25/26 Gear, Bootfitting & Boot Trends, Making the Most of Any Season, & More w/ Powder Hound

GEAR:30

BLISTER

Arts, Design, Skiing, Snow, Snowboarding, Sports, Outdoors, Bike, Technology, Gear

4.9 • 809 Ratings

🗓️ 14 March 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Kara Williard is back with Eric Helmbrecht of Powder Hound, our Blister Recommended Shop in Girdwood, Alaska to discuss a the ups and downs of their season up in Alaska; our tips and tricks on how to make the most of any season, including some of our favorite gear for low-tide skiing; 25/26 gear including the new Salomon QST Lineup, Dual BOA, boot trends, aftermarket liners; and more.

RELATED LINKS:

Blister Rec. Shop: Powder Hound

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Ski Season in Girdwood (3:25)

25/26 Salomon QST Lineup (5:49)

Skiing at Palisades (10:44)

Dual BOA (12:09)

Boot Trends (17:25)

Realistic Expectations for Ski Boots (21:54)

Aftermarket Liners (27:18)

Making the Most of a Low-Tide Season (34:32)

Narrow All-Mountain Skis (43:56)

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everybody and welcome back to Gear 30 on the Blister podcast network. As always, we are coming to you from our home base and elevation hotel in Mountcrested Bute. My name is Kara Williard and I am a senior editor at Blister. And you can check out everything we're doing and reviewing over
0:21.1	at BlisterReview.com. Over there, you can read all of our latest reviews, listen to our podcasts,
0:27.4	come a Blister Plus member, and a whole lot more. For this episode, I am catching up with
0:32.3	Eric Helmbrecht, the owner and founder of Alaska's Ski Specialty Shop, Powderhound.
0:38.7	They are one of our Blister recommended shops located in Girdwood, Alaska. Eric and I caught up last spring while
0:44.4	Alaska was having one epic season, and while for this episode, I was talking to Eric on a morning
0:50.3	that it had just snowed 17 inches at Alieska, the season overall has not been as
0:55.6	consistent. So, Eric and I talk about some of the best ways to make the most out of more
1:00.8	variable ski seasons, which I know many across the West are experiencing this year.
1:06.5	But we also discuss a whole lot of gear, such as the 25-26 skis he's been spending time on,
1:13.4	his thoughts on the mini dual boa boots that will be released going forward,
1:18.8	overall recent boot trends, intuition versus zip fit liners, and a whole lot more.
1:25.1	It's always great catching up with Eric, and as you will hear in the
1:27.9	episode, I am actually headed up to Alaska in just a couple of weeks, and I will be sure to report
1:33.4	on some of the gear I'm spending time on up there, as well as overall conditions, and hopefully
1:38.0	getting to make some turns with Eric and the Powderhound crew. This episode of Gear 30 is brought to you by our Blister recommended shops,
1:47.0	located in various countries, cities, and ski towns across the world.
1:50.8	Blister shops are a collection of the best service-oriented shops in the world.
1:55.1	These are the places we trust most in a given locale,
1:57.7	and when it comes to Girdwood, Alaska, or Alaska overall,
2:01.7	Powderhound is certainly who we know and trust when it comes to skiing. If you're ever in Girdwood, please
2:06.7	stop in and tell them we sent you. This episode is also brought to you by Blister Plus.
	...

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