BLISTER Podcast

Jonathan Ellsworth sat down with BLISTER Bike Editor and ‘Bikes & Big Ideas’ host, David Golay, and our Running Editor and ‘Off The Couch’ host, Matt Mitchell, to talk with them about Blister Labs; their backgrounds; and some of their recent favorite episodes on Bikes & Big Ideas and Off The Couch. TOPICS & TIMES: Blister Labs Update (2:21) Matt & David's Backgrounds (5:57) How we...

Professional skiers are often asked about the mental preparation it takes to ski big lines and perform at a high level. But in this conversation (recorded at our Blister Summit), John Collinson , Wendy Fisher , Sander Hadley , and Drew Petersen offer a much broader perspective on ‘the mental game’ as it relates to dealing with injury and adversity; self identity; mental health; and much more. TOPI...

Jonathan Ellsworth is in Iceland this week, skiing at Deplar Farm and being guided by AMGA-certified guide, Ian Havlick. And in between their time in the mountains, they sat down to talk about Ian’s path to becoming a professional guide; the misperceptions about the profession; recommendations for how to get into guiding; they try to clear up the confusion around tipping; and more. TOPICS & TI...

Jonathan talks with Cody about what he’s been up to and gets an update on the Fifty Project, then they run through some of the latest news, including faked plane crashes; Vail Resorts’ minimum wage increase; fuel for backcountry skiing; golf; and what they're reading & watching. TOPICS & TIMES: Fifty Project Update (3:07) Olympic Snowboarder Fakes Plane Crash (20:18) Doerrs give 1.1B for C...

We talk to Hunkpapa Lakota skier, Connor Ryan, about his film, Spirit of the Peaks ; his vision for skiing and the ski community; radical and rebellious acts; the ‘kiss before the dance’; and more. TOPICS & TIMES: Connor’s season (2:48) The film, Spirit of the Peaks (7:11) Finding his way into skiing (8:22) Connor’s vision for skiing / the ski community (21:19) How do we move forward? (24:50)...

Crashes. Backlfips. Rambo. The wobbles. Blister reviewers Luke Koppa, Kristin Sinnott, Jonathan Ellsworth, Dylan Wood, & Sascha Anastas take you behind the scenes of our day of snow blading, and answer all the big questions, like: why no ski poles?; telemark vs. snowblading; & more. TOPICS & TIMES: Was Tele Skiing or Snow Blading harder? (1:48) The Wobbles (8:25) Ski Poles (18:21) Dyla...

I sat down with Sander Hadley at Snowbird to talk about his entrance into the world of professional skiing; shifting expectations; his gear setup; and more. TOPICS & TIMES: The Dynastar M-Free 108 (4:31) Growing up & releasing his first GoPro edit (8:35) Pebble Creek with Rachael Burks (13:03) Life after that first GoPro edit (18:57) More on the mental game (23:25) From the resort to backc...

This weekend, Jonathan sat down in Blister HQ with Mountain Gazette editor, Mike Rogge, to talk about the current state of outdoor media; the revival and future of Mountain Gazette; which non-outdoor publications inspire him; and more. TOPICS & TIMES: Mt. Crested Butte & the Grand Traverse (4:49) The revival of Mountain Gazette (7:10) The subscription model in media (12:06) Getting into re...

Benji Alexander is back on the podcast to talk about becoming Jamaica’s first Olympian alpine ski racer; his experience in Beijing and his race runs; competition and representation at the Olympic games; and more. TOPICS & TIMES: Update since our last podcast (3:09) What was your mission? (7:32) What happened after you qualified?(10:48) Being at the games (15:16) The skiing & training runs...

We talk to Colorado Sun journalist, Jason Blevins, about this ski season & his predictions for next year’s, then we’re joined by Chris Davenport to talk about the 30th anniversary of the US Extreme Championships in Mt. Crested Butte; the Winter Olympics in Beijing; and more. TOPICS & TIMES: Blevins in Mt. CB (2:33) Starting the Colorado Sun (4:08) Jason’s background (11:13) Assessing this...

When things go wrong in the backcountry, your local Search And Rescue organization becomes crucial. But how much do you know about how Search And Rescue actually works? We talk with our good friend, Cy Whitling, about how and why he got involved in Search And Rescue, why we all need to understand how SAR units operate, and why the SAR organization in your community could probably use your help — a...

Cody Townsend and Jonathan Ellsworth discuss skiing inbounds on touring gear; alpinism, obsession, & our top-5 climbing movies; a recent interview with Vail’s executive chairman, Rob Katz; Jerry of the Day and inclusivity; Eileen Gu and geopolitics; the future of Outdoor Retailer; and what we’re reading & watching. TOPICS & TIMES:   Skiing inbounds on touring gear (3:27) Alpi...

Last week, we released our Blister ‘Crash Course’ Telemark video , and today, Jonathan Ellsworth, Luke Koppa, and Dylan’s Wood talk about their experience tele’ing for the first time. We’re also joined by the star of the video, Kristin Sinnott, to learn why she was a million times better than the rest of us. Then we discuss ideas for future Blister Crash Course videos, so check the conversation, t...

Nick Russell started snowboarding in the half pipe, then fell in love with riding pow, and then developed a passion for splitboarding and splitboard mountaineering — where he’s now made several appearances in Cody Townsend’s The Fifty Project . So in this conversation, we talk about sharing a tent with Cody; Nick’s background and a number of his ‘light bulb’ moments; how he came to be a splitboard...

We’re talking with one of our favorite skiers, Tatum Monod , about her film, Passage ; the trajectory of her career; her ski, the Rossignol Black Ops 118; music; graphics; fishing; design; and more. TOPICS & TIMES: Tatum’s (relatively) late interest in skiing (4:38) Skiing trajectory (11:46) College or Revelstoke? (16:53) Her film, Passage (24:32) Injuries (27:29) Decision-making while filming...

Jonathan Ellsworth and Blister Summit director, Kristin Sinnott, discuss the ins and outs of our upcoming Blister Summit ; why we’re including free professionally guided backcountry tours; which brands will be there; when to arrive & where to stay; and more. TOPICS & TIMES: What is the Blister Summit? (1:15) Logistics & guided backcountry tours (5:15) When to arrive / more logistics (8...

Cody and Jonathan discuss the current situation of under-staffed & overcrowded ski areas; national parks and Native American tribes; the looming shortage of lithium batteries for electric vehicles; whether or not to ski the backcountry with your dog; what we’re watching; and more. TOPICS & TIMES: Sleeping / Not Sleeping (3:42) Understaffed & overcrowded ski areas (15:54) Lithium batter...

Many areas are currently getting hammered by snow storms, and the consequences of backcountry travel are high. So we asked Zach Guy (lead forecaster for the CBAC ) to come back on to discuss some best practices and important reminders for anyone venturing out. TOPICS & TIMES: Recap of Last Season (6:49) Avalanche Demographics(10:19) Snowpack this season (16:40) Tacos & Avalanches (22:05) C...

Eric Jackson is a visionary, iconoclast, designer, founder, and one of the most successful and influential kayakers in history. In this conversation, Eric provides a masterclass on the history and evolution of paddlesports — and even if you’ve never paddled a day in your life, Eric’s insights into the sport that he played such a seminal role in shaping offer numerous lessons for how to grow — and...

Lou Dawson is a ski mountaineer, founder of WildSnow.com, and the first person to ski down all 54 of Colorado’s 14ers. We discuss all of the above; the history and current state of backcountry skiing; and his new guidebook, Light Tours of Colorado: Mellow Backcountry Ski Routes to Minimize Avalanche Exposure , published by Beacon Guidebooks . (We had Beacon Guidebooks founder, Andy Sovick, on epis...

Cody and Jonathan debate the greatest ski edit of all time; the definition of “ski mountaineering”; whether humans will visit earth as a tourist destination; Alex Honnold & the Fifty Project; and a whole lot more. TOPICS & TIMES: The NFL & the Ski Industry (9:49) Snow? (12:39) Ski Edits: top-5 all time (15:54) Backcountry rescue & false-report charges (32:46) Will humans visit eart...

When it comes to true ‘all-mountain’ skiing, Marcus Caston probably has the nicest turn in the game. He’s also got one of our favorite video series, Return of the Turn , which if you call yourself a skier, you need to watch. A new episode just dropped today, so in honor of the occasion, Marcus and I talked about the latest episode; the series itself; coaching; why people think he is from the East...

Rick Ridgeway has lived right at the center of the modern outdoor recreation movement. He was a part of the first American ascent of K2; he has gone on numerous adventures with his friends, Patagonia founder, Yvon Chouinard and The North Face founder, Doug Tompkins, and filmmaker, Jimmy Chin; and he has been right there working to protect wild places with them, Kristine Tompkins, and others. We ta...

Adrien Grabinski lives to ski, and Mark Abma calls him, “the most responsible 21-year-old I have ever met.” Adrien is the ski patrol director (plus a lot of other things) at Shames Mountain in BC, and he’s a surprise star of Matchstick Productions’ film, The Stomping Grounds. TOPICS & TIMES: Tell us about Shames Mountain Ski Area (3:25) From ski patroller to caretaker (5:47) How did filming wi...

Our guest today is one of our all-time favorite skiers, and one of our all-time favorite people: Angel Collinson . Angel recently announced her retirement from skiing, so we discussed why she felt that now was the time to make this announcement; the factors that led to her decision; how she thinks about and processes change; what she’s up to now; what might be next; and more. TOPICS & TIMES: W...