Reviewing the News w/ Cody Townsend (August 2021)

We talk to Cody Townsend about his massive new undertaking to ski 50 classic North American lines. We discuss his approach to The FIFTY Project; how it’s going so far; dealing with its incredibly tricky logistics; which lines are the most daunting; what gear he is using; and more.TOPICS & TIMES:What is The Fifty Project, and how did it come to be? (3:00)Which of the 50 lines are the most daunting? (7:04)“A very involved day” — skiing Mt Currie yesterday with Chris Rubens (22:32)How do you set plans when you’re dealing with extremely unpredictable conditions? (28:30)Cody’s transition from big-mountain freeriding to ski mountaineering (31:35)What skis, boots, bindings, & safety gear are you using on these different lines? (37:52)Cody’s dream collab with Kilian Jornet (40:32)Cody’s “Three Levels of Safety / Rescue” (42:45) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

11 Feb 201948min

We just held the inaugural Blister Speaker Series event at Western Colorado University with Brendan Leonard — author, filmmaker, and creator of Semi-Rad.com. So here is that live conversation where we talk with Brendan about work, work ethic, creativity, and how to keep from compromising your vision in whatever field you are passionate about pursuing.TOPICS & TIMES:Background of the Blister Speaker Series (1:50)How does Brendan describe his eclectic body of work? (6:22)Brendan’s journey from journalism to the Outdoor Industry (8:13)Tips for pursuing your passion without compensation (11:06)How Semi-Rad.com was born of rejection (19:03)Books that Brendan recommends (29:25)What advice would Brendan give his undergraduate self? (32:52)New Blister project with Brendan (41:08)Brendan’s tips for balancing time outdoors with a desk job (43:40)When did Brendan become more conscious of his work’s impact? (49:32)Advice about remaining resilient in the face of career challenges (52:14)What motivates Brendan and Jonathan? (1:02:00)Brendan’s move into filming & video content (1:08:18) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

29 Jan 20191h 13min

Earlier this year I sat down with Greg Hill and Chris Rubens to talk about their "Electric Adventures" (episode #66), and we also discuss in that episode a bit about Greg’s background. And in this new conversation, our focus is on the present and the future. Greg and I discuss the new Canadian chapter of Protect Our Winters; get Greg’s advice for how to productively deal with what he calls “eco-anxiety”; we talk about a new app called 57 Hours that is more effectively connecting guides with skiers, bikers, and climbers; and I ask Greg what piece of backcountry safety equipment he is currently most excited about.TOPICS & TIMES:Kids, trampolines, and backcountry skiing (2:10)Greg's work with Protect our Winters Canada (8:45)"Eco-Anxiety" and productive responses (13:08)An update on Greg's Electric Adventures (22:30)Greg's take on the growing category of electric vehicles (34:18)Greg's work as a guide (39:12)New guide app 57 Hours — why Greg and I are excited about it (41:14)What new backcountry safety equipment are you most excited about? (47:08) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

13 Dec 201850min

Very few people are so good at what they do that they can have a film made about their life and their career while they are still in the middle of both. But Eric Hjorleifson is one of those people, and we talked to Eric about the eponymous film, Hoji, that was produced by Scott Gaffney and Matchstick Productions. Eric and I talk about the tour he’s been on for the film, how the idea for the film originated, and we even got Hoji to ruminate a bit on what he thinks sets him apart as a skier.And gear heads stay tuned, because tomorrow, we’ll be dropping a GEAR:30 episode where you can hear Eric talk about his new Hoji Free boot, as well as the latest iteration of his ski, the 4FRNT Renegade.Click here for more info on the Hoji movie tour datesTOPICS & TIMES:Eric’s favorite stops while touring the movie. (03:50)Where did the idea for the movie come from? (09:06)Jonathan’s favorite people featured in the film. (13:25)What has Eric learned from making the film? (20:05)What’s Eric’s favorite ski movie? (22:40)Which traits as a skier sets Eric apart? And where did they come from? (32:00)Hoji Part II?? (43:20) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

14 Nov 201857min

Elyse Saugstad is one of the best big mountain skiers in the game, and we spoke with her a few days ago about the soon-to-be-released film, All In, from Matchstick Productions — the evolution of All In, and the experience of teaming up with several other big mountain rock stars, Angel Collinson, Michelle Parker, and Tatum Monod. We then talk about growing up in Alaska, and Elyse gives an update on Safe As Clinics, which is the backcountry education program she co-founded. And then we get into a whole bunch of other stuff, too, so just know that this is a fun conversation and an inspiring one, since Elyse is very actively showing all of us the value of continuing to seek out new ways to challenge ourselves and grow.TOPICS & TIMES:Packing for Portillo / What are you up to? (2:50)Skiing & filming with Angel Collinson, Michelle Parker, and Tatum Monod (4:25)How the *All In* film evolved (11:20)Growing up in Girdwood, Alaska (20:10)Figure Skating & Ski Racing (22:15)Dance & Ballet (30:35)Who were you looking up to as a young skier? (32:42)Safe As Clinics & Backcountry Education (37:35)Surfing, sports in general, and the rewards of seeing improvement (44:10)If not skiing, what would you be doing? (50:46)PRESENTING SPONSOR:The 750 Mile Trail Network of Gunnison & Crested Butte, CO Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

5 Sep 201856min

Julian Carr is a professional skier and world-record cliff jumper, the founder of Discrete Clothing, and the founder and race director of the Cirque Series, a group of six big-mountain running events held at some pretty iconic ski areas: Brighton, Alta, Alyeska, Sun Valley, Arapahoe Basin, and Snowbird.My conversation with Julian really falls into four parts: First, Julian and I talk about the Cirque Series, which kicks off this coming weekend on June 30th at Brighton, Utah. And you might assume that the race director of the Cirque Series probably is a pretty serious runner, but Julian doesn’t really consider himself to be a runner at all, but rather, someone who simply loves to be in the mountains, and enjoys becoming more and more adept at moving in the mountains. And that discussion about not really identifying as a runner makes up the 2nd part of our conversation.In part 3, Julian and I drill down pretty deep on the thing that many of you probably most associate Julian with: dropping impossibly huge cliffs on skis. Julian has sent many 100+ foot cliffs, and he is the world record holder for the biggest inverted cliff jump ever, at 210 feet. (Go to the show notes of this episode on Blister to watch videos of several of the jumps that Julian and I discuss, including his 210 foot world-record jump in Switzerland.)In part 4, Julian and I circle back to big-mountain running and the Cirque Series, then talk a bit about Julian’s company, Discrete, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.So whether you are a committed runner looking to learn about the Cirque Series, or a non-runner who wants to hear the case for mountain running, or you who want to hear about overcoming fear and the psychological limits we impose on ourselves, or you want to hear an entrepreneur talk about how his company has evolved over the past decade ... this conversation has a whole lot to offer.TOPICS & TIMES:Describing the 4 parts of this conversation (0:19)What is the Cirque Series, and why did you start it? (4:25)Why Julian doesn't identify as a "runner" and doesn't think the Cirque series is just for "runners" (11:06)The 6 stops: Brighton, Alta, Alyeska, Sun Valley, A-Basin, Snowbird (14:11)Julian and I settle on the distinction between "runner" vs. non-runner (22:46)Growing up, falling in love with skiing (24:06)The art & spiritual exercise of sending huge cliffs (29:11)The logistics & analysis of sending huge cliffs (37:29)Knowing when to walk away from a jump (1:01:11)More on how Julian started running & how his dog, Lexi, is actually responsible for the Cirque Series (1:04:39)On the 10-year anniversary of Julian's company, Discrete (1:15:58) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

27 Juni 20181h 24min

Glen Morden has an extremely cool job — he's the head of Product Innovation at Patagonia. So we talk to Glen about his background and how he ended up in this position, then Glen pulls back the curtain on the product design process at Patagonia, what he and his colleagues are currently most concerned with, and what sorts of projects are on the horizon. So if you are interested in product design, new gear, or how innovation happens, you’re going to enjoy this conversation.TOPICS & TIMES:As the "VP of Product Innovation at Patagonia" ... what do you actually do? (1:01)Glen's background (4:10)What was your formal education like? (7:14)When & how did you start working at Patagonia? (18:29)What is the design process like at Patagonia, and what are the various departments & teams? (22:42)Impact reduction and product design (28:30)What are your favorite products that you've worked on? (36:18)What areas in apparel design do you see the most potential for improvement? (40:33)Working with Patagonia's athletes and ambassadors (44:56)We love soft shells, so why have they struggled to catch on? (47:11)Sam Shaheen's nerd question (52:04)How much time is spent on impact reduction, or developing new technologies? (55:55)Design Inspiration (1:00:50) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

29 Maj 20181h 5min

In the past several days, there has been another reported instance of bullying going on in the outdoors sports world, and the loud, swift, and aggressive responses to this, have made clear that many of us still have a lot to think through.Last week, professional climber Sasha Digiulian announced on social media that she has been the ongoing target of tasteless jokes by fellow climber, Joe Kinder. Sascha stated that she had reached out to Joe in private about this to try to resolve the matter, but had received no reply. So, finally, she went public.You can find - and should read, if you haven’t already - in the show notes to this episode on Blister Sascha’s statement, Joe’s apology, and the responses by Black Diamond and La Sportiva, about why they decided to end their sponsorships of Joe.But the reason why we are talking about this here, is because of those alarming number of disturbing responses online and on social media to these events.So in this conversation, I’m joined by Blister’s climbing editor, Dave Alie, to discuss why it’s wrong to assume that this is simply some little, isolated issue in the climbing world; whether Black Diamond and La Sportiva were justified in their responses; and how our own words of criticism -- or support — of any of these parties— can quickly become unfair, tasteless, or unjust in their own right.TOPICS & TIMES:What happened, and why are we discussing it? (0:18)Did Black Diamond and La Sportiva do the right thing? (16:25)What appropriate & inappropriate responses look like — from all of us (18:57) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

10 Maj 201825min