Cody Townsend has skiied all over the world, produced mind-blowing video parts, and pushed big mountain skiing as a whole since he was a young man. His newest project, The Fifty, has a bit of a differently angle however. Cody’s plan is ambitious—to climb, ski and document all 50 descents from Chris Davenport’s book, 50 Classic Ski Descents Of North America. The goal is ambitious, as every line requires extensive skiing and mountaineering skills, and filming each adds an entirely new level of difficulty. The lines go from Baffin Island, to British Columbia, down to Colorado, and everything in between. With eight lines completed, his documentation of the lines have been honest, comprehensive, and exciting.

Many of these lines are popular objectives and located in crowded backcountry ski areas. In his most recent adventure, Cody and his partner, Bjarne Salen, run into another skier in the worst possible situation—with the fellow backcountry skier, solo, tomahawking down a nearby line just before sunset. By a magnificent stroke of luck, Cody and Bjarne happened to see this solo adventurer and immediately jumped into action. Watch the video’s to see how their descent of the popular line, and hear how it all played out, and get to see Cody and Bjarne’s heroic story firsthand.-ML