When it comes to gear, we’ve all been there: loads of questions, crippling confusion, severe analysis paralysis. You need some help! So in this inaugural edition of GEAR THERAPY, Jason Verlinde — a self-described “average / normal / non-industry / non-pro Blister member” — poses some gear questions and conundrums to me and Luke Koppa, and “gets to confess my ignorance and state my real-world situation, with you experts weighing in, straightening me out, and steering me toward some products I might love.” Enjoy!
TOPICS & TIMES:
Gear Therapy Explained (3:36)
Why It’s Hard Out There for a GearHead (10:05)
Meet the Patient: Jason Verlinde (12:10)
Jason’s Ski Quiver (14:33)
Putting On Cold Ski Boots & Liners (20:35)
The Blister Approach to Reviews (33:00)
Line Blade & Steep Terrain (44:10)
“Loose and Surfy”? (52:55)
Crashes & Close Calls (1:00:08)
What We’re Celebrating (1:07:28)
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This was perhaps one of your best podcasts. The guest, Jason, is likely representative of a large segment of the membership. His variety of therapy questions are truly what is on the minds of many. I hope you will have more of these in the future.
Great podcast. Would love to hear more of these. As a newer Blister member this discussion will really help me next time I fill out the gear rec form.
Heated boot bags will remove any punches you have on your boots. They are strictly a no go for me. Same thing for putting my boots near car heater vents. To keep my boots warm I just wrap a piece camping foam around the boot in the boot bag and if it’s a longer commute I will throw a hand warmer in each boot. If is really cold I will also put my boot glove on the boot. So far no major problem putting on my Zipfits and my Atomic Redster TI 130, even at -20C.
Great podcast – couple things:
A heated boot bag cannot — and will not — take out your boot punches. The highest heat is only 165° of any boot bag. Memoryfit polyurethane that you have in your Atomic Hawx Ultra will not become moldable until 217°F. The boot presses that we use in most ski shops exceed 1200 pounds per square inch of pressure. Heat alone will not affect the boot punch. 165° will, however, affect zip fit liners in that the cork becomes much more fluid, and will slide into the ankle pocket.
As far as heated boot bags, we have had great success with the Transpack Heated Boot Bag. It has two adapters, one for the wall 110 V and another that is connected that runs off of your car lighter.
Re: skis, the side cut and the waist with are not the only difference between your GTX skis and the Line Blade. The other difference is metal. The Blade has what they call gas pedal metal. It is a titanium aluminum mix that is standard in most skis. For skiing in the Pacific Northwest, where there is a relatively high water content in the snow, metal makes a huge difference. Metal simply gives the ski more stability and more edge grip. That is why every race key has two layers of metal, and some big powder skis, where there’s very little ice do not have any metal. The Stoekli Stormrider 95, the Atomic Maverick 95, the Elan black edition Rip Stick 96 quote has no metal quote for the Brahma 98 from Blizzard are excellent skis to consider. They are sub 100 which will give you quicker edge to edge in the tighter, steeper pitches while still giving you enough stability. Because of the metal you can go a little bit shorter and say a 181 length and some of these skis and still get all the stability that you would have to go a with a longer non-metal ski.
The Nordica Enforcer that you had did have metal, but it also has a crazy amount of rocker in the forebody of the ski. I also find that it feels flighty and unstable, because so much air gets underneath it.
Greg Klein
Willi’s Ski Shop
I agree with some of the others. One of the your best podcasts. I’ll volunteer for therapy!
Love Gear Therapy concept. More of this style of podcast please!!!
About to listen. Loving the directional skis in the hero image.
Solid on air presence Jason, you did your home work and it showed, love your eclectic ski quiver. Fun pod cast BR crew and yes I would tune into additional Gear Therapy sessions.
I also agree that this was one of the best podcasts. I thought the best part was explaining the rationale behind the gear choices. Luke always does an excellent job of this to justify his quiver selections, but it’s nice to hear more of the thought process from other people.
From observing the comments and questions at the Blister Summit last winter, it may be good to also have an ex-racer go through their gear selection and their process with Havingl to have different reviewers do gear therapy with differe would also be cool. It would help the readers understand what reviewers to follow in their recommendation.
Great podcast, keep it coming!
Have to agree with Jason’s assumption.. ZipFits are a pain in the arse to put on in a cold snowy (or wet) car park! Do-able, but awkward.
I also think the Fischer series of skis might be a good option. They have solid energy and snappiness in steep technical terrain that will be reminiscent of having fun on a groomer with a shorter turn radius softish ski. The question is whether or not he might feel a bit punished by them on occasion.
Jason, great episode! I use a DryGuy Travel Dry DX to keep my boots warm on the drive up and it does help with getting them on in that cold Alpental parking lot.