Reviewer Reports: Big-Mountain Ski Showdowns, Powder-Touring Setups, & Much More

We’ve got Folsom Skis CEO, Mike McCabe, back on the show to catch us up on what’s been going on at Folsom; the PPE equipment they’ve been making; their lineup for the 20/21 season; and more. Mike also flips the script and asks me how things have been at Blister, and we wrap with what we’re celebrating this week. I also provide a quick update on the status of our 20/21 Winter Buyer’s Guide. TOPICS & TIMESUpdate on our Buyer’s Guide (1:52)Update on Folsom (5:53)PPE (6:57)Folsom’s Pop-Up Shop in Aspen (17:31)Who is the Folsom customer now? (22:33)Spar 88 (27:45)Spar 78 (37:15)Spar Turbo (43:21)“Favorable” Rocker (47:54)Primary 104 (51:40)Touring Constructions (55:36)Mike’s question for Jonathan (58:37)What Mike’s celebrating this week (1:00:56)What Jonathan’s celebrating this week (1:03:42)RELATED LINKS:icelab.co - Come live & work in the Gunnison Valley!GEAR:30 ep. 66: Folsom Skis & the new Blister Pro 104GEAR:30 ep. 19: Dialing in "The Hammer" + other new Folsom SkisBlister Podcast ep. 33: Roundtable on Custom Skis Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

9 Okt 20201h 8min

Black Sheep Sports is a freeride shop in Munich, Germany, and we talk to its founder, Sebastian Steinbach, about this past ski season; his predictions for the upcoming ski season in Europe — and whether we’ll see a backcountry boom in Europe? We then talk about the critical art of customer service; why friends shouldn’t tell friends to just “Go buy this boot”; and more. Order our 20/21 Winter Buyer’s GuideTOPICS & TIMES:Black Sheep Sports: Background (7:25)Last Season Recap / Pandemic (11:28)Predictions for the upcoming European season? (17:35)The crucial art of customer service (31:57)“Local shops” vs “Great local shops” (47:29)What We’re Celebrating (1:10:34)Check out our other GEAR:30 conversation with Sebastian Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 Okt 20201h 14min

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 & TIMESHow 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.

25 Sep 20201h 10min

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.comTOPICS & TIMESSale 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.

18 Sep 20201h

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 & TIMESMaking 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.

11 Sep 20201h 8min

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 & TIMESAlex & 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.

29 Aug 20201h

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 & TIMESGeneral 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.

21 Aug 20201h 5min

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.

14 Aug 202053min