Blister Labs is a partnership between BLISTER, the University of Colorado Boulder, and the brand-new, state-of-the-art engineering facility at Western Colorado University in Gunnison, Colorado. Over the past 13 years at Blister, we have worked to raise the bar for gear testing in the outdoor industry, and we are raising the bar again through Blister Labs.
For more on the backstory, goals, and future of Blister Labs, click here
Current Projects & Latest Updates:
Blister Labs: Results from our On-Snow Ski Testing & Dynamic Modeling (Ep.307)
Interested in ski design? Curious about where the next advancements in ski design might come from? Then you need to check out this conversation with Dr. Sean Humbert.
Blister Community Reviews Launch; How Much Info is Too Much or Too Little?; Defining Skier Ability Levels; & Other Contentious Topics (Ep.277)
We’ve launched our new Blister Community Reviews, so Luke and Jonathan discuss where it is today; how it will evolve; & some big questions like, how to best define the difference between an intermediate, advanced, & expert skier; rating scale debates; and more.
Blister Labs: Technical Apparel Testing Update (Ep.261)
Apparel testing, show pigs, & the underrated importance of ballpoint pens. Luke Koppa and Jonathan Ellsworth discuss these things with our Blister Labs colleague, Melanie Peddle.
Blister Labs: Blister Community Reviews Update (Ep.257)
Too often, the consumer reviews you find online are incomplete and unhelpful. But through our Blister Labs partnership with Western Colorado University & the University of Colorado Boulder, we’re working to change that.
Blister Labs: Wheelset Testing — Updates & Initial Results (Ep.253)
Today we’re providing some updates and discussing the implications of the initial results of our Blister Labs wheelset testing with Greg Vanderbeek and Travis Hainsworth.
Blister Labs: the Evolution of Outdoor Gear Testing | Blister Summit 2023 Video
How are we advancing the state of ski testing? At Blister Summit 2023, we brought together Jeni Blacklock, Sean Humbert, Leo Beuken, and Travis Hainsworth to discuss what we’ve been working on and why it matters, and we announce our latest initiative that we’ll be rolling out soon: Blister Community Reviews.
Blister Labs: AI, Machine Learning, & Ski Reviewing (Ep.233)
Dr. Sean Humbert is back to provide an update on our ski testing at Blister Labs; discuss the potential of artificial intelligence and machine learning for product reviewing and ski recommendation engines; and more.
Blister Labs: Travis Hainsworth on Soft Robotics, MoCap, & Wheelsets (Ep.227)
When Travis Hainsworth isn’t out on his highly questionable one-ski quiver, he’s busy being the associate director of the Western-CU Boulder Computer Science Program here in Gunnison, CO, and an integral member of our Blister Labs team.
Next Level Mtn Bike Wheel Testing | Blister Labs
In this video we provide a behind-the-scenes look at our latest testing of various mountain bike wheels’ performance characteristics — check it out to see what we’ve been up to!
Blister Labs: Technical Apparel Ratings & Standards – Origins & Relevance (Ep.215)
Those waterproof & breathability ratings on the tags of that rain jacket or those ski pants you’re about to buy: where did they come from? What’s the history? How relevant are those standards? We discuss all of this & more with Dr. Lauren Cooper.
Blister Labs: Product Manufacturers vs. Researchers & Reviewers (Ep.213)
Can engineering actually help us discover real-world characteristics about products that will be meaningful to end users? Or, when we incorporate quantitative data, do we mostly run the risk of having that data leading people astray? We discuss with Thomas Laakso, the vice president of product and operations at DPS Skis, and Dr. Sean Humbert of Blister Labs.
Blister Labs: MTB Wheelset Testing & Establishing Proof of Concept (Ep.211)
Greg Vanderbeek is back with a Blister Labs update on our mountain-bike-wheels testing. We discuss why the dynamic modeling we’ve been doing in the field is a critical component for ongoing testing back at the lab; what our test results are revealing about carbon vs. aluminum wheels; and more.