Ben Richards is the newly crowned 2026 Freeride World Tour Men’s Ski Champion — and the very first, FIS World Champion. Ben just wrapped up one of the most impressive seasons in FWT history, and today, Ben and Jonathan go through each of his runs on the tour. They also talk about his background; how his approach to comp skiing has evolved over the years; and, you’ll hear a cool story about the ski Ben used to blow all of our minds.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Blister Summit Starts Today! (1:19)

Shoutout: New BLISTER+ Members (2:02)

Fresh Off Your Win, What Have You Been Up To? (4:12)

Ben’s Background in Skiing (5:15)

When Did You First Get into Freeride Comps? (8:33)

The Legendary Community of Kiwi Skiers (12:59)

Progression as a Comp Skier (14:13)

Dissecting Each Run:

1st FWT Tour Stop: Baqueira Beret, Spain (19:51)

2nd Stop: Val Thorens, France (25:44)

3rd Stop: World Champs in Andorra (28:12)

Dealing with Cancelled Comps (32:16)

4th Stop: Haines, Alaska (34:18)

5th Stop: Verbier & the Bec des Rosses (40:05)

Skiing Lines at Super-High Speeds (47:21)

Hearing from the Biggest Names in Skiing (49:11)

The Ski You Competed On: Armada AntiMatter 114 (50:50)

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Cody & Jonathan are back to review the news, including Cody’s impressive recent completion of Norman's 13 with Tommy Caldwell & Bjarne Salen. They also discuss ‘alpine divorce’; ‘dirty singles’; recap the FWT, and do an Oscars’ Edition of ‘What We’re Reading & Watching.’

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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 here.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Blister Summit Next Week! (1:12)

Norman’s 13 (8:29)

Freeride World Tour recap (25:23)

Castle Peak Avalanche Report (32:15)

Alpine Divorce / Legal Repercussions in the Backcountry (39:44)

The Most British News (55:26)

Mountain Town Advice: The ‘Dirty Single’ (59:19)

What We’re Reading & Watching: The Oscars’ Edition (1:10:23)

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On this 400th episode of the Blister Podcast, Mike Rogge and Jonathan Ellsworth discuss the recent landmark legal ruling against social media platforms; the future of technology regulation and the shift toward healthier media consumption; parenting in the digital age; and some very exciting things going on at Mountain Gazette, and the forthcoming issue of MG #205.

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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 here.

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Blister Summit (1:20)

New Blister+ Members (2:32)

Episode #400 of the Blister Podcast (3:30)

Jonathan & Mike take on the Slot Bar (9:51)

Facebook & Youtube found liable (15:39)

What comes first, changes to the algorithm or an age restriction? (31:36)

Keeping kids away from things that aren’t helpful to their development (39:47)

Addictive algorithms on social media platforms (47:46)

Mountain Gazette 205 (54:12)

Heading to the National Library of Congress (1:05:29)

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Jonny Moseley is one of the true pioneers of freestyle skiing, he’s an Olympic gold medal mogul skier, he’s responsible for one of the most iconic moments in the history of modern skiing, and he is still very much at the forefront of skiing today. And in this conversation, we talk about it all.

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 here.

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Palisades Tahoe

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Video: Dinner Roll @ ‘02 Olympics

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Palisades Tahoe (1:29)

Blister Summit at Snowbird (2:15)

Shoutout: New BLISTER+ members (2:42)

Mogul Skiing in the last Olympics (6:15)

Natural Moguls vs Comp Moguls (17:32)

How to Get Good at Moguls (22:16)

Stab the Bunny! (27:44)

Should Your Quiver Have a Mogul-Specific Ski? (30:31)

Going to UC Berkeley (35:16)

Burned Out? (42:11)

From Olympic Gold in ‘98 to the ‘02 Comp (44:38)

The Dinner Roll (1:04:02)

Thoughts on the ‘B.O.S.S.’ (1:08:11)

What’s Next: XGL (1:20:41)

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Breezy Johnson just won the 2026 Olympic Gold Medal in women’s Downhill, and she also won Gold at the 2025 World Championships. So Breezy and Jonathan talk about winning Gold, but Breezy also talks about how she navigates the highs and the lows of life — and ski racing — in a way that most of us can likely learn from.

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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 here.

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Sennza Finne

Snowbird

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Sennza Finne (1:43)

Snowbird (3:09)

Life Since the Olympics? (5:16)

Bull Riding & Ski Racing (7:06)

The Process (20:06)

Winning 2025 Worlds (22:54)

‘26 Olympics: Starting in 1st Place (28:33)

Does Winning Teach Us Much? (41:52)

Your Heroes Growing Up? (54:26)

Encouraging development (55:42)

Sh!t Talking? (58:37)

Breezy’s Dad's Accident (1:02:36)

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Cody and Jonathan discuss responsibility in the backcountry; the verdict of an Austrian man facing manslaughter charges for leaving his girlfriend on Austria’s highest peak; the deadliest avalanche in California history; the Olympics; and what they’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 here.

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BLISTER+ Get Yourself Covered

Get Our 25/26 Winter Buyer’s Guide

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Non-Member Registration: Blister Summit 2026

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CHECK OUT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELS:

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TOPICS & TIMES:

Snowbird & Blister Summit (2:05)

New BLISTER+ Members (3:08)

Cody’s Recent Trip & Current Conditions (4:46)

Austrian Man Found Guilty in Girlfriend’s Death (12:46)

Castle Peak Avalanche (29:35)

Olympics Recap (54:38)

The Most Canadian News (55:25)

Worst, Best, & Most Surprising Olympic Events (58:13)

Hunter Hess / Olympic Athletes & Political Statements (1:12:09)

What We’re Reading & Watching (1:23:45)

- If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

- Sum: 40 Tales from the Afterlives, by David Eagleman

- Goliath, by Matt Stoller

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