Hey everybody, happy new year and welcome to Gear 30 on the Blister Podcast Network.

And if you are hearing this right now, then that means that the earth has not been wiped out by a meteor strike.

And I can officially congratulate you on surviving

2020. Great job. Great job, team. Okay, Luke Kappa and I recorded this episode on December 30th,

right after we got off the mountain, and we then walked into Blister HQ here in Mount Crested Butte,

to talk about some of the skis we've been testing recently,

and then we talk about some of the most surprising products of 2020,

as well as some of the standout products of 2020.

From there, then, since this episode drops on January 1st, 2021,

we thought we'd offer a few gear predictions for the new year, and then, as always,

we wrap up by talking about what we're celebrating. So that is what we have on tap for you

today, and let's get to it.

Luke Kappa, it is Wednesday, December 30th at 5 p.m. We are here recording our last

Gear 30 episode of 2020.

And assuming that the world doesn't end in like the next 36 hours or so,

people will be hearing this on January 1st of 2021.

We are so close to making it out, well, to making it out of the year of Ellsworth as someone once declared 2020 to be. And, you know, very early on in 2020, I'd like to point out,

that didn't work out so, so hot. The year of Ellsworth turns out maybe not like if we had to do an objective review of,

you know, say the last 2,020 years, if we just kept it to, you know, AD or the common era,

I don't really know that 2020's not making the podium. I think I said it before when,

I think it's just a sign that companies need to go back

to lightweight skis that are super tapered because obviously when you don't do that, a global

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