The Inertia Podcast

Aaron Blatt has seen it all in the world of action sports photography. The longtime snowboard lensman witnessed the evolution from print to digital, and adjusted to continue what has become an epic career path. Blatt continues to shoot with some of the best snowboarders in the world as part of the Burton content team, and has moved into mountain biking and other sports as well. In this edition of The Inertia podcast, he has an inspiring POV for up-and-coming photographers, talks about the change in snowboarding competition, and tells us about the best snowboarding he's ever been witness to.

Elena Hight has seen it all in the world of pro snowboarding. She's competed in the Olympics, won X Games gold, landed revolutionary tricks in the halfpipe. But perhaps her best trick has been her smooth transition from competitor to expedition athlete. If you know anything about snowboarding, you saw this coming. Elena fell in with the right crowd, the Tahoe based crew that rides with Jeremy Jones.

Blair Conklin is a certified skimboarding legend out of Laguna Beach, California. He's a three-time world champion and his enviable athletic prowess has helped turn the once-niche sport of skimboarding into a global, viral phenomenon. He talks about some of his viral moments, and discusses his path as a social media entrepreneur. No one has balanced visual stimulation and social analytics quite like Blair. So much so that you can't pass a wave in the ocean, or on a river, without someone knowing his name.

Brianna Cope's surfing journey has been as unique as any. Following a solid junior career, the Kauaian nearly qualified for the Championship Tour in 2014 and 2015. She'd still love to surf at the highest level, but her competitive focus now is on select events that she loves, like the Pipe Masters. Not to mention her other pursuits, including television. Brianna is certainly a shining light in the surfing world with her positive outlook, and I spoke to her about her new focus on other projects: like the differences between starring in the television shows Ultimate Surfer, and Surf Girl Hawaii, why she's running marathons, training with navy seals and her own personal wave-pool world tour.

Ask a surfer to describe the conditions at any surf spot, on any particular day, anywhere in the world and it's almost guaranteed they'll tell you about the crowd. Which begs the question: Where, exactly, do we fit in the lineup? Should we change our mindset when it comes to crowded surf? It might not be the worst idea.