Today we’ve got another Shop Talk episode for you, where we speak with folks from one of our Blister Recommended Shops to get their perspective on a mix of topics ranging from broadly applicable to all of us, to topics that help us better understand what’s going on in the local community that each shop serves.
Mark “Osman” Osell and Jeff Perry join us from Gear West in Long Lake, Minnesota. We talk about the Minnesota ski scene; the Gear West campus; dropping cliffs in the Iowa backcountry; the fantastic bike culture of Minnesota, and more.
TOPICS & TIMES
- The surrounding community & ski culture of Long Lake, MN (4:32)
- How covid has changed the dynamics at the shop (9:44)
- The Gear West “campus” (15:42)
- The progressive bike culture of MN (17:37)
- Dropping cliffs in the Iowa backcountry (19:56)
- “Dad boards” & the snowboard side of Gear West (23:48)
- The bike side of Gear West (26:41)
- What We’re Celebrating (32:46)
While I live in Minneapolis, I discovered how good Gear West is through the Blister shoutout, I have a large ski shop a mile from my house, so it was a no brainer. Gear West is a twenty minute drive, so I never went, now I drive the 20 minutes! Awesome Alpine store. Talented guys (and girls), top boot fitting, smart & progressive gear selection, great service. The cross country store looks amazing, (they have running shoes too). I am planning on buying my next bike in the bike store. When they describe it as a campus, it really is!
I live on the east coast. Reached out to these guys based on this podcast and they are awesome! Got me an advance pair of skis not being released until next year (not even a pre-release this year – can barely find anything about them online). Super easy to deal with and fantastic team.