GEAR:30

We’ve got another edition of Shop Talk for you, where we talk with folks from one of our Blister Recommended Shops to get their perspective on a mix of topics that range from broadly applicable to all of us, to topics that help us better understand what’s going on in the local community that each shop serves. Today, we’ve got Eric Gerrmann & George Michaelsen, two friends who started The Ski M...

We talk to Blister reviewers Sascha Anastas & Paul Forward about their ski quivers; binding preferences; coffee in AK; your questions; and more. TOPICS & TIMES: Sascha’s quiver selections (10:17) Sascha’s general take on bindings (23:45) Paul’s 18-month-old son’s ski quiver (30:51) Shocking coffee revelations about Girdwood, AK (33:24) Best pow ski, regardless of place? (39:43) Blister mem...

Luke Koppa and Jonathan Ellsworth discuss the opening day of the ski season; approaches to building ski quivers; our specific selections; Luke’s latest rant; What We’re Celebrating; & more. TOPICS & TIMES: Buttered Noodles & Air Fresheners (3:31) Opening Day! (11:04) Frontside Skis We’re Now Testing (17:21) *Our* Quiver Selections (19:26) Approaches to Building a Quiver (23:11) Luke’s...

Today we’re talking with one of our Blister Recommended Shops to get their perspective on a mix of topics that range from broadly applicable to all of us, to topics that help us better understand what’s going on in the specific local community that each particular shop serves. Earlier this week I sat down in Blister headquarters with Tyson Stellrecht, the founder of Boise Gear Collective , to talk...

If you are a true gear head, you are going to love this conversation. And if you aren’t a full-on gear nerd but you’d like to better understand what “waterproof” really means, and when you should and shouldn’t worry about a 10k or 20k rating on the jacket or pants you are thinking of buying, then you also ought to listen to this conversation. Luke Koppa and I spoke this week with Michael Cattanach...

Luke Koppa and Jonathan Ellsworth discuss some of the highlights and big takeaways from our new Winter Buyer’s Guide . We’ll talk about some of our Best Of award winners; whether or not the 20/21 crop of ski gear represents a step forward; and more. Then we answer a lot of the questions you submitted. TOPICS & TIMES: Luke’s soap (2:49) Our 20/21 BLISTER Buyer’s Guide (5:47) “Rounded” Flex patt...

Today we’ve got another edition of Blister Shop Talk, where we check in with one of our Blister Recommended Shops to get their perspective on topics that range from universally applicable, to topics that help us better understand what’s going on the particular, local communities that they serve. Bentgate is an outstanding shop located in Golden, Colorado, and our guest today is John Weir. John and...

We sat down in Blister HQ with Cody Townsend to talk about coffee makers, bindings, beacons, terrain management, mortality, movies, and more. TOPICS & TIMES: Coffee Makers (9:29) SHIFT binding (14:40) Bindings in general (27:02) Movies (38:17) Tech bindings (46:33) Beacons (56:12) Terrain management & avalanche education (1:06:55) Topics for future conversations (1:20:18) What We’re Celebr...

What do you know about Alpaca wool? And how well do you know the ins and outs of manufacturing in Peru? We talk about these things and more with the founders of Arms of Andes , which is a company that makes outdoor clothing from Royal Alpaca wool that is single-sourced and produced in Peru. We discuss the characteristics and benefits of Royal Alpaca wool; the traditional method used to collect the...

We’ve got Folsom Skis CEO, Mike McCabe, back on the show to catch us up on what’s been going on at Folsom; the PPE equipment they’ve been making; their lineup for the 20/21 season; and more. Mike also flips the script and asks me how things have been at Blister, and we wrap with what we’re celebrating this week. I also provide a quick update on the status of our 20/21 Winter Buyer’s Guide . TOPICS...

Black Sheep Sports is a freeride shop in Munich, Germany, and we talk to its founder, Sebastian Steinbach, about this past ski season; his predictions for the upcoming ski season in Europe — and whether we’ll see a backcountry boom in Europe? We then talk about the critical art of customer service; why friends shouldn’t tell friends to just “Go buy this boot”; and more.  Order our 20/21 Winte...

For some time now, Faction has been one of the hottest brands in skiing. But how much do you actually know about the company? This week we are talking about the history of the brand, some key moments in the company, and some big recent changes; you’ll hear what it’s like to go skiing with and design skis for Candide Thovex ; and we go over Faction’s lineup for the upcoming season.  We’re join...

Last week, it was announced that Jason Levinthal had sold 4FRNT Skis. So we talked to Jason about how this deal came about; learn the background of the new leadership group at 4FRNT; ask what the group does and doesn’t intend to change about the brand; and more. BE SURE TO CHECK OUT :  blister.getspot.com TOPICS & TIMES Sale of 4FRNT (3:33) 4FRNT introductions (5:16) What are the opportun...

We talk to Northern-Michigan-based Shaggy’s Copper Country Skis co-founder & product engineer, Jeff Thompson, about their 20/21 lineup; their unusual “nanoMag” construction; and more. Then Luke Koppa talks about skiing pow this week (??) in Crested Butte. TOPICS & TIMES Making Faceshields & Skis (6:21) Background of Shaggy’s (9:04) Does your MI location influence your design? (11:16) G...

Not all bikes or skis are equally good at all things — and the same goes for protective face masks. So we talked with Alex Lauver and Kat Schoewe of Outdoor Research about what type of masks are the most and least effective; how Outdoor Research’s work on medical-grade PPE has influenced their commercially available Essential Face Mask ; we make some predictions about the upcoming ski season; and...

Moment Skis CEO, Luke Jacobson, is back on the show to talk with Jonathan Ellsworth about the 20/21 lineup. Come to learn what’s new, stay for all their arguments and tangents. [ Note : Luke accidentally says in the conversation that the previous (19/20) Commander had a -10 cm mount point; it actually had a -8 cm mount point.] TOPICS & TIMES General Update (1:33) Commander Series Updates (7:25...

Voormi is not interested in being just another outdoor apparel company. They develop their own textiles inhouse; they manufacture in the United States; and they’ve got some big plans. So we sat down in Blister HQ with Timm Smith, their head of materials development, to learn more about the Voormi story and where the brand is heading. TOPICS & TIMES: Voormi’s origin story (2:02) Materials (11:1...

Matt Sterbenz , Pep Fujas , and Xan Marshland came to Crested Butte and sat down with us in Blister HQ to fill us in on WNDR Alpine’s new materials, new updates to the Intention 110, and their brand new ski, the Vital 100. And you’ll also hear some stories about Matt and Pep competing in slopestyle events against each other back in the day, and more. To learn more about the WNDR Alpine backstory,...

Jonathan Ellsworth talks to David Golay, Dylan Wood, & Luke Koppa about the Guerrilla Gravity Gnarvana; Manitou Mezzer & RockShox ZEB ; Rocky Mountain Instinct BC ; our 20/21 Winter Buyer’s Guide ( become a Blister Member to reserve your copy + get a ton of other benefits); and … ‘The Year of Ellsworth.’ TOPICS & TIMES Guerrilla Gravity Gnarvana (5:43) Manitou Mezzer & RockShox ZEB...

Normally on GEAR:30 we dive deep into the details of specific ski, apparel, or bike equipment. But this week, we’re taking a close look at a massive emerging category — CBD products in general — and one specific company in particular, Aprch . And to walk us through some of the relevant science, regulations, production processes, and the trajectory of this industry, we’re talking with Aprch co-foun...

In our “Reviewing the Reviewer” series, we ask various BLISTER reviewers questions about their backgrounds and gear preferences to give you a more complete picture of the people behind our reviews. And since we like to rank & review things around here, we also give a score to each of our reviewers’ answers, then come up with a cumulative review grade for each of them.  In the hot seat tod...

Kristin Sinnott and Justin Bobb join Jonathan Ellsworth to talk about some of the kid’s gear they’ve found to be the most game changing. And even if you don’t have kids, you should still definitely listen to this episode if only to learn about a piece of gear that we’ve currently named, “The JBobber.” And there’s another piece of equipment that currently has a unanimous approval rating among our B...

Kingswood Skis is a custom indie ski manufacturer based on the South Island of New Zealand, and we caught up with Kingswood founder, Alex Herbert, as the southern hemisphere ski season is getting underway to talk about ski materials, sidewalls, cosmetics & construction, base material thickness, and Kingswood’s rather unconventional Race Department . TOPICS & TIMES: New Zealand & Covid-...

Luke Koppa and Jonathan Ellsworth answer your questions and discuss our preferred gear for skiing funky spring / summer snow; what we’re reading; ski knickers?; mountain bike shoes; ski boot liners & durability; and more.  TOPICS & TIMES: On our current state of affairs (1:03) Eating Food vs Photosynthesis? (6:33) Ski-Touring Knickers? (10:07) How long should a ski boot liner last? (1...

We’re talking with the founder of ON3P Skis , Scott Andrus, about the new ON3P lineup for the upcoming season. There is a lot of new and interesting stuff going on at ON3P, and we break quite a bit of news in this conversation. Check it out. TOPICS & TIMES: How are things in Portland, OR? (2:19) The movie Dead Alive (4:17) ON3P’s new cores (6:36) Directional: Wren 102 Ti & Wren Pro (9:52)...