Next Level Skiing

Wagner Skis
  • 4.7 (143)
  • WILDERNESS
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Next Level Skiing

Next Level Skiing is a podcast about skiing. Your skiing. Longtime ski journalist Jason Blevins talks to the sport’s luminaries and behind-the-scenes bosses about strategies and hacks for stepping your skiing up a notch. Sure, the key to getting better at skiing is to go skiing. A lot. If it was only that easy. This podcast will offer some shortcuts to becoming the skier you want to be, without having to quit your job and move to a ski town. Subscribe where ever you get your podcasts by searching for “Next Level Skiing.” Learn more at wagnerskis.com/nextlevel.

  1. 20H AGO

    Skiing Every Aspect with Mike Hattrup

    Welcome back to the Next Level Skiing podcast, brought to you by Wagner Skis. Mike Hattrup has moved from bump skiing boss, to ski movie star to gear designer, covering smooch ground on snow that his work has touched just about every skier in the sport. From chasing his four siblings on the slopes of Alpental to winning mogul medals to hanging with Stump, Schmidt, and Blake in the seminal “Blizzards of Aahhh’s” to building backcountry skis and gear for top ski shops, Hattrup’s career has covered a lot of ground. Today, he’s the director of skiing for Eleven Experience, helping folks plunder powder in Alaska, British Columbia, Chile, Colorado, France, and Iceland. Listen in as Mike traces his extraordinary career from pro skier to guide to gear builder.  Topics:  3:05: Growing up skiing during the freestyle rage of the 1970s  4:00: Athleticism of mogul skiing  6:30: Training for mogul competitions  10:00 Filming with Greg Stump in “Time Waits for Snowman” in 1985  11:20: Filming “Blizzard of Aahhh’s” in Europe  14:00: Why “Blizzard” resonated so deeply with skiers  16:00: Moving over to K2, helping the company transition from race  22:50: The emergence of the transformative K2 Four  26:00: Moving into telemark ski design, flexible ski boots, and backcountry gear  34:00: Working at Kastle, Fisher, Black Diamond, Marmot  40:30: AMGA guiding on Mount Rainier  46:00: Improving through technique as we age  Quotes:  “I never thought that skiing was a career. Not like now, I mean, you can go be a film skier, right? But back then it really wasn't an option.” - Maike Hattrup  “We'll for sure look back on that era from early to mid-90s to the mid-2000s as the golden era of ski design.” - Maike Hattrup  “I learned to tele purely from a touring standpoint.” - Maike Hattrup  “In terms of fitness, that certainly becomes more of a challenge as you get older and I think you just gotta find a way to, I mean, find a way to keep training and make it fun.” - Maike Hattrup  Resources:  Maike Hattrup, LinkedIn  Maike Hattrup, Instagram  Eleven  Wagner Custom Skis

    48 min

  2. MAR 10

    The joy and ineffable awesomeness of skiing with Amie Engerbretson

    Welcome back to the Next Level Skiing podcast, brought to you by Wagner Skis. Amie Engerbretson grew up ripping Palisades Tahoe, the daughter of a pro skier and filmmaker. She has starred in dozens of ski movies, highlighting a grace and flow honed from years of training as a dancer. Now she’s making her own movies, advocating for climate action, and helping women hone confidence on and off snow. Tune in and hear Amie about how dancing influences her skiing, how films can reveal the emotional challenges and rewards of skiing, and how to foster confidence for improving our time on snow.   Topics:  1:20: Pro skiing is the family business.  6:10: Grace, rhythm, and flow.  7:20: Years of competitive dance influencing skiing.  10:00: Dance, skiing, and filmmaking as performance art  11:00: “Hypocrite” and “Blue Hour” ski films revealing “the full gamut of emotions in the human experience.”  12:20: The changing business of ski films as storytelling.  13:10: Advocacy work with Protect Our Winters.  14:20: “Knowing it’s OK to be scared and do something anyway because it’s important.”  17:00: Life happens in the in-between; savoring the moment of transition between turns.  19:40: How skiing changes as we grow.  21:30: Being mindful of the choices you make as an individual.  23:00: The wisdom of Roy Kent in “Ted Lasso.”  26:10: The power of the ski community.  29:30: The importance of recovery days in training regimens.  30:00: Ski camps for women at Palisades Tahoe  31:00: Growing confidence through mind-body connections  Quotes:  “I was super into dance and ballet also when I was younger and both ski racing and ballet became quite serious and intensive to the point where they kind of have to become your only thing at some point.” - Amie Engerbretson  “What I'm doing is telling stories, trying to somehow communicate the joy and the ineffable awesomeness of skiing to people through a screen or through a photo or something like that. That's my job is, in a way, it is like a performance, like a ski performance, like a film strip is performing, I think.” - Amie Engerbretson  “What I do as an individual absolutely matters, but the most important thing I can do as an individual is be part of a collective. To change the system so that then all of us as individuals can make better choices in that system.” - Amie Engerbretson  “What I've learned as an athlete is to understand my fear, understand when it's rational, irrational, all those things, but also know that it's okay to be scared and do something way because it's important and you want it.” - Amie Engerbretson  Resources:  Amie Engerbretson Official Website  Wagner Custom Skis

    34 min

  3. MAR 3

    Building a relationship with fear with Kristen Ulmer

    Welcome back to the Next Level Skiing podcast, brought to you by Wagner Skis. Today’s guest is Kristen Ulmer, who is one of the most accomplished big mountain skiers ever. She is now a fear and anxiety expert, helping her clients overcome disabling confusion or chaos. After studying Zen concepts for more than a decade, she authored “The Art of Fear” as a guidebook for improved mindfulness. Her three-day Fear Ski Camps at Alta are renowned for helping skiers improve their athletic performance and bury the fear and anxiety that can hinder, not just skiing, but living. Take her Fear and Anxiety Assessment on her website.  Her decades-long reign as one of the top female skiers in the world has transferred over to expertise in helping people foster stronger mindsets, find flow states, and improve their health and happiness.   Topics:  2:00: First full season skiing in Little Cottonwood Canyon after growing up in New Hampshire  4:00: Skiing all day, working in banquets at the Cliff Lodge, competing in moguls comps  5:00: Transitioning from moguls to big-mountain in the early 90s  6:20: “No girls were doing that back then.”  7:50: Studying the Eastern approach to fear and readjusting relationships with fear  09:45: Finding flow state through fear. “We are stronger together than apart”  11:50: Interviews with top action sports athletes  16:00: The problem with resisting fear  18:25: Intimacy with fear manifests as focus  21:30: Performance-enhancing relationships with fear  27:40: Ski camps at Alta  34:50: Three themes in why we love skiing  Quotes:  “I was just trying to hang out with friends and have a good time with friends and go on the trips with them. And I really didn’t have any goals in skiing, but the next thing you know, I wound up on the US ski team for moguls.” - Kristen Ulmer  “We probably should define that [extreme sports] mean that the consequences of failure are death or injury. That’s what makes something extreme.” - Kristen Ulmer  “What he has is, he has a willingness to feel fear. He’s young, hungry, and talented. He’s stepping 4% out of his comfort zone every day, connecting the dots. This is how y ou become better at anything.” - Kristen Ulmer   Resources:  Kristen’s Instagram  Kristen’s Website  Wagner Custom Skis

    41 min

  4. 03/04/2024

    Keep it Fun With Your Hands up with Kim Beekman

    Welcome back to the Next Level Skiing podcast, brought to you by Wagner Skis!   A few years ago I got to join Kim Beekman on a ski trip to the San Juans. We skied at and around Telluride and all over Red Mountain Pass. I don’t think she ever wondered why everyone always wanted to ski those backcountry lines before her. It was because we all wanted to get down and watch her ski.   Few ski with more grace, ease, and power than Kim. She is a flawless skier. And an incredible writer. As the editor at Skiing and a longtime ski journalist, she has shepherded years of ski reviews, charting the evolution of ski design for decades. She’s raised an amazing daughter who rips and has all sorts of insights into making the most of our time on snow. Tune in and learn from a master.   Thanks for listening to Next Level Skiing. Topics:  3:40 Growing up chasing her older brother  2:50 The secret sauce of being a good skier: having a ripping older sibling  3:55 Honing her writing chops at the Jackson Hole Guide in the 1990s  6:36 What makes a good ski story?  7:50 Her new children’s book about Hilaree Nelson  11:10 The emergence of rocker and shape in skis  18:30 Her favorite ski designs  21:50 Raising young rippers. Candy bribery.  26:00 When ski skills spill over into life  30:30 Hands up!    Resources:  Kimberly Beekman  Wagner Custom Skis

    34 min

  5. 02/26/2024

    This is My Purpose with Aaron Blunck

    Welcome back to the Next Level Skiing podcast, brought to you by Wagner Skis.   I love watching Aaron Blunck ski the pipe. The Crested Butte native has spent 26 of his 27 years on skis and it shows, with amazing airs and unrivaled style. Earlier this season I got to see Aaron ski in the Copper pipe and he was throwing this ridiculously cool pipe-grinding, snow-spraying slash in the middle of his run, and the crowd loved it.  This is a fun chat with the three-time Olympian who grew up dreaming of competing in the X Games, which he won in 2017. He spent his younger years chasing his older brother Nolan around the steeps of Crested Butte Mtn Resort, where he honed his aerial prowess in gnarly cliffs and trees.  Listen and learn from one of Colorado’s best as Aaron shares insights into bouncing back from injuries, the relentless pursuit of new challenges in skiing, celebrating every turn, and embracing gratitude on snow. Thanks for listening to Next Level Skiing.  Topics:  2:00 - Copper performance  4:49 - Skiing at 18 months  5:24 - Chasing his older brother  7:21 - Unlocking a new wave of younger rippers at Crested Butte  9:10 - Big mountain laps with pipe and terrain park to finish  11:00 - Still living the dream  13:40 - Not just skiing: hockey, baseball, soccer  17:25 - Pay to play: injuries and recovery  22:00 - Mind over matter to bounce back from injuries  24:24 - Overcoming the life-changing injury  26:00 - Why not go skiing?  28:00 - This is my purpose  30:00 - Never stop learning new things  32:00 - Little-kid cruising and embracing gratitude  Resources:  Aaron Blunck Instagram  Wagner Custom Skis

    35 min

  6. 02/20/2024

    Reggie Crist is The Stoke Broker

    Welcome back to the Next Level Skiing podcast, brought to you by Wagner Skis.   Reggie Crist keeps turning the page on one skiing’s most illustrious careers. A decade on the U.S. Ski Team. Pioneer in the Olympic spot of Ski Cross. One of the first to helicopter skiers into Alaska’s Chugachs. And now a globe-trotting ski guide whose Stellar Adventure brings skiers to Japan, South America, Alaska and the backcountry of Idaho.  Tune in as Reggie tells us where he would take us if we win the lottery and want to spend an entire year crushing powder.  Topics:  2:30 - Raised in California and Idaho  3:30 - Earning a PhD in skiing on the U.S. Ski Team  5:10 - Ski Cross and a second ski racing career  6:20 - Ski Cross is more intense than downhill racing Kitzbuhel  7:00 - Stellar Adventure  11:00 - Bringing ski racing technique to the big mountains of Alaska  12:30 - A year in powder  16:49 - Best way to prepare for a month in Alaska  18:30 - Alaska off the couch  22:32 - Catching the Santa Rosa storm in the Andes  26:50 - The rewards of helping people find their best ski day  29:30 - Follow your passion and be a stoke broker    Resources:  Stella Adventure Travel  Wagner Custom Skis

    33 min

  7. 02/13/2024

    Master The Smooth with Scot Schmidt

    It’s difficult to overstate the role of Scot Schmidt in big-mountain freeskiing. He pretty much invented the niche with his explosive, airborne exploits. His signature tucked-knees hop turn and high-speed hip-check smear on 223 downhill skis defined a style that changed skiing. Scot’s style inspired untold hordes of skiers in the 80s and early 90s, before skis got wide and rockered. His breakout role in Greg Stump’s seminal “Blizzard of Ahhs” ushered in a now 30-year-old era of ski porn.  Scot at age 62 is still skiing 100 days a year on big, stiff skis, spending his winters in Montana as an ambassador for the Yellowstone Club. In this episode of Next Level Skiing, the legend himself shares insights into his longevity, his ski style, starring in a movie that captured entire generations of skiers, and “flowing like water” on skis.  Topics:  2:00 - Growing up in Montana City, Montana  4:30 - Moving to Squaw Valley, melding with ski racers and speed skiers  9:30 - Idolizing Ingemar Stenmark  11:00 - About that smear turn  14:40 - Put your turns in the sweet spot  19:30 - Still riding a 195 115mm-underfoot Stockli  23:40 - Never been smoother than now  25:30 - The impact of “Blizzard of Ahhs”  28:50 - Keep it smooth and flow like water    Resources:  Master the Smooth with Scot Schmidt  Wagner Custom Skis

    30 min

  8. 02/07/2024

    Feel It All with Drew Petersen

    There are a lot of great ski movies out there. But only one ranks as the most important. In a year when U.S. suicides reached record highs and many mountain towns are reporting the highest suicide rates in the country, Drew Peterson’s “Ups + Downs” exposes the professional skier’s anguished struggle with suicidal thoughts.  Mental health is at a critical crossroads in mountain valleys and Peterson’s willingness to step up and reveal his own battles with overwhelming darkness is one of the most consequential moves in the history of ski movies. Skiing is awesome. It can help people learn how to be mindful and present. It can recharge weary souls. But it cannot heal mental illness. Drew’s turn toward therapy and the hard work required to deflect demons is a guiding light for people who can’t escape the darkness. Drew’s upcoming movie details his turn toward 100-mile ultramarathons as he continues his journey.  This is a special Next Level Skiing podcast where Colorado-born Drew shares how skiing is only one tool for rebuilding a life. If you or anyone you know is in need of immediate help, call 988 to reach trained crisis workers at the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or text HOME to 741741.   Topics:  2:00 - The 20-year overnight success story  6:40 - Ski the Wild West  11:00 - Raw expose with “Ups + Downs”  12:30 - The falling rock that “changed the track of my life.”  18:00 - Skiing can’t be the only thing  20:40 - Let skiing just be skiing and find childhood joy  21:40 - The destination fallacy  24:45 - Finding mindfulness and presence on skis  28:05 - Shining the light in a darker corner of mountain culture  33:35 - Ski and enjoy    Resources:  Ups + Downs  If you or anyone you know is in need of immediate help, call 988 to reach trained crisis workers at the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or text HOME to 741741.   Wagner Custom Skis

    36 min
See All (52)

4.7
out of 5
143 Ratings

About

Next Level Skiing is a podcast about skiing. Your skiing. Longtime ski journalist Jason Blevins talks to the sport’s luminaries and behind-the-scenes bosses about strategies and hacks for stepping your skiing up a notch. Sure, the key to getting better at skiing is to go skiing. A lot. If it was only that easy. This podcast will offer some shortcuts to becoming the skier you want to be, without having to quit your job and move to a ski town. Subscribe where ever you get your podcasts by searching for “Next Level Skiing.” Learn more at wagnerskis.com/nextlevel.

Information

  • Creator
    Wagner Skis
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2025
  • Episodes
    52
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Next Level Skiing

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