MOUNTAINWATCH — Cody Townsend and cinematographer Bjarne Salen are back with season three of The Fifty, Cody’s ambitious project to climb and ski all 50 lines named in the book The 50 Great Ski Descents in North America. At the start of the 2021 season, Cody and Bjarne had climbed and skied 30 of the 50 classic lines and in this episode they head to Montana with Cody’s mate and pro snowboarder Nick Russell to take on Mt Stimson.
FREESKIER — The unlikely face of ski mountaineering is back, and he’s wearing a mustache. After no word from Cody Townsend for months except for a few cryptic social media posts, the former heli-jock turned sufferfester and his much-beloved show, The FIFTY returns. His newest YouTube entry is a quick update. It’s worth sharing, however because Townsend includes a montage of rad clips. There are enormous vistas, terrible storms, and new guests (we spy Alex Honnold—or is it Honnlove?) and Hilaree Nelson returns.
So buckle in, folks, we’re in for a hell of a season with plenty of episode to drive up the stoke toward winter. Choo choo!
LOW PRESSURE PODCAST — Host Mark Warner interviews Cody to give a behind the scenes look at how the project was conceived, how it’s funded and produced, and how he trains. Cody provides anecdotes from previous Fifty episodes including saving a life, the decision to turn around during the Joffre peak episode, logistical challenges and dealing with the fatigue from a season of sufferfests. Episode includes veiled references to what Cody and Bjarne are up to this spring.
Cody being interviewed remotely in the Fifty Project van studio
The FIFTY all started with a book. A book that pays tribute to the most aesthetic, boldest, most iconic and most 'classic' backcountry ski lines of North America. In a first ever interview with all the authors of the book, Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America, Penn Newhard, Chris Davenport and Art Burrows divulge how they picked the lines they did, what went into the creation of the book and how it's standing the test of time. To pick up your own copy go to: 50classicskidescents.com.
In addition to the interview, Cody gives an update to the happenings of The FIFTY in 2021.
The Backcountry Podcast— Powder, stoke, spines—they’re ski movie staples, but they don’t fully show what goes into a successful day in the mountains. Swedish filmmaker Bjarne Salén is changing that. As he captures Cody Townsend’s The Fifty, a project to ski all the lines in the heralded book 50 Classic Ski Descents of North America, Salén speaks up from behind the camera, giving insight into the role filmmakers play in skiing big lines and, in doing so, breaking down the imaginary fourth wall.