Blister Podcast

In the world of ski and ski boot design, Thor Verdonk is well known and very well respected. So we talked to Thor about his background, his 25+ year career with the Rossignol Group and how he became the Global Brand Director for Lange. Then we discuss the history of ski design and ski boot design, including the pendulum swings we see in the ski industry; the biggest advancements in skis and ski boots; developing the Rossi S7; and we get Thor’s predictions about what the ski industry will look like 10 years from now. And to hear Thor talk about the brand-new Lange XT3 and the future of Lange, check out our GEAR:30 conversation.TOPICS & TIMES:Growing up in Vermont (3:45)Coaching ski racing (7:20)Getting connected with Rossignol (9:10)Pendulum swings in product design (16:40)Biggest advancements in skis? (24:25)Biggest advancements in ski boots? (27:25)Developing the Rossignol S7 (35:27)Most overlooked ski boot developments (42:06)Thor’s industry predictions for the decade (50:05) See acast.com/privacy

Geoff McFetridge is an iconic designer and visual artist who’s worked with the Beastie Boys, Pharrell Williams, Spike Jonez and Rick Rubin, and companies ranging from Patagonia, Nike, the New York Times, Oreo, and many more. Geoff is also a passionate skateboarder and skier, and a big fan of … BLISTER (?!?!?).So Jonathan Ellsworth and Geoff tell the story of how they first got connected; how Geoff went from being a sponsored skater to starting a skateboard company to doing design work for some of the biggest companies, bands, musicians, and directors in the world. They discuss Skate vs. Ski vs. Snowboard culture; being a “conflicted” telemarker; and a whole lot more.VIDEO: SEE GEOFF & HIS WORKTOPICS & TIMES:How Jonathan & Geoff connected (2:34)Which came first: art or skating? (7:56)Art directing the Beastie Boys’ Grand Royal (18:26)Working on the Spike Jonze film, “Her” (28:31)When did you get into skiing? (47:48)How much time do you spend telemarking? (50:49)Ski vs. Snowboard vs. Skate culture (

What will the ski & snowboard industry look like 10 years from now? Will backcountry skiing and splitboarding keep growing? Will indoor ski areas become more common? Will there be fewer or more ski companies in existence 10 years from now? Paul Forward, Sam Shaheen, Luke Koppa and I offer our thoughts on all of these questions and more.TOPICS & TIMES:Backcountry Skiing (1:50)Backcountry Splitboarding (11:30)Backcountry Telemarking (14:30)Inbounds Skiing (17:43)Inbounds Snowboarding (21:25)Inbounds Telemarking (23:37)Monoskiing vs. Ski Blading (26:17)Park Skiing (29:50)Indoor Ski Areas? (34:25)General Industry Trends (41:59)Wildest Predictions (1:06:00) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

We’ve been thinking and talking about New Year’s Resolutions, so in this episode, we ask a number of BLISTER reviewers what they’re pursuing in this new year and new decade.And we’d love to hear what your plans are for 2020 and beyond, so let us know in the Comments section below what your thoughts are on New Year’s resolutions and what you have planned for 2020. TOPICS & TIMES:Kristin Sinnott (1:30)Paul Forward (17:51)Maddie Hart (21:51)Luke Koppa (31:19)Sascha Anastas (39:06)Noah Bodman (49:31)David Golay (56:40)Sam Shaheen (1:03:00) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

New Year’s Resolutions — are you into them, or do you avoid them like the plague? A recent conversation with Brendan Leonard (semi-rad.com) got us thinking that we should take a more creative approach to New Year’s Resolutions and goals, and see if they might become more than a guilt-inducing chore.Specifically what prompted all of this is that Brendan had committed himself before the start of 2019 to run 52 marathons in 52 weeks — and he did it. So we are reposting here the conversation I had with Brendan on our Off The Couch podcast, and then very soon, we’ll be posting a series of short interviews with some Blister reviewers and other folks we like about their own take on new year’s resolutions, and some of their own creative goals.Please enjoy, and let us know in the show notes to this episode what goals or resolutions you are setting for yourself for this brand new decade we’re quickly approaching.TOPICS & TIMES:What did you just do, and why? (3:00)Defining the rules for these ‘marathons’? (9:20)Eati

We’re not sure that anyone loves skiing more than Tyler Curle, and Tyler also happens to be one very hard-charging and versatile skier who has appeared in Matchstick films and TGR films.So for our latest installment of our Up & Coming series, Tyler came out to Crested Butte and we sat down in Blister HQ to talk about growing up skiing at Mt. Rose; starting to help out at Moment Skis at the ripe old age of twelve; his favorite skis, skiers, and ski movies of all time, and a whole lot more.TOPICS & TIMES:Karaoke (1:45)Growing up near Mt. Rose (4:55)Meeting McConkey & Parker White (8:25)Helping at Moment Skis at age 12 (14:55)Injuries? (18:16)Favorite ski movies & edits (19:20)What line have you skied that you’re most proud of? (21:32)Favorite skiers (25:34)Current favorite ski? (31:37)Have any of your ideas for skis been shot down? (33:53)Pain McSchlonkey (38:32) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When it comes to skiing, product design, filmmaking, and art, few people have exhibited a more distinctive style than Eric Pollard. But for someone who has been working at the forefront of these mediums for about 20 years, we know a relatively small amount about the person behind the products, the films, and the skiing.So in this conversation, we talk to Eric about skiing and art and creating and evolving, and we discuss his soon-to-be-released film and book that share the same title, Drawn From Here.TOPICS & TIMES:Drawn From Here — The Film (1:25)Style (9:07)Defying expectations (12:53)Why “Night Moves”? (16:61)Drawn From Here — The Book (32:22)How the book complements the film (39:34)Skiing, Ski Design, & Ski Names (47:40)Other inputs (1:06:25) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Think you know Lindsey Vonn’s story? Think again. Most of us know Vonn as one of the greatest ski racers of all time — and probably the toughest. But in the new HBO film, Lindsey Vonn: The Final Season, Vonn pulls back the curtain on her career and the steep price of her pursuit of the record for most World Cup wins.In this conversation, we talk to the film’s co-director and Teton Gravity Research co-founder, Steve Jones, about the making of this film; Vonn’s accessibility and emotional vulnerability; the hidden costs of pursuing greatness; and more.TOPICS & TIMES:How did this project come about? (1:57)Vonn’s accessibility & emotional vulnerability (4:50)Bode Miller sums up downhill ski race crashes (12:30)Happiness vs. Greatness (17:18)Why did you start Teton Gravity Research? (22:35)Biggest differences of filming now vs. when you started? (22:55)Favorite directors & recent films? (30:27)Steve’s favorite TGR films (31:40) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jason Blevins of the Colorado Sun broke the story about backcountry.com’s practices around trademark issues, so we talk to Jason about how this story got on his radar; the specifics of what backcountry.com was doing; how common or uncommon these practices are; how backcountry.com has subsequently responded; and what needs to be done going forward.TOPICS & TIMES:How did Jason uncover this story? (2:30)Backcountry.com’s response (6:40)Is this “normal” trademark law practice? (15:40)Stories from two of the targeted companies (20:25)What should we expect going forward? (33:44)Why Jason left the Denver Post (40:48)Starting the Colorado Sun (44:09) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In our latest BLISTER Speaker Series at Western Colorado University, Moment Skis CEO, Luke Jacobson, talks about managing the significant growth of this indie brand; manufacturing in Sparks, Nevada; crucial decisions he’s had to make; how he would assess those decisions in hindsight; and more.TOPICS & TIMES:What separates Moment from other “indie” brands (2:55)Luke’s background & start with Moment (4:30)Taking a leap at SIA / Outdoor Retailer (11:25)Becoming CEO, lessons learned (15:55)Marketing do’s and don’ts (29:44)Moment’s biggest growth periods (32:35)How have tariffs affected manufacturing? (36:24)Would it be harder or easier to start Moment today? (38:09)Audience Q&A (Western vs. Proust) (40:14) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Fact: we all need to strive to be more like Rachael Burks. Rachael is known for skiing burly lines and her signature backflip, but she is also known for her boundless enthusiasm — and in this conversation, that enthusiasm is on full display. Rachael and Jonathan Ellsworth discuss skiing and Shakespeare; her spot-on impression of Julian Carr; podiuming in a comp on rental skis; her best ski season ever; her abiding love of sweatpants, Star Wars, fantasy novels, Red Bull Rampage, and more. TOPICS & TIMES:Oxford, Shakespeare, & Dirty Sandwiches (2:53)Breaking into the ski industry (9:30)Learning to backflip with Julian Carr (17:10)Competing on rental skis (19:56)Rachael’s best ski season ever (23:42)GREENland Expedition (26:52)Fantasy & Star Wars & Sparkles (32:10)Why Rachael loves Red Bull Rampage (44:10)More books & music (49:32) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

If the story told in the new film Blink of an Eye weren’t true, nobody would believe it. Friendship, brotherhood, heroes, triumph, tragedy, and redemption are the topics, and we discuss all of them on our latest Blister Podcast with the film’s writer & director, Paul Taublieb.If you are interested in or intrigued by auto racing, you will love this one. And if you have zero interest in NASCAR, then you especially need to listen, for reasons we’ll explain.TOPICS & TIMES:On being a storyteller (3:02)How Paul got into filmmaking (7:19)Producing X Games & freestyle motoX events (15:07)What is Blink of an Eye about? (18:22)Making films about heroes (26:54)Racing as “playing chess at high speeds” (30:04)The emotional rawness of this film (36:49)What separates the best racers from very good ones? (46:00)The (political) importance of being open minded (51:14)How does Blink of an Eye fit with your other work? (1:00:44) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When world-renowned climber, Alex Honnold, was looking for a new executive director for his Honnold Foundation, he tapped Dory Trimble. And with the massive success of the film, Free Solo, Dory has guided what started as Alex's small, personal passion project into a rapidly growing nonprofit working on global projects.The aim of the Honnold Foundation is to reduce environmental impact and address inequality by supporting solar energy initiatives worldwide. And in this conversation, Dory unpacks for us what that means, what it’s like working with Alex, how she’s managed the explosive growth of the Honnold Foundation, and she offers excellent advice for anyone interested in getting involved with an organization committed to doing social good.We opened our time at Western by showing this brief film of a project that the Honnold Foundation is currently involved with in Puerto Rico:TOPICS & TIMES:How did you first get involved with the Honnold Foundation? (4:30)How has HF changed? (11:50)Dory’s formative exper

Dash Longe is a skier who’s been doing it — and going big — for a long time. And tomorrow is the online release of Dash’s latest film, Stone’s Throw. So I spoke to Dash about his new film and about ski films in general; his coming up during the heyday of the freeskiing revolution in Tahoe; ski design and Dash’s work on the DPS Koala 119; and more.TOPICS & TIMES:New film: “Stone’s Throw” (1:16)Background & getting into filming (6:55)Coming up in the heyday of the freeskiing revolution (10:00)Eric Pollard (16:15)Dash’s approach to big cliffs (23:52)Favorite segment of yours? (25:53)DPS Koala 119 (32:25)Ski Design (43:28) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Adventure photographer, Corey Rich, has spent a lot of time hanging out with and documenting some of the most interesting and amazing athletes in the world. And he is exceptionally good at talking about those experiences, so you are in for a treat. Furthermore, Corey has just released his excellent new book, Stories Behind the Images: Lessons from a Life in Adventure Photography, so this was the perfect occasion for a conversation with Corey about his remarkable career; why being good at hanging out is a great quality of a photographer; why making mistakes and being vulnerable makes for great storytelling; and Corey shares some stories about his time with some of the seminal figures in rock climbing, like Fred Beckey, Chris Sharma, Tommy Caldwell, and Ashima Shiraishi.We also talk about what separates his new book from most other “photo” books (spoiler alert: Stories Behind the Images isn’t really a “photo book”); how changes in photography and film technology affect his work; what his dream assignment w

We’ve got J Skis founder, Jason Levinthal, back on the show, and we’re going to be doing things a bit differently than we normally do. Last week we invited you to submit any questions that you might have for J, and turns out … you had a lot of them.So this episode is made up almost entirely of your questions, and in his trademark style, Jason answers each of them with extreme candor.We cover why Jason started J Skis and how you can get a job there; J’s favorite ski graphics; which skis are his personal favorites, and which skis he’s most proud of; we get into some ski design questions — including whether we will ever see a 193 cm J Ski; and J tells an Eric Pollard story and answers the pressing question, “What’s your favorite way to eat or cook an oyster.”Finally, we are also going to be dropping soon a video of this conversation with J, so you’ll be able to check that out and see some of the graphics and the skis that Jason and I discuss.TOPICS & TIMES:Starting J Skis / How to get a job at J Skis? (3:08)

Last week, we kicked off season #2 of our monthly Blister Speaker Series at Western Colorado University, where we invite influential figures to come talk about how they are shaping the outdoor industry.Our first guest of the new season was Claudio Caluori, the announcer for the World Cup Downhill series, a former pro XC and DH racer, the founder of Velosolutions, and the initiator of #pumpforpeace.We touch on all of these things in our conversation, and get Claudio’s perspective on a wide range of topics and questions — including a number of good ones, once again, from the audience.TOPICS & TIMES:Was this the best World Cup DH season ever? (3:44)Loic & Amaury’s battle (6:10)Claudio’s career racing XC and DH (8:32)Philosophy of “Going All-In” (10:08)How did you start announcing World Cup races? (12:24)Recovering from his big crash last year (13:15)Claudio’s company, Velosolutions (15:13)How #pumpforpeace is serving communities (22:04)Lessons from working internationally? (24:10)What unites the global b

Pep Fujas has always been at the forefront of freeskiing, and he is now looking to move things forward once again. So we talk to Pep about growing up on his family farm in Oregon; his remarkable film career; his favorite Seth Morrison story; his long relationship with K2 and his favorite K2 skis; his decision to go back to school; and his even bigger decision to join the team at WNDR Alpine.TOPICS & TIMES:Getting involved with WNDR (3:10)Growing up + his all-important bus rides (6:10)Connecting with K2 (9:25)Ski films (15:15)Favorite Nimbus memory? (16:55)Favorite Seth Morrison story (19:37)Connecting with Patagonia (21:07)Pep’s Favorite K2 skis (23:50)Your biggest influences? (30:47)What current segment of skiing impresses you the most? (33:26)Returning to school (35:34)‘Business’ doesn’t have to be a 4-letter word (39:08) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today we’re running the 2nd episode of our Up and Coming series, where we talk with athletes, who, if they aren’t already on your radar, they certainly should be. And our guest today perfectly matches that description.Because aside from her very unassuming disposition, everything about Ming Goetz is extraordinary — her name; her background; her favorite discipline — slopestyle; her competing recently in the Crankworx Whip Off Challenge; her participation this season in the 1st ever Women’s Slopestyle Tour; her plans for the future (which include competing in Red Bull Rampage) and, of course, her abilities on a bike. So get ready to meet Ming...TOPICS & TIMES:Growing up (3:00)The story behind her name (4:12)Competing, Jumping, & Jump Girls (6:08)The first Women’s Slopestyle Tour (12:17)Favorite riders? (17:47)Eyeing Red Bull Rampage (18:35)What tricks are you working on? (20:26)Ming’s (unusual) dream career (24:40)Favorite things (27:40) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

What does biotech have to do with backcountry skiing? What does microalgae have to do with skis? And why did the founder of 4FRNT Skis, Matt Sterbenz, agree to get involved with a new startup ski brand, WNDR Alpine? We sat down in Blister HQ with Checkerspot co-founder and CEO, Charlie Dimmler, and WNDR Alpine founder, Matt Sterbenz, to talk about the creation of WNDR Alpine; its relation to and the mission of Checkerspot; and more.TOPICS & TIMES:Why does Matt Sterbenz hate vowels? (2:00)How Matt got involved with Checkerspot (5:17)Checkerspot’s mission & innovations (10:00)Charlie’s background: from Wall Street to Biotech (17:41)What Checkerspot is doing with microalgae (23:20)Why make skis from new materials? (26:02)Effects on ski performance? (32:28)Sustainability as a design constraint (41:00)Other possible applications of microalgae (48:50)How has launching WNDR affected Checkerspot? (58:24) See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.