Cody Townsend and I discuss the first Winter Summit of K2 by the Sherpa and Nepali team, including Nirmal Purja; TNF x Gucci collab; mountain-town dynamics; Sam Anthamatten vs Cody on the SHIFT binding; our inaugural Blister Summit; and more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Surviving Girdwood, going skate skiing (2:59)
- The 1st Winter Summit of K2 (6:49)
- TNF | Gucci Collab (12:57)
- Mountain Town Dynamics & Politics (23:34)
- Sam Anthamatten on the SHIFT binding (34:27)
- Ski areas in France vs the US / Blevin’s Corner (42:08)
- The new Blister Summit (57:02)
- Our Book & Film Recommendations (1:04:35)
Maybe as a possible answer to Jonathan’s question about closing the resorts in Europe, the main one is that hospitals in many places in the Alps are already maxed out dealing with Covid. Add to that the huge extra load of broken knees and concussions or even car accidents coming from ski tourists, which are already saturating the mountain hospitals during normal ski seasons (in France at least) and you could start having people dying from a mundane tree crash just because there’s no space in ICU.
Also, and I can talk from first hand experience (St Anton last March, Verbier in Dec), that density creates covid hotspots. People have to park, eat, buy lift tickets etc. so even if the bars and restaurants are closed, if you are sensible, wear masks, you can’t easily avoid major crowds at gas stations, food shops, lift queues and the consequences.
So the US vs Europe difference might just be due to the sheer density of ski tourists in Europe and how it translates into infection rates and localised hospital capacity needs. To get an idea of the scale, les 3 Vallees has 8 times the skier capacity of Park City, for instance. Add nearby la Plagne and Tignes, and you more than double that.
Given that the EU is dealing with a more contagious, seemingly more deadly variant, I don’t think our findings with contact tracing would necessarily be the same on the other side of the pond.
The urban elite has ALWAYS had access to the outdoors. They just have often chosen to ignore it. The Gucci north face colab seems like nothing more than an attempt to cash in on urbanites new love for the outdoors due to covid. I have no problem with them making money this way (cashing in on people willing to overpay for stuff with a shiny logo), but call it as it is.
Sports film recommendation for next month “A Sunday in Hell”
After seeing this Twitter thread, https://twitter.com/ozskier/status/1353390240220602368, I’d be interested in an occasional “Lift line stories with Cody” segment.
Some errors from Cody in this episode relating to the winter ascent of K2:
1. It was not an all Sherpa team.
2. “Doing it all without oxygen” in reference to both the K2 ascent and Nims project possible. This is incorrect. Nims used supplemenal oxygen.
Would be great if these were corrected in the next episode.
Yeah, no, that’s dumb.
People who are in the Gucci lux fold are already inside the fence — and paying others to man the gate.