Kara Williard spells out the case for custom insoles in your ski boots, and discusses the Blizzard Black Pearl, Volkl Secret 96, & Salomon Stance 88W. Eric Freson talks about his trip to Canada and the WNDR Alpine Reason 120, 4FRNT Renegade, the Lange RX 130 LV, and the Salomon Shift Pro 130. And Luke Koppa talks about the new Line Blade Optic 96, Shaggy’s Ahmeek 95, and Moment Deathwish 104.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Update: Blister Summit (0:00)
• Custom Insoles (6:34)
• WNDR Alpine Reason 120 & 4FRNT Renegade (22:53)
• Shampoo update from Luke (30:13)
• Line Blade Optic 96 (31:23)
• Blizzard Black Pearl 97, Volkl Secret 96, Salomon Stance 88W (36:20)
• Lange RX 130 LV (39:39)
• Moment Deathwish 104 (46:10)
• Shaggy’s Ahmeek 95 (49:40)
• Salomon Shift Pro 130 (53:02)
• What We’re Celebrating (59:20)

RELATED LINKS:

• Episode Sponsor: Backcountry Essentials
• Episode Sponsor: mountainFLOW.com
• Blister Summit Registration
• Subscribe to our Weekly Gear Giveaway / Newsletter
• Become a Blister Member / Get our Buyer’s Guide

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS

• Blister Podcast
• Bikes & Big Ideas
• Off The Couch

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How should a ski boot actually fit? What does it feel like to have a “properly fitting” ski boot? And how do you achieve that? We’re discussing these questions and topics with Sebastian Steinbach, who is a boot fitting instructor in Europe for Masterfit University, and the owner of the freeride ski shop, Black Sheep Sports, in Munich, Germany.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Blister Summit update (2:56)
• Sebastian’s boot-fitting background (5:37)
• Biggest Mistake When Buying Ski Boots (12:56)
• Shell fit (16:37)
• Alpine ski boots & running shoes (19:17)
• Your instep (29:33)
• Does "performance fit" always mean "tighter"? (35:29)
• Pressure vs Pain (47:05)
• Aftermarket liners & custom insoles (1:03:45)
• What We’re Celebrating (1:11:49)

RELATED LINKS:

• Episode Sponsor: mountainFLOW eco-wax
• Blister Summit Registration
• Subscribe to our Newsletter & Gear Giveaways
• Become a Blister Member / Get our Buyer’s Guide

OUR OTHER PODCASTS:

• Blister Podcast
• Off The Couch
• Bikes & Big Ideas

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Luke Koppa and Jonathan Ellsworth discuss a ton of next season’s new products, and some of the most intriguing product categories. 

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Lightweight Boots (3:30)
• Supercapacitor airbags (24:56)
• Volkl (32:25)
• Dalbello (39:17)
• Salomon (41:21)
• Blister Summit (43:58)
• Line (45:07)
• Atomic (48:51)
• K2 (53:09)
• Scarpa (56:55)
• Dynafit (59:17)
• Faction: from Dictator to Dancer (1:01:03)
• What We're Celebrating (1:01:49)

RELATED LINKS:

• Episode Sponsor: Bentgate Mountaineering
• Blister Summit Registration
• Subscribe to our Newsletter & Gear Giveaways
• Become a Blister Member / Get our Buyer’s Guide

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We were recently in Sun Valley, Idaho, hanging out at Sturtevants, one of our Blister Recommended Shops, and talking with Sturtevants owner, Olin Glenne about Rotarun Ski Area (which could serve as a blueprint for local ski hills in other places); Olin’s lifelong love of skiing; the skiing in and around Sun Valley, and some of his favorite gear.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Intro & powder skiing (4:30)
• Rotarun Ski Area (10:00)
• Sun Valley & coaching McKenna Peterson (14:30)
• Skiing & DJ’ing (18:11)
• Surtevants’ operation (28:55)
• Mountain biking around Sun Valley (33:00)
• Ski gear (36:20)
• Ski boots (50:40)
• What We’re Celebrating (1:06:05)

RELATED LINKS:

• Episode Sponsor: mountainFLOW Eco Wax
• Introducing: Blister Labs
• Blister Summit Registration
• Subscribe to our Newsletter & Gear Giveaways
• Become a Blister Member / Get our Buyer’s Guide

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Today we are excited to introduce you to a very big new initiative at Blister: Blister Labs. Blister Labs is a new partnership between Blister, the University of Colorado Boulder, and the brand-new, state-of-the-art engineering facility at Western Colorado University in Gunnison, Colorado. Joining me to talk about why we believe that Blister Labs represents a significant new development in the outdoor industry is Dr. Jeni Blacklock, who is the director of the Rady Partnership Program between CU Boulder and Western Colorado University.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• What is Blister Labs? (2:17)
• The Rady Engineering Facility at Western (6:21)
• CU Boulder’s involvement (8:04)
• New standards? (11:29)
• Key faculty: Greg Vanderbeek & Sean Humbert (14:16)
• Jeni’s current position & background (22:38)
• Working at a bike shop and the NIST (31:37)
• Some of Jeni’s recent work (41:05)
• Blister Labs & the new “Outdoor Industry Engineering” program (43:23)

RELATED LINKS:

• Video: Blister Labs
• Blister Summit Registration
• Subscribe to our Newsletter & Gear Giveaways
• Become a Blister Member / Get our Buyer’s Guide

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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 (8:51)
• Mt Crested Butte (11:45)
• Where to stay (12:41)
• Brands that will be there (14:57)
• Protocols for Covid (18:12)
• What we’re most excited about (21:22)
• Come meet pro athletes & Blister reviewers (26:56)

RELATED LINKS:

• Blister Summit: What, Where, When
• Blister Summit Registration

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Matt Manser, Atomic’s ski boots product manager, is back to discuss Jonathan’s trip; Matt’s Jura coffee maker; our scotch & rye whiskey tasting sessions; skiing Zauchensee and Kitzsteinhorn on the Atomic Redster G9 RS, X9 S, and X9 WB; ski boot terms (and unconditional love); and some modifications we made to Jonathan’s ski boots — which you might want to consider for your own.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Jura coffee (6:09)
• Scotch & Rye Whiskey (8:26)
• Trip Report: Austria (18:27)
• Skiing the Atomic Redster G9 RS, X9 S, X9 WB (26:03)
• Johnny Dapp (32:33) 
• Atomic’s factory (35:29)
• Ski boot terms (40:11)
• Modifications to Jonathan’s Redster CS ski boots (48:35)
• What We’re Celebrating (1:06:06)

RELATED LINKS:

• Episode sponsor: mountainFLOW
• All of the previous GEAR:30 episodes with Matt Manser
• Blister Summit Registration
• Subscribe to our Newsletter & Gear Giveaways
• Become a Blister Member / Get our Buyer’s Guide

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We talk with ON3P Skis founder, Scott Andrus, about what’s been going on at ON3P, and we walk through the brand’s 22/23 lineup of skis.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Overview of the past year + Scott’s brother (3:45)
• Supply chain issues & materials (11:21)
• Custom skis & unisex branding (19:29)
• Top sheets (26:25)
• #blameandrus (28:25)
• Ski Lineup:
• Park Skis (35:18)
• Magnus and 1000 Skis (39:27)
• Jeffrey 110 & 102 (46:11)
• Woodsman 102 & 110 (50:35)
• Billy Goat 110 & 118 (57:10)
• Touring skis (1:04:08)
• Wrenegade 102 & 110 (1:10:16)
• What We’re Celebrating (1:14:09)

RELATED LINKS:

• Episode Sponsor: Blacksheep Sports
• GEAR:30 episode: Shop Talk: Blacksheep Sports
• Blister Summit Registration
• Subscribe to our Newsletter & Gear Giveaways
• Become a Blister Member / Get our Buyer’s Guide

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Paul Forward and Jonathan Ellsworth discuss some of the backcountry gear Paul’s been testing around Girdwood, Alaska, including skis from Moonlight and Movement; bindings from Moment and Dynafit; skins from G3 and Pomoca; and Scarpa boots. We also discuss current trends (fads?) in ski poles, and the underrated value of a good snow saw.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Deep Pow & Fast Groomers
• SKIS:
• Moonlight Cruiser (6:15)
• Movement Alp Tracks 106 (12:26)
• BINDINGS:
• Moment Voyager XIV (13:40)
• Dynafit Superlite 150 (20:12)
• CLIMBING SKINS: 
• G3 Minimist vs Pomoca (29:54)
• Ski Poles: Trends & Fads? (35:14)
• Snow Saws (47:34)
• BOOTS: 
• Scarpa F1LT & Alien RS (50:53)
• What We’re Celebrating (58:26)

RELATED LINKS:

• Episode Sponsor: mountainFLOW
• Episode Sponsor: PowderHound
• GEAR:30 episode: mountainFLOW
• GEAR:30 episode: Shop Talk: PowderHound
• Blister Summit Registration
• Subscribe to our Newsletter & Gear Giveaways
• Become a Blister Member / Get our Buyer’s Guide

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MountainFLOW is disrupting the ski and snowboard industries by producing high-performing products that are also biodegradable and more sustainable than the conventional products in their categories. So we talked with founder, Peter Arlein, about the environmental impacts of ski wax; his appearance on Shark Tank; the upcoming ban on fluorocarbon waxes at the highest levels of ski racing; and Peter reveals mountainFLOW’s brand-new product, which we think is going to have another significant impact on the ski industry.

TOPICS & TIMES:

• Background of mountainFlow (3:39)
• Wax & its environmental consequences (10:13)
• Going on Shark Tank (14:43)
• Ski wax misconceptions (19:56) 
• ‘Deck of cards’ analogy (21:53) 
• More interest from backcountry or resort riders? (23:57)
• Ban on fluorocarbons (25:42)
• Ceramic Nano Technology (27:15)
• New Product Reveal (30:47)
• MountainFLOW bike chain lube (36:15)
• What We’re Celebrating (38:42)

RELATED LINKS

• Avocado
• Jonathan’s Sleep Experiment
• Getting Here: Gunnison & Crested Butte
• Blister Summit Registration
• Subscribe to our Newsletter & Gear Giveaways
• Become a Blister Member / Get our Buyer’s Guide

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