GEAR:30

Shane McConkey’s college roommate is back on GEAR:30, and Jonathan talks to Greg Klein (president of Willi’s Ski & Snowboard Shops ) about all the stuff in the episode title, plus the $10,000 bet made at our Blister Summit that it looks like he’s won? RELATED LINKS: Get Yourself Covered: BLISTER+ Join Us! Blister Summit 2024 TOPICS & TIMES: Shop Pizza (4:02) Greg @ the White House / Sustai...

Jonathan and Folsom Custom Ski’s Mike McCabe discuss the skinniest ski in the Folsom lineup, the Spar 78; Folsom’s new huge pow ski, the Rotor; and then they discuss a new custom touring-ski project for Jonathan, and dive deep into the various layup & core combinations one would use to hit certain weight targets. Our fellow gear dorks, you’re going to dig this one. RELATED LINKS: Episode Spons...

Luke Koppa, Kara Williard, and Jonathan Ellsworth discuss getting back on snow, the best holiday of the year, ski boots, frontside skis, mountain biking in Nepal, engagement taco parties, and new apparel. RELATED LINKS: Join Us! Blister Summit 2024 Get Yourself Covered: BLISTER+ TOPICS & TIMES: Blister Summit Update (0:00) Back on Snow (3:41) Ski Boots (12:16) Mtn Biking in Nepal (23:49) Front...

What are some of the biggest mistakes skiers make when buying gear? And what do regular, recreational skiers & snowboarders need to know about ski tuning and waxing? Jonathan discusses these questions and more with Logan and Riley Boone of Boone Mountain Sports . They also talk about how they all met (it was in Austria), and Jonathan reveals the upcoming ‘Blister 90-Flex Challenge’. TOPICS &am...

Jonathan talks with Ted Ligety (2x Olympic Gold Medalist & 5x World Cup champion) about his approach to gear; the specific gear he’s using today; how to best deal with flat light and low-vis conditions; his take on the current state of skiing and ski racing; and more. TOPICS & TIMES: How Do You Prepare & Train for Ski Season? (3:55) Ski Boots (11:25) CARV (18:59) Your Ski Quiver These...

Jonathan was at the Parlor Custom Skis factory in East Boston to check out the factory and talk with Parlor owner & manager, Mark Wallace, about building custom skis in Boston; assessing skiers (and skiers assessing themselves); custom vs. semi-custom skis; and more. TOPICS & TIMES: What is Parlor? (4:46) Parlor’s Ski Building Classes (7:45) Assessing Skiers & Self Assessments (21...

Jeremy Jones is back on GEAR:30, and this time, he brought along with him Xavier Nidecker, global brand director of Jones Snowboards, to talk about Jones’ new Re-Up Tech — what it is, how it works, why it matters, and what it could mean for the greater ski & snowboard industry. We also discuss FIS, POW, and climate change, and Jonathan solicits some advice about which board Jeremy and Xavier t...

A very intriguing — and extremely affordable — new piece of ski-touring gear has just been released, and you ought to know about it. So on our latest GEAR:30 episode, Jonathan talks with Giray Dadali , a pro skier, engineer, ski designer, and founder of Daymaker Touring , about their new product, TEKDAPTERS, that allow you to ski tour using a pin-tech toe on the way up, then click into your DIN-ce...

Jonathan Ellsworth sat down with Kara Williard, Dylan Wood, Justin Bobb, and Luke Koppa to debrief about our 2023-2024 Winter Buyer’s Guide , discuss what changed this year (and more importantly, what has *not* changed), go over some trends, and more.  Along the way, we dole out our unofficial “RIP,” “Good Riddance,” and new “Best Glow-Up” awards; talk about what we’re most excited to get on...

Kara Williard sat down with Jake “Fasa” Nelson from the Moment Factory Store to clear up some of the most common bootfitting myths and misconceptions, including the idea that ski boots have to be cold and uncomfortable; why adding forward lean to a boot might not help someone get more forward over their skis; why *everyone* (not just experts) will benefit from a well-fit ski boot and custom insole...

In our latest edition of GEAR THERAPY, Luke and Jonathan talk with Blister Member , Giovanni Saccarola (an Italian living in Switzerland), about his ski quiver, ski boots, and ski boot liner options. TOPICS & TIMES: Giovanni: most interesting man in the world? (8:25) Blizzard Zero G 95 (17:03) Height / Weight (23:09) Bindings & Pairing Down His Quiver (26:09) ATK Free Raiders (28:50) Giova...

Norrøna has been making gear since 1929, and this family-owned company aims to make the best outdoor recreation products on the market. But that’s easier said than done, so Jonathan Ellsworth talks with Jørgen Jørgensen — the 4th-generation owner & CEO of Norrøna — about the brand’s approach to product design & testing, and the origins, evolution, and future of the brand. TOPICS & TIME...

“PFAS” or “Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances” are a hot topic today, especially in the outdoor apparel world, where they’ve been used for decades, most notably in the “DWR” or Durable Water Repellant finishes that are applied to a lot of clothes these days. But that’s going to be coming to an end in the near future.  So, to learn more about why this matters and what it means for manufacture...

When it comes to gear, we’ve all been there: loads of questions, crippling confusion, severe analysis paralysis. Sometimes you don’t even know where to start. You need some help!  In our 3rd session of GEAR THERAPY, Blister Member , Arika Poulin Weller, joins Blister reviewers Kara Williard and Kristin Sinnott. Arika is a longtime skier with roots in Nordic skiing (Fun Fact: she and Kristin r...

At Blister Summit 2023, we brought together ski boot designers, Tom Pietrowski (K2), Christoph Lentz (Fischer), Riccardo Bonaiti (Dalbello), Ross Herr (Dynafit), and pro skier / designer / obsessive tinkerer, Hoji, to discuss ski boot design in general; the hype and skepticism around BOA (are boot buckles dying??); the role that weight plays in the development of boots of all types; the balancing...

Apparel testing, show pigs, & the underrated importance of ballpoint pens. Luke Koppa and Jonathan Ellsworth discuss these things with our Blister Labs colleague, Melanie Peddle, who is a faculty member in the partnership program between Western Colorado University & the University of Colorado Boulder . We also discuss some takeaways from the compression, abrasion, and UV tests we’ve been...

Have you ever dreamt about skiing in New Zealand? Well, in this episode, Kara Williard talks with local Kiwi experts, John Knight and Darren Grimmett, from our Blister Recommended Shop, Outside Sports , to give us the rundown on what skiing in this Southern Hemisphere destination entails, and how to make the most of it. We discuss the best gear for the conditions and terrain in NZ; the difference...

When it comes to gear, we’ve all been there: loads of questions, crippling confusion, severe analysis paralysis. You need some help! So in our 2nd episode of GEAR THERAPY, Blister Member & Spokane-based ski patroller, Kam Smith, poses his most-pressing gear questions to Jonathan and Luke, and gets their best recommendations (and a bit of a tongue-lashing from Jonathan). Enjoy! TOPICS & TIM...

Oliver Steffen founded Genuine Guide Gear (G3) many years ago because of his passion for innovation and problem-solving, and while this has largely been aimed at creating solutions related to gear and backcountry touring, most recently, he turned his focus to the environmental impacts and life cycles of G3’s skis and snowboards.  This year, G3 is launching their recyclable “R3” ski and snowbo...

Too often, the consumer reviews you find online are incomplete and unhelpful. But through our Blister Labs partnership with Western Colorado University & the University of Colorado Boulder , we’re working to change that. With Blister Community Reviews, we are creating a better method of gathering, synthesizing, and displaying user feedback from people of all shapes, sizes, ability levels, and...

When it comes to gear, we’ve all been there: loads of questions, crippling confusion, severe analysis paralysis. You need some help! So in this inaugural edition of GEAR THERAPY, Jason Verlinde — a self-described “average / normal / non-industry / non-pro Blister member” — poses some gear questions and conundrums to Jonathan Ellsworth & Luke Koppa, and “gets to confess my ignorance and state m...

Two years ago, a group of pro skiers, photographers, filmmakers, and friends launched 1000 Skis . They did this because they wanted to “move the culture forward,” make skis they weren’t seeing on the market, and because they just flat-out love skiing.  Magnus Graner and Pär “Peyben” Hägglund were two of those founding members, and Luke Koppa sat down with them for a wide-ranging conversation...

For this week’s edition of GEAR:30, Scarpa North America’s CEO, Kim Miller, is back to talk about Scarpa’s Green Manifesto and their pathway to B Corp certification. Kim and Kara Williard discuss what measuring and accounting for progress looks like; the tricky balance of sustainably innovating without compromising performance; the process of recycling products and materials; assessing the life cy...

Today we’re providing some updates and discussing the implications of the initial results of our Blister Labs wheelset testing with Greg Vanderbeek (assistant professor of mechanical engineering at CU Boulder & the Western Colorado University / CU Boulder partnership program here in Gunnison, CO) and Travis Hainsworth (associate director of the  Western-CU Boulder Computer Science Program...

When it comes to gear, how do you balance the specific needs of world-class athletes with those of average skiers and riders? In this conversation from Blister Summit 2023 , McKenna Petersen (K2 athlete), Drew Peterson (Salomon athlete), Tyler Curle (Moment athlete & ski builder), and Jed Yeiser (K2 engineer) discuss the product development process; the roles that athletes, designers, and prod...