Canyon Blog joined the Blister Review team on the Snowbird plaza for what proved to be the best gear demo your correspondent ever experienced. To get the inside scoop (and also try some new Faction and Solomon skis) he cornered Blister’s founder Jonathan Ellsworth.
Canyon Blog: What is Blister exactly?
Jonathan Ellsworth: Our goal is to provide the world’s best consumer products information for all this expensive outdoor equipment.
CB: So, how does that work exactly?
JE: We do extreme testing year-round, spending up to 30 days with products and then produce a 7-10,000 word summary. I should mention that we take NO gear company money ever.
Very cool. The Chicago native founded https://blisterreview.com/ in 2011 as a 100+ day/year skier because, and this is a direct quote, “Reviews sucked” and left behind a tenured university position to do it. A very Little Cottonwood kind of action in your correspondent’s opinion.
Moving on to another seemingly dedicated and friendly team member, Canyon Blog next spoke with Kristen Sinnott the Blister Summit Director to understand how the event works.
Kristen: It’s more than just gear demos. Groups can meet up to ski and compare gear. There’re also panels at night, après of course, and giveaways. No hierarchy, no egos.
Sounds so good, and in the course of his responsibility as an investigative journalist, Canyon Blog signed up. It’s only $100 for four days of gear, giveaways and informative events. Many of the major ski players were in attendance as can be seen in the photos.
One final question for Jonathan: Why Snowbird?
JE: I love this place! April at Snowbird is the best resort in the world. They have literally everything terrain wise so it’s perfect for gear demos.
Well said and certainly endorsed by your correspondent. Learn more about this year’s event here https://blisterreview.com/industry-news/blister-summit-2026-what-when-how-to-join-2 and hopefully we’ll see you next season!