Dave Alie

Merlin Rock Gear's Erick Davidson on Blister's All Things Climbing Podcast

Making Homemade Cams: Erick Davidson of Merlin Rock Gear (Ep.20)

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Merlin Rock Gear makes the best cams you’ve never heard of — they aren’t sold in stores or online, and they don’t even have a website. Engineer Erick Davidson designs and builds extra-large format cams at home, trimming weight and introducing clever design elements to raise the bar significantly for large cams. We talk about his design improvements and how he convinced himself that they were safe to use in the real world.
Matt Pincus of TrainingBeta on Blister's All Things Climbing Podcast

Matt Pincus of TrainingBeta (Ep.16)

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Matt Pincus is the head coach/trainer at TrainingBeta, and he has a strong resume both as a coach and a climber. We talk to Matt about balancing his climbing goals with full-time work; the most important lessons he’s learned as a coach and trainer; and some of the key things most of us get wrong when it comes to progressing.
Matt Zia and Dave Alie review the Black Diamond Camalot Ultralight cams for Blister

Black Diamond Camalot Ultralight Cams

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Black Diamond’s Camalot Ultralights take their classic Camalot design and trim down the weight significantly, but what about durability and value? We weigh in on how the Ultralights compare to the original Camalots, as well as some other options on the market like the Metolius Ultralight Master Cams.
Alex Honnold & Maury Birdwell talk about Alex's free solo of El Capitan and the Honnold Foundation on Blister's All Things Climbing Podcast

Alex Honnold & Maury Birdwell on the Honnold Foundation and filming Free Solo (Ep.15)

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Alex Honnold is arguably the best and certainly the boldest climber in a generation, with a mind-bending free solo ascent of El Cap, and an unbelievable speed record on The Nose in under two hours. In this episode, we sat down with Alex and Maury Birdwell to talk about what may be an even more impressive accomplishment: the Honnold Foundation. (And, of course, we sneak in some talk about climbing, too.)
Bolt Restrictions, Hardware Committees, and Threatened Access on Blister's All Things Climbing Podcast

Bolt Restrictions, Hardware Committees, and Threatened Access (Ep.14)

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Climbing is growing — really fast. At some crags around the country, that means that our impact has also been growing, which has forced the critical question of how best to manage the increased traffic on public lands. So today we’re talking about best practices, controversial approaches, and how climbing culture could be affected if oversight from outside of the climbing community becomes the new norm.

Five Ten Hiangle

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Five Ten says that the Hiangle is “relaxed enough for all-day climbing” and “aggressive enough to tackle steep, overhanging routes.” But how comfortable and how aggressive is it really? Check out our full review with tons of comparisons to other shoes.
Dave Alie reviews the La Sportiva Genius for Blister

La Sportiva Genius

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The La Sportiva Genius is one of the most aggressive climbing shoes on the market, but it lacks one noteworthy thing: an edge. So how does it compare to other aggressive shoes like the La Sportiva Solution & Futura, Evolv Shaman, and Five Ten Hiangle? Check out our review.
Nik Berry on Blister's All Things Climbing Podcast

Nik Berry (Ep.13)

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Nik Berry is pushing the boundaries of his sport in a direction that many climbers aren’t even looking: his skill and composure on hard and scary trad routes fuel an obsession with freeing big aid lines and seeking out adventurous climbing. In this episode, we talk about his recent stellar season in Yosemite and how he balances a career with all that hard climbing.
Dave Alie reviews the Butora Altura for Blister

Butora Altura

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The La Sportiva TC Pro has long been the go-to for those who spend long days on big walls. But it now has some competition in the form of the Butora Altura. Check out our full review to see how they compare.
John Sherman on Blister's All Things Climbing Podcast

John “Verm” Sherman (Ep.12)

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John Sherman, one of the godfathers of modern bouldering, discusses the major ways in which the climbing scene has changed since his day; how and why he became a dedicated conservationist; making peace with the changing ethics and arrival of crowds; and much more.
Ryan Johnson and Marc-André Leclerc, Blister

Remembering Ryan Johnson & Marc-André Leclerc

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We are devastated to learn that a week-long search and rescue operation in Alaska was brought to a close on Tuesday night, leaving two of North America’s brightest alpinists presumed dead in the Mendenhall Towers outside of Juneau. Here, our Climbing Editor, Dave Alie, reflects on the two alpinist's lives and accomplishments.
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