BLISTER Gear Reviews, Podcasts, & Articles
What We’re Watching — December 2021
This month’s iteration of What We’re Watching includes a whole bunch of skiing and mountain biking videos from a huge range of athletes — and a physics video thrown in, for good measure.
The Pro’s Gear: Hadley Hammer (Ep.173)
We talk to professional skier, Hadley Hammer, about the gear she’s most & least picky about; her own gear preferences; and we fight about The Queen’s Gambit.
Win Any Head Kore Ski
Enter for a chance to win some new lightweight freeride skis!
Flash Review: 21/22 Head Kore 87
Here are some of our initial thoughts on the narrowest ski in the Kore lineup.
Blister’s Flash Reviews and Deep Dives are accessible to those who purchase one of our paid subscriptions
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Cedric Eveleigh of LAL Bikes, on Reinventing the Derailleur (Ep.94)
Mountain bike derailleurs have improved immensely, but is there a better way entirely? Cedric Eveleigh thinks so, and he founded LAL Bikes to make his Supre Drive a reality. We sat down with Cedric to break down this extremely promising new design, and get the full story on its development, the next steps, and more.
Flash Review: 21/22 Salomon Stance W 88
Check out our initial impressions of this metal-laminate women’s all-mountain ski from Salomon.
Blister’s Flash Reviews and Deep Dives are accessible to those who purchase one of our paid subscriptions
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Topo Athletic Mtn Racer 2
The new Topo Athletic Mtn Racer 2 is in contention to be our running editor’s favorite long-distance mountain running shoe of the year. Check out his review to see why, and why this 2nd version is such an improvement over the original.
4-Ski Quivers: Reviewers’ Selections (21/22)
Check out Part Two of our reviewers’ 4-ski quiver picks, with additions from Paul Forward, Kristin Sinnott, Eric Freson, Jonathan Ellsworth, & Dylan Wood.
Blister’s Holiday Gift Guide 2021 — Stocking Stuffers
It’s once again the season for giving, and we are back with our annual Gift Guides to help you think creatively about some of the gifts you give this year. We’re kicking things off with 19 stocking stuffer ideas.
21/22 Black Crows Mirus Cor
We’ve got another update on Black Crows’ new, strange carver, and it’s a bit surprising.
Blister’s Flash Reviews and Deep Dives are accessible to those who purchase one of our paid subscriptions
To get our comprehensive Deep Dives and our initial, unfiltered reports on new gear, become a member and receive many other services, deals, and discounts.
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Marcus Caston on the Return of the Turn (Ep.192)
When it comes to true ‘all-mountain’ skiing, Marcus Caston makes one of the nicest turns in the game. He’s also got one of our favorite video series, Return of the Turn. So we talked to Marcus about the new episode; coaching; why people think he’s from the East Coast; and we discuss some Best / Worst episode ideas. (Paging Glen Plake…)
Blacked-Out Top Sheets & Objective Ski Testing
On our latest GEAR:30 podcast, we were discussing the best and worst practices for testing skis. This raised the question: would blacking out the top sheets of skis produce more objective results? Here is our take. Give it a read, and let us know what you think.
Debatable: Bigger Isn’t Always Better
The bike industry likes touting stiffer parts as being better, but our Bike Editor makes the case for why that doesn’t always pan out.
Shop Talk: Pulling Back the Curtain on Gear Testing (Ep.172)
Today we’re talking all things ski testing, and to provide their wealth of experience in this arena are The Ski Monster’s George Michaelsen and Matt Berkowitz. We discuss good ways and bad ways to conduct gear tests; how and why The Ski Monster has been able to ramp up the amount of gear testing they’re doing; and why not all gear tests are created equal.
Win Faction Skis
The winner of our Gear Giveaway this week will get Faction’s big pow ski, La Machine!
BLISTER Reviews, Podcasts, & Articles:
Davy Crockett on the History of 100-Milers, Ultrarunning in the 1800s, and the G.O.A.T. Debate (Ep.137)
On this week’s episode of Off The Couch, we trace the development of the 100-mile footrace in America with ultrarunning historian, Davy Crockett, before busting some myths about the Western States 100, debating the greatest ultrarunner of all time, and much more.
Blister Brand Guide: Dynafit Running Shoe Lineup, 2022
Since debuting their first line of technical footwear for mountain running in 2011, Dynafit has expanded into everything from ultra-distance models to those specific to shorter efforts in technical terrain. Check out our 2022 Brand Guide to see what’s new from them this year.
Mountain Towns & Local Food Systems, Pt. 3: Chris Rubens on Skiing & Farming in Revelstoke (Ep.226)
Why did one of the best freeride skiers of the past 20 years become a farmer? We talk to Chris Rubens about starting First Light Farm with his partner, Jesse, in Revelstoke, BC; the parallels between skiing & farming; and why Chris finds farming to be so meaningful.
Pro Ski & Mountain Service
With a knowledgeable and extremely qualified staff dedicated to customer service, Pro Ski and Mountain Service is our top choice of ski shop in the North Bend area.
Win POC Helmets & Eyewear
This week our lucky winner will get to pick between POC’s Enduro-oriented Otocon helmet + Ora goggle combo or their Trail-oriented Kortal helmet + Devour sunglasses!
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.
Deep Dive: Santa Cruz Hightower 3
We compare the Santa Cruz Hightower 3 to the Hightower 2, Guerrilla Gravity Smash, Santa Cruz Bronson, Yeti SB130, We Are One Arrival, Antidote Carbonjack, Orbea and Occam LT.
Blister’s Flash Reviews and Deep Dives are accessible to those who purchase one of our paid subscriptions
To get our comprehensive Deep Dives and our initial, unfiltered reports on new gear, become a member and receive many other services, deals, and discounts.
If you’re already an active member, please log in.
(If you’re already logged in and a member in good standing and seeing this message in error, please refresh this page in your browser.)
2023 Santa Cruz Hightower
The Santa Cruz Hightower has long been a very versatile, well-rounded Trail bike, and with the new V3 bike, Santa Cruz hasn’t messed with a good thing too much. But they’ve still found things to refine and improve, and the Hightower remains a very good all-rounder.
Vaea Verbeeck on Just Going For It (Ep.134)
On this week’s episode of Bikes & Big Ideas, we chatted with Vaea Verbeeck about her long and varied MTB career, and along the way, we get into it about motivation & how to keep things fresh year after year; Vaea’s wild introduction to mountain biking and early run-ins with some of the biggest names in the sport; the upcoming Proving Grounds event; and much more.
John Fellows: Artist, Illustrator, & Graphic Designer (Ep.5)
John Fellows is one of our favorite artists, and his signature style can be found across the outdoor industry. We discuss his background in art; the business of art & graphic design; the development of his style; and we announce our new Blister Artist Series that we are launching with John.
2023 Santa Cruz 5010
The mullet-ification of Santa Cruz’s formerly-27.5’’ models continues today with the 5010, and Santa Cruz is talking a big game about the new bike, calling it “the best handling trail bike ever”.
In Praise of Cooking & Cussing
For this edition of our Open Mic series, Angel Collinson talks about the merits of cooking — greasy, messy, sweaty, cooking, while out at sea.