New Salomon Dual BOA Ski Boot & New Salomon QST Skis

Jonathan Ellsworth was in the Cascade mountains of Washington this week with K2 skier, McKenna Peterson, and K2 ski designer, Jed Yeiser, and after a great day of skiing, we sat down to talk about ski developing and prototyping; ski testing; our ski-binding shootout; biathlons; flip flips; & books.TOPICS & TIMES:Skiing the Cascades (6:05)Arc — K2's R&D Center (9:42)Testing conditions / the snow (20:50)K2 Dispatch 120 (29:39)The testing process (31:29)Our alpine ski binding shootout (38:40)Flip flops (50:14)Biathlon (54:35)Books & WiFi passwords (59:30)What We’re Celebrating (1:06:28)RELATED LINKS:Episode Sponsor: mountainFLOW Eco WaxEpisode Sponsor: Powder Hound, AKStuff We Like (March 2022)Blister Summit Panel: Ski Binding DesignSubscribe to our Newsletter & Gear GiveawaysBecome a Blister Member / Get our Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister PodcastBikes & Big IdeasOff the Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

25 Mar 20221h 9min

Kristin Sinnott, Kara Williard, and Sascha Anastas talk about some of their highlights from the Blister Summit and discuss a bunch of the gear they spent time on from Fischer, Salomon, Dynastar, Renoun, Rossignol, and more.TOPICS & TIMES:Summit Recap & Highlights (3:33)Panel Sessions (10:49)Advice from pros (13:52)The gear demos + discussion with participants (14:47)Skis: Fischer Ranger series (22:27)Salomon Stella 106 (24:42)Dynastar E-Pro 99 Women’s (26:57)Renoun Endurance 98 (28:26)Rossignol Sender 104 TI (29:42)Differences in skis & what was available (31:14)Boots, apparel, & backcountry skiing (33:24)What We’re Celebrating (40:40)RELATED LINKS:Subscribe to our Weekly Gear Giveaway / NewsletterBecome a Blister Member / Get our Buyer’s GuideEp. 186: Luke & Jonathan on 12 New Skis from the Blister SummitCHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTSBlister PodcastBikes & Big IdeasOff The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

18 Mar 202244min

Cody and Jonathan review some news, then talk about 5 gear myths; cookware; coffeemakers; & more.TOPICS & TIMES:Diversity, Fairness, & the Olympics (10:10)Equal Pay: USA Soccer (17:36)Gear Myths Myth 1: Stiff boots (20:36)Myth 2: Light gear (or heavy gear) is always better (30:51)Myth 3: You need 100% waterproof apparel (41:41)Interlude: Cookware (49:50)Myth 4: High DIN settings (57:13)Myth 5: Less-advanced skiers are fine skiing anything (1:04:53)What We’re Celebrating (1:11:51)What We’re Reading & Watching (1:13:52)Moccamaster vs. Jura (1:23:45)RELATED LINKS:Episode Sponsor: Willi’s Ski ShopsSubscribe to our Weekly Gear Giveaway / NewsletterBecome a Blister Member / Get our Buyer’s GuideBlister Podcast: Benj Alexander’s Bid to Become Jamaica’s 1st Olympic Alpine Ski RacerCHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTSBlister PodcastBikes & Big IdeasOff The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

11 Mar 20221h 30min

Luke Koppa and Jonathan Ellsworth give a quick recap of the Blister Summit, then discuss a dozen of the skis we spent time on at the event.TOPICS & TIMES:Blister Summit (3:20)New (pink) Flylow gear (9:32)Kastle ZX115 (11:21)Moment Wildcat 116 (14:01)Fischer Ranger 102 & 108 (16:19)Wagner 109 & Will’s custom 105 (20:49)Line Blade Optic 114 (27:31)Icelantic Saba Pro 117 (30:04)K2 Dispatch 120 (33:11)K2 Dispatch 110 (35:11)Rossignol Sender 104 Ti vs 106 Ti (37:15)What We’re Celebrating (42:19)RELATED LINKSEpisode Sponsor: Vertical PlaygroundOur GEAR:30 episode with VPGSubscribe to our Weekly Gear Giveaway / NewsletterBecome a Blister Member / Get our Buyer’s GuideCHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTSBlister PodcastBikes & Big IdeasOff The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

4 Mar 202249min

Today we’re giving you an update on the topics we’ll be discussing at our upcoming Blister Summit, and telling you who the athletes, founders, product designers, and snow safety experts are that we’ll be discussing these things with. Then, in case you missed it, we’re reposting one of our favorite conversations we’ve ever had on product design in innovation, which ran previously on our Off The Couch podcast. It’s a must-listen for anyone interested in design and innovation.TOPICS & TIMES:Summit A, Feb 21st (0:40)How We Review Gear (2:48)Ski Bindings (3:15)Athlete Panel (4:51)Ski Design (5:28)Blister Labs (8:10)AUA: Ask Us Anything (9:37)Summit B, Feb 25th (10:09)How We Review Gear (10:10)Ski Boot Design (10:45)Backcountry Safety & Safety Eqpt. (12:11)Athlete Panel (14:31)Women in the Ski Industry (16:52)Product Design & Innovation (19:33)What is Speedland? (24:27)Nike Basketball (26:32)Kevin Fallon’s background (29:09)Dave Dombrow’s background (32:51)How did you get jobs at Nike, Under Armour? (36:04)Why do brands fail at moving into other product categories? (48:24)Starting Speedland (53:56)Trail shoe design (58:57)Incorporating dual BOA dials (1:08:45)Pricing & Value (1:13:59)Removable carbon plate (1:18:02)1st shoe: SL:PDX (1:19:56)Speedland’s ‘Give Back’ program (1:26:07)Optimizing for specific environments (1:27:37)Price & Hyper Performance (1:29:28)runspeedland.com (1:33:26)RELATED LINKSDrew Petersen’s film, Ups + DownsBlister Summit RegistrationSubscribe to our Weekly Gear Giveaway / NewsletterBecome a Blister Member / Get our Buyer’s GuideCHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTSBlister PodcastBikes & Big IdeasOff The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

18 Feb 20221h 36min

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 EssentialsEpisode Sponsor: mountainFLOW.comBlister Summit RegistrationSubscribe to our Weekly Gear Giveaway / NewsletterBecome a Blister Member / Get our Buyer’s GuideCHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTSBlister PodcastBikes & Big IdeasOff The Couch Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

11 Feb 20221h 2min

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-waxBlister Summit RegistrationSubscribe to our Newsletter & Gear GiveawaysBecome a Blister Member / Get our Buyer’s GuideOUR OTHER PODCASTS:Blister PodcastOff The CouchBikes & Big Ideas Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

4 Feb 20221h 18min

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 MountaineeringBlister Summit RegistrationSubscribe to our Newsletter & Gear GiveawaysBecome a Blister Member / Get our Buyer’s Guide Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

28 Jan 20221h 12min