent the way that food is being grown and farmed, and the critical role that bees play in all of this. Our guests are Peter Nelson and Sally Roy who ha...

Today we are talking with our friend, Sanjay Rawal , about his new film, Gather . Sanjay is a fantastic story teller and a maker of films that might seem to have a pretty specific focus, but actually have wide-ranging applicability and relevance. And this is most definitely true of his latest film, Gather, which Sanjay directed, and Renan Ozturk served as the cinematographer. Gather tells the stor...

As a number of locations are beginning to relax travel restrictions and are able to welcome visitors back, we wanted to discuss some important reminders and best practices for recreating responsibly in this time of COVID. If you do not have time to listen to the full conversation, then we strongly encourage you to check out the show notes to this episode to ensure that you are up-to-date on state...

In the latest installment of our Blister Book Club, we talk with the artist, Geoff McFetridge, about Jack Turner’s book, The Abstract Wild. We discuss why Geoff selected this book; why it isn’t designed to be a comfortable read; why we need to get clear on the distinction between “the wild” and “wilderness”; and why we think that every reader of BLISTER ought to read this book. TOPICS & TIMES:...

Henry Munter is a lead heli guide and the general manager of Chugach Powder Guides in Girdwood, AK. We talk with him about making the call to shut down operations right as the heli season was in full swing; the evolution of heli skiing over the past 20-30 years; decision making, memory, and some of the tools and practices and books that Henry uses in forecasting, guiding clients, and handling all...

The X Games Real Ski competition is an invitation-only event, where some of the top skiers in the world go out and put together a 90-second street edit. The creativity and talent on display in real ski is always bonkers, and we’ve talked with past X Games winners and fan favorites, like Magnus Graner ( Blister Podcast #36 ) and LJ Strenio ( Blister Podcast #94 ). And today, we’re talking with Jake...

The ski industry has undergone rapid changes in the past several years, and we are currently in another unprecedented moment with the COVID-19 pandemic. So to help us better understand the past, present, and future of the ski industry, we talked to industry veteran and author of SKI INC , and SKI INC. 2020 , Chris Diamond, about the rise of the EPIC and IKON passes; this recent era of rampant ski...

Baby giraffes? Organic bamboo scissors? Superman? Since we now have to learn how to tele ski and shoot a tele video (we’ll explain in the episode), we’re crowdsourcing a crash course in what we need to know to avoid embarrassing and / or killing ourselves. So here in Part 1, we solicited the best tips and advice from artist and telemarker, Geoff McFetridge ; Flylow Gear co-founder and president, D...

We all probably need more Caite Zeliff in our lives. (And if you didn’t already know this, you definitely need to listen to this conversation.) Caite is a former ski racer turned big mountain skier. She won the first ever Kings & Queens of Corbet’s competition in 2018, then won again in 2019, then was on the podium this past year. She’s filmed with Warren Miller and TGR, she is equally fun to...

As part of our Up & Coming Series, we had intended to talk to Isaac Freeland , because he is a very good skier and he was definitely on his way up. But then Isaac threw us a curve ball by not only winning the 2020 Freeride World Tour Rookie of the Year award… he went and won the whole thing. So even if “Up & Comer” now feels like a bit of an understatement, we asked Isaac to take us throug...

This past weekend, something happened that has never happened in the history of resort skiing: in the span of 12 hours, most ski areas abruptly suspended operations. So on our latest #blisterpodcast, we talked to veteran ski industry reporter, Jason Blevins of the Colorado Sun , about the COVID-19 pandemic and the historic mass closure of ski areas. We discuss what, exactly, is going on; what is l...

Bobby Brown is one of the best slopestyle and big-air comp skiers of all time, but he’s currently focused on finding out what he’s capable of in the backcountry. So I talked to Bobby about his trajectory; the art of landings, air awareness, and making mid-air adjustments; who he most enjoys watching these days; what’s next for him; and more. TOPICS & TIMES Bobby’s film, Dynamic Medium (1:44) L...

Last week at our monthly Blister Speaker Series at Western Colorado University, in Gunnison, Tommy Caldwell spoke in front of a packed auditorium about speed climbing & setting the speed record on the Nose with Alex Honnold ; strength vs. experience; how he focuses on climbing projects while also having more disparate responsibilities than ever; and how and why he’s become increasingly involve...

We talk to IFMGA / AMGA mountain guide, Rob Coppolillo (author of The Mountain Guide Manual and the new book, The Ski Guide Manual ) about how he got into guiding; the current state of backcountry and avalanche education; his take on the pros and cons of avalanche airbag packs; the fundamental question of the most effective way to travel in the backcountry; and more. TOPICS & TIMES: The story...

Wendy Fisher is one of the all-time greats. She is a two-time World Extreme Skiing Champion; was on the U.S. Ski Team; filmed with Warren Miller and MSP; and played a huge role in showing the world what women could do in big-mountain arenas. We spoke to Wendy about all of this and more (including a few fantastic Shane McConkey and Seth Morrison stories). TOPICS & TIMES: Growing up racing (1:40...

In the world of ski and ski boot design, Thor Verdonk is well known and very well respected. So we talked to Thor about his background, his 25+ year career with the Rossignol Group and how he became the Global Brand Director for Lange. Then we discuss the history of ski design and ski boot design, including the pendulum swings we see in the ski industry; the biggest advancements in skis and ski bo...

Geoff McFetridge is an iconic designer and visual artist who’s worked with the Beastie Boys, Pharrell Williams, Spike Jonez and Rick Rubin, and companies ranging from Patagonia, Nike, the New York Times, Oreo, and many more . Geoff is also a passionate skateboarder and skier, and a big fan of … BLISTER (?!?!?). So Jonathan Ellsworth and Geoff tell the story of how they first got connected; how Geo...

What will the ski & snowboard industry look like 10 years from now? Will backcountry skiing and splitboarding keep growing? Will indoor ski areas become more common? Will there be fewer or more ski companies in existence 10 years from now? Paul Forward, Sam Shaheen, Luke Koppa and I offer our thoughts on all of these questions and more. TOPICS & TIMES: Backcountry Skiing (1:50) Backcountry...

We’ve been thinking and talking about New Year’s Resolutions, so in this episode, we ask a number of BLISTER reviewers what they’re pursuing in this new year and new decade. And we’d love to hear what your plans are for 2020 and beyond, so let us know in the Comments section below what your thoughts are on New Year’s resolutions and what you have planned for 2020.  TOPICS & TIMES: Kristin...