Reviewer Reports: Luke’s in the Heli, Paul’s on Carving Skis, & Jonathan’s Trading Skis w/ Pros
GEAR:30
BLISTER
4.9 • 844 Ratings
🗓️ 23 January 2026
⏱️ 91 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Why is reviewer and heli-skiing guide Paul Forward in Crested Butte testing skinny skis? How did Luke Koppa end up being the one in a helicopter? And why have Luke and Jonathan been able to test the same new ski boot? Today we discuss it all, as well as a bunch of new freeride skis from 4FRNT and Heritage Lab; Jonathan swapping skis with Daron Rahlves; Luke face-planting in front of some other pro skiers, and more.
RELATED LINKS:
Episode Sponsor: Carv
Episode Sponsor: Snowbird
Episode Sponsor: OpenSnow
Enter Our Weekly Gear Giveaways
Join Us At Blister Summit 2026
For BLISTER+ Members: Discounted Blister Summit Registration
Get Yourself Covered with BLISTER+
CHECK OUT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELS:
Blister Studios (our new channel)
Blister Review (our original channel)
TOPICS & TIMES:
Carv (1:38)
Snowbird & Giveaway (2:23)
Luke’s Trip Report (5:39)
Jonathan’s Trip Report (15:43)
Salomon S/Pro Alpha C BOA (21:24)
4FRNT Sinister (32:28)
Heritage Lab Skis (37:08)
Part 2: Jonathan & Paul Forward (41:05)
Testing Ski Boots, Skis, & Carv (45:35)
CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS:
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Howdy everybody? |
| 0:05.5 | Welcome back to another episode of Gear 30 on The Blister Podcast Network. |
| 0:10.4 | My name is Luke Kappa. |
| 0:11.5 | I am the managing editor at Blister, |
| 0:13.5 | and I'm coming to you from our home base, |
| 0:15.4 | an elevation hotel in Crested Butte, Colorado. |
| 0:18.4 | As always, you can check out everything we are doing and reviewing over at blister review.com. |
| 0:25.3 | Today, we're catching you up on what and where we've been skiing lately. |
| 0:30.7 | To kick things off, Jonathan and I sat down to recap some of our recent trips to go test some new skis. |
| 0:36.9 | From dedicated carvers to free ride pow skis, |
| 0:41.3 | and doing so along some very impressive professional skiers. We also discuss how and why |
| 0:48.2 | Jonathan and I have both been able to test the same new boot from Solomon, which is made for a |
| 0:54.0 | very interesting experience so |
| 0:56.0 | far. Then we cover the new forefront sinister and why it strikes us as such a noteworthy |
| 1:02.7 | addition to the free ride category, and we go over a whole bunch of interesting new skis we've |
| 1:08.6 | been testing from Heritage Lab. |
| 1:11.3 | After that, you'll hear from Blister Reviewer, Doctor, and the Helly skiing guide, Paul Forward, |
| 1:17.3 | who decided to leave the deep pow of Alaska to come all the way down to Crested Butte to |
| 1:22.6 | spend a week skiing very first snow on much skinnier skis than he's usually on. |
| 1:29.9 | Now, as you'll hear, Paul loves all types of skiing, not just Deep Powell, and it's been super fun to take laps with him and his |
| 1:36.3 | family this week in CB. Very fittingly, this episode is presented by Carve and their digital |
| 1:42.7 | ski coach system. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BLISTER, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of BLISTER and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.