Reviewing the News w/ Cody Townsend, June 2025 (Ep.364)

Reviewing the News w/ Cody Townsend, June 2025 (Ep.364)
Jonathan, Elyse Saugstad, Angel Collinson, and Hoji opting not to use the bar at the Blister Summit

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Cody and I are back to review the news, rate your takes, and share what we’ve been reading & watching.

Note: We Want to Hear From You!

We’d love for you to share with us the stories or topics you’d like us to cover next month on Reviewing the News; ask your most pressing mountain town advice questions, or offer your hot takes for us to rate. You can email those to us at info@blisterreview.com

RELATED LINKS:
Get Covered: BLISTER+
Our Newsletter w/ Weekly Polls & Giveaways

TOPICS & TIMES:
BLISTER+ (1:32)
Public Lands (2:45)
Western States 100 (6:39)
Cody’s Take on Peak Skis (15:50)
Chairlifts: Should Bar Down Be Mandatory? (25:13)
The DOJ Prosecutes Top Trail Runner? (41:21)
Rate My Take #1: REI Revisited (48:52)
Rate My Take #2: State of Ski Media (1:00:41)
What We’re Reading & Watching (1:11:25)

CHECK OUT OUR OTHER PODCASTS (click each to learn more):

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Reviewing the News w/ Cody Townsend, June 2025 (Ep.364)
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3 comments on “Reviewing the News w/ Cody Townsend, June 2025 (Ep.364)”

  1. Warm take of the week:
    The more uncomfortable chairlift, the better. Or rather, the “more comfortable” chairs are worse.

    This comes after riding on one of these bubble-heated chairs and genuinely I hated the experience. I dress for the weather, and sitting in a bubble caused me goggles to fog, my head to sweat, all because I’m dressed for the wind outside the bubble. Even worse when the seats are heated and now my back is sweaty.

    Maybe I’m not the target audience, but I’m ok with being uncomfortable outside, it keeps me honest and forces me to prepare. Cushions are also on thin ice, I find they soak through when it’s falling wet and heavy (Coastal BC problems), while the wooden-bar seats feel better in those conditions.

    So that’s the take: being uncomfortable is better (can be planned around), being forced into comfort is awful. This might be as mild as my last take though haha

    • Agreed, don’t get me started on the misery that is a gondola. Give me a nice slow two/three chair, no bar needed.

  2. Sorry Jonathan here comes a long rant. You have ridden on a chair with me so you know some of this stuff.

    Chairlifts!!!! This is the scariest thing about skiing hands down. I do not know what happened in the time, I was away from skiing, but heights are a thing for me and most people. I think about this very subject almost daily since I started skiing again (crazy for a guy who lives in Los Angeles). My risk decision tree for “go / no go” in a particular zone has everything to do with the chairlift ride vs the potential for cliffs or difficult skiing.

    The only 2 items I can come up with for not putting the bar down is you are a person who lives in the mountains / skies a ton and have been riding chairlifts non stop for a VERY long time. So as Cody says you are “comfortable, and the bar feels restricting on a nice day”. But for most people that is not a reality. The second is you ski at a local bump in the Midwest and the chair ride is very short and 15ft in the air.

    However, let’s look at the reasons why the bar should come down. 1) New chairlifts are a LOT Faster. So when they stop they stop faster as well. 2) Some chairs lifts are FREAKING high. Cody case in point Resort Chair at Palisades. Slow and VERY High. 3) Wind happens. In some places a LOT of wind. 4) At my size, I feel like some of the chairs push my center of gravity as a tall person to leaning forward. Paradise Chair at CB is a perfect example 5) Stuff happens, I think it would be a terrible way to die because you sneezed at the same time the high speed quad stopped.

    While I do not think it should be a law, I am really surprised resorts are not enforcing a bar down policy. You will gain a lot more customers than you will loose. The fact that some resorts have chairs without a bar is crazy to me. That is just asking for additional litigation.

    Sinners, VERY interesting movie. Kimberly took me to this and I had ZERO clue what I was walking into. After getting over the WTF factor, I was very entertained. I need to know more: How did the Vampire Couple spend the 60+ years from that night until they met the Old Man in the bar in the closing scene. Then the same question on the Young Kid / Old Man. BTW, going to this movie, was how I got Kimberly to sign off on me going to Mammoth Memorial Day weekend to go skiing.

    The Bear, Jonathan you are not alone. Kimberly is Team Bear as well.

    Ok I should get back to work now.

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