GEAR:30

By BLISTERSports Wilderness

GEAR:30 episodes

September 25, 2020Faction Skis: Company History & 20/21 Lineup
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 joined by Faction engineer, Daniel Tanzer; product manager, Josh Cohen; and North American marketing manager and mono ski advocate, Hank Lampert.

TOPICS & TIMES
How do you describe Faction? (3:05)
Introductions: Hank, Josh, Daniel (4:32)
Changing factories and turning points in Faction’s history (11:21)
Designing skis with Candide (19:38)
20/21 Lineup: Dictator series (33:03)
Agent Series (47:06)
Prodigy and Candide series (51:40)
Le Mono (55:01)
Le Machine (57:45)
Le Mogul (1:00:33)
Final Thoughts (1:05:54)
What We’re Celebrating (1:07:25)

CHECK OUT: blister.getspot.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
1 hr 11 min
September 18, 2020Jason Levinthal & 4FRNT’s New Ownership Group
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 opportunities for 4FRNT? (32:22)
Pricing of skis (36:14)
4FRNT athletes (42:18)
Jonathan’s new role at 4FRNT (51:24)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
1 hr 1 min
September 11, 2020Shaggy’s Skis 20/21 Lineup + Luke & Drew Ski Pow on 9.9.20
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)
General characteristics of Shaggy’s skis (13:07)
Fat Tips (14:27)
Shaggy’s Graphics & Custom Graphics (17:16)
Build Option #1: standard (19:18)
Build Option #2: mid-light (20:12)
Build Option #3: nanoMAG (21:08)
Build Option #4: carbon (28:21)
Ahmeek 95, 105, & 115 (33:47)
Brockway 80, 90, & 100 (40:37)
Belle 80 & 90 (46:01)
Medora 95 & 105 (49:16)
Sarge 95 (51:48)
Tubby 120 (53:25)
Phoenix 105 Carbon (55:46)
What We’re Celebrating (1:02:24)
BE SURE TO CHECK OUT: blister.getspot.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
1 hr 9 min
August 29, 2020What Makes a Face Mask More or Less Effective?
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 more.
TOPICS & TIMES
Alex & Kat’s backgrounds (3:34)
History of Outdoor Research (6:41)
Current state of PPE? (10:06)
Differences in protective coverings (11:50)
When to wear masks? (35:36)
The future of masks(41:34)
Predictions on this coming ski season (50:59)
What We’re Celebrating This Week (56:37)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
1 hr 1 min
August 21, 2020Moment Skis 20/21 Lineup
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)
Base material nerdery (24:55)
Sidewall nerdy (33:07)
Wildcat Series (35:24)
Interlude: Ski Length (36:57)
Touring Skis (45:56)
Women’s Skis (48:34)
Comi (51:14)
Frankenblade (52:42)
What We’re Celebrating (58:05)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
1 hr 6 min
August 14, 2020Voormi: How a ‘Textile Technology’ Company Does Outdoor Apparel
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 (11:19)
Highlighting some specific products (19:43)
Manufacturing Processes (25:21)
River Run Hoodie (26:17)
Voormi Socks (31:46)
Manufacturing in the USA (36:45)
“Responsible” production (39:04)
Where will Voormi be in 10 years? (47:30)

WATCH THE VIDEO ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
54 min
August 09, 2020WNDR Alpine’s 20/21 Lineup with Matt Sterbenz, Pep Fujas, & Xan Marshland
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, check out these other conversations we’ve had with them:

Blister Podcast, Ep. 98: Origins & science behind WNDR
GEAR:30, Ep. 63: Ski talk with Sterbenz & Xan
Blister Podcast, Ep. 100: Pep Fujas on how & why he got involved

TOPICS & TIMES
WNDR Alpine’s background (6:55)
What’s been easy, what’s been hard? (16:54)
Greenwashing (19:47)
Updates to the Intention 110 (30:01)
New Vital 100 (41:27)
Vital 120? (45:57)
Fujas vs. Sterbenz in slopestyle comps (50:40)
More on the Vital 100 (56:55)
The WNDR Roost event (1:01:19)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
1 hr 6 min
July 31, 2020Bikes, Forks, & Our 20/21 Winter Buyer’s Guide
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 (8:00)
Rocky Mountain Instinct BC (17:33)
Our 20/21 Winter Buyers Guide (28:10)
2020: The Year of Ellsworth (34:33)
Buyer’s Guide Cover (38:18)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
46 min
July 24, 2020Aprch, CBD, & the Story Behind an Emerging Category
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-founder, Adam Hunter.
TOPICS & TIMES:
Origins of Aprch (4:58)
Defining Terms (10:07)
Marketing this product? (24:06)
Price (29:38)
Production Process (36:09)
Bubbles! (37:44)
Future of Aprch & this industry? (41:37)

LINKS TO LEARN MORE:
• CBD Researcher, Dr. Raphael Mechoulam
• Article on Dr. Mechoulam's research findings regarding CBD and potential benefits
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
52 min
July 10, 2020Reviewing the Reviewer: Kristin Sinnott
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 today is Kristin Sinnott, and I recently subjected Kristin to our regular gauntlet of Reviewing-the-Reviewer questions, which led to answers that involved Family Feud, killer bees, ski dance videos, her background in alpine and nordic skiing; and some of her gear preferences.

TOPICS & TIMES:

Kristin’s background (4:39)
What sports did you play growing up? (7:04)
Trajectory after college (17:11)
How did you first get connected with Blister? (21:48)
Why are you so picky about certain foods? (25:54)
What gear are you most & least picky about? (28:05)
Who is your favorite reviewer at Blister? (30:30)
Who is your favorite pro skier? (32:24)
What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done? (35:03)
What are you better at than Sam Shaheen? (41:45)
Top 3 favorite books, movies, and musicians (43:38)
Give us a random review (46:33)
What’s the best question I haven’t asked you? (49:16)
What we’re celebrating (57:28)
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
1 hr 8 min

About GEAR:30

From the publisher's feed

GEAR:30 is the podcast from BLISTER that dives deep into the details of the most interesting and innovative outdoor gear. You'll hear Blister reviewers discuss the gear they're testing, as well as…