📈 The Peak on Sunday

Good morning. Beer brand Dos Equis is throwing it back to 2006 and reinstating actor Jonathan Goldsmith as the face of its “Most Interesting Man in the World” campaign. The 86-year-old will feature in new ads, as well as make lots of appearances at public events.   

The original run of ads was a big hit, becoming an early internet meme. We’ll see how it lands in 2026. Who knows, maybe it will lead to a renaissance of epic bacon humour?

—Lucas Arender, Quinn Henderson

🍺 Canadians haven’t shaken their COVID drinking habits. A new report found that Canadians are drinking more frequently than they did pre-pandemic, with daily alcohol consumption up around 3% compared to 2019. We guess not everyone is swapping happy hour for run club.

🧶 Analog activities are making a comeback. Young people, who are increasingly fatigued with the constant doomscrolling, are turning to hands-on activities like knitting, crossword puzzles, and books to cut down their screen time. We used to just call these pastimes.

🧥 There’s a new jacket that will charge your phone in its pocket. A California company called Mode unveiled a new bomber jacket that has a wireless phone and tablet charger in one of the pockets. Pros: You’ll never have a dead phone. Cons: You can never use ‘my phone died’ as an excuse ever again. 

🤖 Your YouTube history is going to help train Google’s AI. The new Gemini update will open up access to users' emails and YouTube history to personalize its chatbots’ responses. Let this be a formal warning to stop letting friends and family muddy up your YouTube algorithm.

🛜 It’s not just you — everyone’s Wi-Fi has been worse. Canadians' complaints about their internet and phones hit a record high of 23,647 last year, a 17% surge. It may not surprise you that almost all of the complaints were directed at Canada’s big three telcos.

Backcountry skiing could be getting its e-bike moment. 

Driving the news: E-Skimo, the world’s first pair of battery-powered skis, has officially launched after five years of development. The e-skis feature a battery on the front and a little motor on the back of each ski, creating a conveyor belt that propels you forward.

Why it matters: Backcountry skiing is really hard work. Just like e-bikes have allowed tourists to climb the Pyrenees without Tour de France-level fitness, e-skis have the potential to open up backcountry skiing to more people.

Yes, but: In addition to its oddly offensive name choice (they should really consider changing it), the reviews of E-Skimo have been mixed. Mishaps appear to be somewhat common, which is not what you want to hear when you’re in the freezing cold, trying to fix your robo ski.

Our take: It wouldn’t be surprising if backcountry and cross-country skiing gained some traction, especially in Canada. We have the terrain, it’s relatively affordable (certainly compared to $500 lift tickets), and it fits squarely into the growing trend of “social workouts.” Whether anyone wants to buy a pair of robotic skis is a whole other question.—LA

A startup called Ammobia says it has developed a cheaper and cleaner way to produce ammonia, tweaking the traditional process used to make the chemical by using lower pressures and temperatures. The company claims their process cuts production costs by 40%. 

Why it matters: You may not think a lot about ammonia (at least we don’t), but it’s a very important building block of our modern world due to its use in fertilizer. If Ammobia succeeds, it could help decarbonize parts of the agricultural process and lower costs for farmers, which (fingers crossed) should mean cheaper food.

🌎 Hint: This city is almost equidistant from New York, Tokyo, and Murmansk, Russia. Popular local delicacies include fresh salmon, whale skin, and reindeer sausage (don’t tell Santa). Wildlife encounters are far from rare here, with one of the highest moose per capita rates of anywhere in the world. 

Think you know where this northern oasis is? Lock in your guess here.

Rise and shine with the Sunday Sudoku!