We obviously spend a lot of time reviewing stuff around here, and so we were surprised and intrigued to see this particular review of our podcasts posted in a comments section of our last Blister Podcast by Blister member “Good Zamboni” (aka, Christian).
And in proper Blister “in-depth” style, Christian actually went back to the beginning, started at Blister Podcast episode #1, and then worked his way through all of the podcasts.
So we wanted to say thank you to Christian for putting in all those hours, and we thought you might like to hear his thoughts.
And since there are references to some of our other podcasts, you can find all of them here, or just look them up on your preferred podcast player — Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, etc.
Ok, here’s Christian’s take, which he posted earlier this week:
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As of today, I’ve listened to every Blister Podcast. I’m not sure what that says about me. Let’s not discuss, and leave it for what it is.
However, what I find amazing is how little the podcast has changed during its run. The opening music has changed, and the sound quality got better, but it seems like the overall vision is intact.
I can say the same for the Blister Buyers Guide. I looked at the first buyers guide. Of course the production got better, but the overall vision is very consistent. No doubt the Blister crew could talk about internal lessons learned and changes behind the scenes, but from an outside view there weren’t (seemingly) wrenching revisions.
I will tell anyone who likes the current podcast to check out old episodes. They don’t seem old. I can only think of a few clunkers: the GEAR:30 “Dumpster Fire” episode … yes, it was. And another one where it seemed like Sam Shaheen knew more about the topic than the industry rep he was talking to.
Some guests, I suspect, you could have on once every year, either because they are very smart or they are just entertaining to listen to. If I’m having a bad day at work, I’ll put the J Lev episode on in the background. He has a way of shaving the edge off of whatever you are dealing with.
And many of the topics go deeper than some would think. The recent Skid Row Running Club episode was so much more than just about running. Just the right mix of politics, story telling, inspiration and entertainment. Or the National Brotherhood of Skiers episode, ordinary people who did extraordinary things. It’s so good that someone is bringing these corners of life to the stage to be recognized.
I initially came to Blister because I was looking for skis, and I only signed up for the Deep Dive subscription. I debated about that at first. Then I bought the Buyers Guide. Then I upped to a Blister Membership. Considering the price is the same as a dinner for two where I live, it seems a trifle for what I’ve gotten. I did get those skis. haven’t used them yet, but I feel like I made a very informed decision. But it’s the total package that I’ve come to value.
Anyway, keep up the good work.
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Thanks, Christian. We’ll try.
The “Dumpster Fire” episode is one of my personal favorites. If I’m having a particularly difficult day at work I’ll fire that one up and it never ceases to make me feel better. We all have junk show , dumpster fire , FML , bang your head against your desk , needing a margarita at 10AM days. So thank you for sharing yours. You guys are the best.
Spot on. A little more polish now, but same intent. Going back through old blister reviews is a little nostalgic because of all the amazing reviewers that don’t write as much anymore. It seems like an all life consuming job, so no complaints. Honestly, I consider myself lucky to have gotten to read / listen to any reviews on here as it’s an actual honest source of information. Learned so much about something we love.
Yup. Was re-reading the old Bibby reviews recently after passing them on to a friend trying to decide between that (though I guess it’s the Wildcat now) and the Deathwish. Remembered first reading them in my college dorm room in Maine and wishing Moment was demo-able in New England…and that we got enough snow to need a 118 ski. Also made me wonder what Will Brown and Jason Hutchins are up to these days.
As someone who isn’t exactly a scientist (I’m an English guy, like Jonathan. Yes, I’m adding this because I hope he sees it and we bond over both our love of skiing and books and maybe lets me help edit reviews) but for some reason is fascinated by the physics of skiing, Blister has been a priceless/incredible source of info. I’d been figuring out how ski construction works and why different skis do what they do before Blister, but I can’t remember anymore what I already knew when Blister showed up, and what I realized/learned with Blister’s help.
Thanks for posting Christian‘s thoughts, really good to hear. I came to Blister a few years ago in a similar way. Was thinking about buying some wider skis, knew next to nothing about skis anyway and was searching for reviews that actually told me something. Well we all know that‘s only really here that you can find that. Now have 4 pairs of skis (a mix of the “problem“ with Blister crack and a severe lack of self restraint) all of which have been bought with excellent input from Luke (apart from the impulse buy of the Sakana‘s, but still down to Luke as he led the review!) Love all of them and am very grateful to all at Blister for what you do, love the passion and commitment and I have learned so much from you as well as the folks who chime in with comments. Always makes me want to improve my skiing. Enjoy the serious elements and the humour too. Any interview with JLev is a blast but also introduced me to a tonne of folks from different walks of life that I would not have heard from otherwise E.g. don‘t climb and barely bike but always enjoy those interviews too, different perspectives. My level of obsession with your content means that I find myself vaguely troubled that I can usually tell who has been on a ski just by reading which boots are listed at the top of the page….
All in all at one level Blister is an amazing resource given the passion and thoroughness and sheer volume of meaningful content, but beyond that there is quite the feeling of community too, don‘t lose that and look forward to the ongoing excellence.
This could be a future pod cast. Have someone like J Lev interview the Blister crew about lessons learned and changes. There’d be some sympatico given his background. And of course many of the industry guys (Luke or Dan) would do well as well. They all, no doubt, have stories of growing pains, times when the work didn’t meet the vision. Or they’d like to pile on Blister screw ups considering how many times JE talks about ski weight or busts one of their products. Literally, from the first episode. You’d think Blister was created just because of that. Like JE was skiing one day, ranting about ski weight to some stranger on the lift and thinking to himself, “Ah, I know what will solve this! A killer buyers guide and an entertaining, yet profound Podcast. I’ll shame ski makers into making appropriately weighted skis by pumping out high quality content.”
As absurd as that sounds, I wouldn’t be surprised if that how it happened.
Ha, while your account of the Blister origins story is a good guess, the real story is that I just got completely fed up with the ocean of vacuous and misleading product reviews out there. Keeping it real when it comes to weight is just one part of the corrective. :)
I think I’ve been a Blister member for a little over a year now, no regrets at all. I just wish I could test as many skis as Luke gets to.
Due to Covid I now have no work commute, so I’m way behind on Podcasts.
If I have one complaint: there’s been a real lack of skiing related reviews the last 6 weeks…. I know it’s a strange year but all the mountain biking reviews do not help when it’s still snowing in my brain!
Also, is there a place on the site where all previous year’s Buyer’s Guides are archived for viewing?
A very sincere thank you Jonathan and Team. All your work is fantastic and helps me so much to get through the week but this year it’s been particularly a welcome distraction.
Thank you. And our archive of previous buyer’s guides can be found here:
https://blisterreview.com/archive-blister-buyers-guides
(And for those looking to complete their print edition sets, you can contact us to see if we still have inventory on the specific year / years you are looking for.)