News
By Sam Collentine, Meteorologist Posted 3 years ago December 15, 2021
WATCH: The FIFTY - The Patriarch
Deep in the Montana wilderness lies a legendary line. The line, The Patriarch, sits deep in a rocky cleft on the cliff-strewn north face of Glacier Peak. Chocked full of exposure, steeps, and overhead hazards, Cody Townsend is joined by two of the world's best ski mountaineers, Hilaree Nelson and Jim Morrison, to navigate this technical and dangerous line. On an unusually cold late spring day, they're met with sub-zero temps, rocky rappels, and butt-puckering steeps en route to a successful ascent and descent of a line that rarely gets skied.
The FIFTY is a project following Cody Townsend as he attempts to climb and ski all fifty of the lines and mountains chronicled in the book, "The 50 Classic Ski Descents of North America". The series documents Townsend's journeys, travels, challenges, and each line and mountain listed in the book. It's a journey through the most majestic mountains and ski lines in North America along with a unique insight into how skiers make decisions in the backcountry, how they plan, navigate, and safely move through the mountains along with the people that dedicate their lives to the mountains.
Line #1: Messner Couloir
Line #2: Mt. Superior
Line #3: Terminal Cancer
Line #4: Hypodermic Needle
Line #5: Mt. Currie
Line #6: Aemmer Couloir
Line #7: Joffre Peak
Line #8: The Sphinx
Line #9: Spearhead Traverse
Line #10: Giant Steps Couloir
Line #11: Grand Teton
Line #12: Landry Line
Line #13: Middle Teton
Lines #14-15: North Maroon & Holy Cross Couloir
Line #16: Mt. Tukuhnikivatz
Line #17: Wilson Peak
Lines #18-19: Meteorite Mountain & Pontoon Peak
Line #20: Watson Traverse
Line #21: Mt. Shasta
Line #22: Mt. Timpanogos
Line #23: Mt. Washington
Line #24: Mt. Shuksan
Line #25: McGown Peak
Line #26: The Sickle
Line #27: Mt. Moran
Lines #28-30: Mt. Hood, Mt. Rainier, & El Dorado Peak
Line #31: Mt. Stimson
Line #32: Castle Peak
Line #33: Mt. Whitney
Line #34: Devil’s Bedstead
Line #35: Silver Couloir