Kara Williard catches up with Christoph Lentz, Fischer’s Global Product Manager for Alpine Boots, to discuss what they’ve been up to since the launch of their RC4 Lineup two seasons ago; how this lineup has expanded and evolved, including the new models for the 25/26 season; why Fischer has invested so much time and energy into “inner boots,” including using D3O padding in their latest liners; their all-new touring boot; the process for Vacuum molding plastics; Christoph’s favorite part of his job; and a whole lot more. 

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BOA & the Death of Buckles? 2024 Ski Boot Design | Blister Summit Panel

TOPICS & TIMES:

Christoph’s Role & How it Came to Be (4:05)

Reflecting on the RC4 Pro (10:20)

25/26 RC4 Lineup / New Models (20:11)

RC4 Pro for Women (25:03)

Inner Boots, aka Liners (27:24)

D3O in Liners (29:52)

Vacuum Plastics & Molding Process (37:01)

The New Traverse (43:06)

Current Trends in the Ski Industry (51:17)

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As part of the 5850 Fest at the World Cup Finals in Sun Valley, Jonathan talked with Ted Ligety about the tricky conditions and the very challenging course here in Sun Valley for the Super G and GS races, and the incredibly demanding business of going fast.

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GEAR:30 Ep. 326: DPS Carbon Pisteworks 79

Blister Podcast Ep. 332: Ted Ligety 24/25 World Cup Preview

TOPICS & TIMES:

Unique Course & Unique Challenges (5:32)

Course Sets & Resets (10:54)

Brignone Coming To Win (15:21)

Lara Gut-Behrami (20:17)

Best Super G's Women's Run (23:41)

Lindsey Vonn (25:32)

Men's Super G (29:29)

Ski Tuning (36:22)

GS Races (41:01)

Slalom Races (44:24)

What's Next for Ted? (45:48)

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Luke Koppa talks with several of our reviewers about some of the latest gear they’ve been testing. Paul Forward discusses a bunch of the lightweight powder touring skis he’s been on, as well as some new models from Heritage Lab. Then, Kristin Sinnott and Sascha Anastas cover some new all-mountain skis and apparel that they’ve been using, and we round things out with a conversation with Dylan Wood about some very interesting new big-mountain skis, including the Dynastar M-Free 112, how it compares to the Rossignol Sender Free 110, the Head Kore 112 Ti, and more.

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Ep. 226 w/ Heritage Lab Skis

TOPICS & TIMES:

Paul Forward’s Recent Touring (1:42)

Black Diamond Helio 115 (5:37)

La Sportiva Capo (13:27)

ON3P Billy Goat 118 Tour (16:29)

Faction La Machines (18:46)

Heritage Lab Models (22:37)

Kristin Sinnott & New Head Kores (41:44)

RMU Valhalla 97 (43:49)

New Apparel (45:13)

Sascha Anastas & DPS Wailers (48:33)

Buttnski Down Pants (51:51)

Rossignol Apres Slippers (54:04)

Dylan Wood & 190 cm Moment Wildcat (56:27)

Dynastar M-Free 112 vs. Rossignol Sender Free 110 (1:01:00)

Head Kore 112 Ti (1:09:30)

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Kara Williard is back with Eric Helmbrecht of Powder Hound, our Blister Recommended Shop in Girdwood, Alaska to discuss a the ups and downs of their season up in Alaska; our tips and tricks on how to make the most of any season, including some of our favorite gear for low-tide skiing; 25/26 gear including the new Salomon QST Lineup, Dual BOA, boot trends, aftermarket liners; and more.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Ski Season in Girdwood (3:25)

25/26 Salomon QST Lineup (5:49)

Skiing at Palisades (10:44)

Dual BOA (12:09)

Boot Trends (17:25)

Realistic Expectations for Ski Boots (21:54)

Aftermarket Liners (27:18)

Making the Most of a Low-Tide Season (34:32)

Narrow All-Mountain Skis (43:56)

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Blister reviewers Jonathan Ellsworth, Luke Koppa, Sascha Anastas, Kristin Sinnott, and the strikingly handsome Justin Bobb discuss a bunch of new ski and snowboard gear they spent time on at last week’s Blister Summit. They also talk about several prototypes they got on at the Summit, so if you want to get a little glimpse into the future, you’re in luck.

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Taos Ski Valley

Blister Rec Shop: Willi’s Ski & Board Shop

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Chile Rant / Taos Ski Valley (0:59)

Deals from Willi’s Ski Shop (1:53)

Story from a BLISTER+ Member (3:11)

Prototypes at the Summit (7:54)

Giro Meetups (10:21) 

Icelantic Pioneer Prototype (10:55) 

J Skis Hotshot Prototype (15:45) 

Romp Zorro 100 Prototype (17:06)

Salomon Addikt Pro 66 (18:35)

Kaestle Marble 84 (21:17)

Majesty HNX Ti (23:05)

New Salomon QST Skis (25:55)

DPS Carbon Pisteworks 79 (30:10)

Mito Skis (34:59)

ON3P Woodsman 100 (38:02)

Liberty Radian 100 (41:09)

Snowboard Gear (42:58)

J Skis Escalator (46:00)

Patagonia Powslayer & Nano-Air Ultralight Freeride (50:08)

Apparel (54:37)

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Crested Butte Mountain Resort recently got 40+ inches of new snow in just a few days, so it was time to break out the big skis. Jonathan and Luke discuss the very new (and very different) Head Kore 118Ti and Kore 112Ti; the latest iteration of the ON3P Billy Goat 118; Tyrolia’s Attack Hybrid binding; Salomon’s revised QST Blank and QST 106, and more.

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Blister Rec. Shop: Mountain Ops

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Mountain Ops  (1:21)

Blister Summit (2:26)

Head Kore 118Ti & 112Ti (3:20)

Tyrolia Attack Hybrid (14:40)

ON3P Billy Goat 118 (21:00)

Rossignol Sender Free 118 (25:03)

Salomon QST Blank (27:35)

Salomon QST 106 (32:50)

Summit (38:35)

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Today we are talking about love, materials science, and ski construction. More specifically, we’re going to be looking at graphene, and why you might soon be hearing more about it in skis in the near future. Our guests are Haley and Kevin Keith, the founders of Mito Materials, and you’ll hear them explain their journey into the ski industry, and the unique properties of their functionalized graphene material.

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CARV

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Mito x Folsom: Case Study

TOPICS & TIMES:

CARV (2:10)

Viking Ski Shop (3:09)

Functionalized Graphene (4:30

How Haley & Keith Met (6:14)

Manipulating Material Properties (6:55)

Graphene In Skis (13:17)

The Data & How it's Collected (16:02)

How Did it End Up in Skis? (21:03)

Mito at the Blister Summit (25:03)

Is All Graphene Created Equal? (28:02)

Carbon vs Graphene (31:25)

Folsom Ultralights (38:45)

Where to Learn More (41:26)

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What’s the difference between a true race boot; a race-inspired ski boot; and a high-performance freeride or freestyle boot? Matt Manser is back to talk about all of these things and more, and to walk us through Atomic’s new range of Redster ski boots, and their new freeride & freestyle boot, the Remedy 130. Plus, you’ll hear the most important rant / public service announcement in GEAR:30 history.

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JE’s Flash Review of Atomic Remedy 130

TOPICS & TIMES:

How Atomic Protects Their Athletes (2:22)

Update: Blister Summit Forecast (3:16)

Important Rant / PSA: “Plug Boots” (5:37)

Overview of Atomic’s New Boots (15:57)

New Redster Boots: TR, STR, & TX (19:10)

Redster TX & Remedy 130 (23:43)

Formula Plastics (36:57)

The ‘Uh Oh’ Boot (46:44)

More on the Remedy 130 (51:18)

Redster vs Remedy Shells (54:19)

Other Elements of the Remedy (56:31)

Geometry Changes (1:01:54)

Adding Screws & Flex Patterns (1:06:05)

New Liners (1:12:58)

Q: World’s Greatest Technology? (1:20:00)

Fancy Custom Race Boots (1:21:20)

Heat Moldable Shells? (1:26:42)

Dual BOA (1:30:36)

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In today’s episode, Luke Koppa sits down with Jonathan Ellsworth and Kara Williard to discuss just a small portion of all the gear we’ve been testing lately. We cover Head’s overhauled collection of Kore skis; Jonathan makes a confession after he took some carving skis off piste; Kara and Luke discuss a bunch of boots they’ve been testing; Jonathan poses an age-old question about boot flexes; Kara breaks down the setups she’s bringing to Japan; and much more.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Carv (1:18)

Ski Boot RX (2:10)

Summit 2025 (2:58)

Ski Boots (7:09)

Atomic Hawx Ultra XTD Boa & Salomon Shift Alpha Boa (7:42)

Head Kaliber BOA2 (11:45)

Armada & Phaenom Boots (13:10)

Would Your Rather: Too Soft or Too Stiff? (16:21)

Tecnica Zero G Tour Pro W (22:31)

4FRNT MSP CC (27:21)

Dynastar M-Pro Skis (29:49)

New Head Kores (33:10)

Head Supershape e-Titan: Carving Ski or Mogul Ski (37:44)

Nordica Enforcer 104 (44:40)

Kara’s Japan Ski Quiver (47:24)

Summit Products We're Excited About (51:41)

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Today we’ve got 2 episodes in 1 for you. We first talk about the biggest development in the world of snowsports gear: dual BOA ski boots. Joining Jonathan for that conversation are Salomon’s Lauren Samuels and Cesar Brouck, and you’re going to learn a lot more about the Dual BOA system in general, and also some of the very specific design decisions that Salomon made to implement this system into their new S/Pro Supra dual BOA ski boot. Then, we dive deep into the weeds with Quentin Boutry, the man behind Salomon’s new 4th generation of QST skis.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Jonathan’s Neighborhood Ski Shop (1:45)

Blister Summit News & Updates (3:50)

Did You Know? PT (4:38)

Part 1: New S/Pro Dual BOA Ski Boot (8:20)

Who’s this Boot For? (11:20) 

Benefits of Dual BOA? (12:15)

The R&D Process (27:27)

Cable Routing of the Dual BOA (36:44)

The ‘Step In’ Experience (39:13)

Part 2: New Salomon QST Skis (44:17)

Get to Know Quentin Boutry (44:25)

From Gen 2 to Gen 3 QST Skis (55:09)

Salomon Rocker 122 vs QST X (1:04:53)

Why Go Unisex w/ 4th Gen QST? (1:06:33)

More on Changes from Gen 3 to Gen 4 (1:14:00)

‘Double Metal’ & ‘Non Double Metal’ Skis (1:29:59)

Salomon QST 94 (1:31:59)

Salomon QST 100 (1:37:19)

Salomon QST 106 (1:41:17)

New Materials: Fruit Roll-Ups? (1:45:45)

Salomon QST Echo 160 (1:50:4)

Salomon QST X vs QST Blank (1:59:42)

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