The FIFTY

[Alkasquawlik]

They’re all so good!

Wondering how the pandemic will play into the project

I'm wondering too. Right now, we're obviously on pause. Honestly, it's been one of the tougher decisions of the project to hit the pause button because of something I have no control over. As a guy who has to asses risk on a daily basis, I feel like Bjarne and I can do this safely, travel almost self-contained and not cross paths with anybody...but the thing is, we probably still shouldn't go. I'm wrestling with it everyday but wrestling with a decision to keep production on a ski project is fucking minor compared to the struggles everyday people are going through and the life threatening impacts many are facing with this disease...so I have to bottle this desire to keep pushing because it's beyond minor in the scheme of things.

Just gonna be watching day by day.

[plugboots]

Bummer, but prolly the right move. I’ve been thinking about my own back country travels and keeping it on the mellowish side because I don’t want to get injured and clog up the hospital system.

[Supermoon]

Cody, props for making the right call here. If you launch some Merch or do a patreon in the mean time I’d love to throw the project a few bucks. Maybe a fifty-themed belt?

[PNWbrit]

Great episode to pause on though.

[yeahman]

Great episode to pause on though.

Yes, although I was hoping there might be a couple more in the hopper...filmed pre-virus.

[plugboots]

Yes, although I was hoping there might be a couple more in the hopper...filmed pre-virus.

I saw on his IG or somewhere, he has 3? in the queue.

[Alkasquawlik]

I saw on his IG or somewhere, he has 3? in the queue.

That is correct, three more in the editing bays right now. The 4th after that...well that's the one I have no friggin idea about.

[paulster2626]

All good. Another thing to consider is that if something did happen and you needed to take a trip to the hospital, you'd be showing up to an overloaded system that really isn't in the best position to handle injuries.

Best to just climb up in to the van, go to sleep, and wait for this all to blow over.

[Doremite]

That is correct, three more in the editing bays right now. The 4th after that...well that's the one I have no friggin idea about.

So much unknown right now obv. Sounds like you have the right perspective. That episode was great. Happy for you that you conquered something you’d had your eye on so long. Has to be satisfying. Smile when you can these days especially.

[easyrdr]

Best episode yet!

[steveski]

No shout-out for Jason Hummel in the episode? Did he ski with you guys or just shoot photos?

[jaja111]

Nice to see what something looks like up close after staring at it fir years.

Sent from my SM-G975U using TGR Forums mobile app

[Blaster]

Hey Cody, I'm curious after seeing you ski parts of that upper pitch with an ax and parts without if you ever use a whippet or similar. I could imagine if you are already bringing an ax for glacier travel stuff a whippet could be redundant. However, I love to hear generally how you decide which of these tools to bring?




Thanks

[Julio]

I keep wanting to watch one and be like, “oh wow, that looks super fun, I want to do that!” Every time, not even interested, great to see a new side of our sport. Great content to show non-skier friends too.

[MakersTeleMark]

I keep wanting to watch one and be like, “oh wow, that looks super fun, I want to do that!” Every time, not even interested, great to see a new side of our sport. Great content to show non-skier friends too.

There's a ton of those. Perhaps you haven't seen shasta or tuk?

[Julio]

There's a ton of those. Perhaps you haven't seen shasta or tuk?

Funny, after I posted that, I thought about Shasta. And yeah the Tuks one was surprising. I think it’s the thought of the exposure on some of these that bothers me the most.

[plugboots]

I keep wanting to watch one and be like, “oh wow, that looks super fun, I want to do that!” Every time, not even interested, great to see a new side of our sport. Great content to show non-skier friends too.

Bizarre. I’m 180* from this. I want to see scary exposure, and that’s about it.

[Julio]

Bizarre. I’m 180* from this. I want to see scary exposure, and that’s about it.

I love watching it, have no desire to ski it.

[MakersTeleMark]

Funny, after I posted that, I thought about Shasta. And yeah the Tuks one was surprising. I think it’s the thought of the exposure on some of these that bothers me the most.

It's depends on your spice tolerance I guess. For some, mild is hot, for others, ass screaming is like ice cream. I actually feel really comfortable in the steeps, until, I don't when the snow changes. It's all good. All of it.

[Supermoon]

I keep wanting to watch one and be like, “oh wow, that looks super fun, I want to do that!” Every time, not even interested, great to see a new side of our sport. Great content to show non-skier friends too.

Superior is the one that I love. Makes me want to go ski it. All the years of touring in LCC and I never did that one.

Tucks looked fun but sketchy and Shasta seems like a slog, but also pretty fun.

[nortonwhis]

I was surprised this was as gnarly as it was. Its been on my list for years, but after seeing Cody stressed and listening to Alexi speak as he dropped in, maybe not. Any idea if it was super windy prior to skiing?

[plugboots]

I was surprised this was as gnarly as it was. Its been on my list for years, but after seeing Cody stressed and listening to Alexi speak as he dropped in, maybe not. Any idea if it was super windy prior to skiing?

Maybe them saying it was wind hammered over and over may have been an indication?

[nortonwhis]

Maybe them saying it was wind hammered over and over may have been an indication?

I mean more so than it would normally be. We've had one of the windiest winters I can remember with most of the storms coming with 150+ km winds so wondering whether it was more windy than normal. Also no real Arctic outflows this year which normally fuck all that north facing stuff up.

[Alkasquawlik]

Hey Cody, I'm curious after seeing you ski parts of that upper pitch with an ax and parts without if you ever use a whippet or similar. I could imagine if you are already bringing an ax for glacier travel stuff a whippet could be redundant. However, I love to hear generally how you decide which of these tools to bring?





Thanks

So I'm pretty anti-whippet. I mean, there are a few scenarios where they could be useful, but it's such a small window of usefulness, that I don't see the point of bringing one considering their downsides.

So why am I anti-whippet. First off, because they're a crutch and they give people a false sense of security. Let me explain. So often when we're scared in the steeps we go for our sharp pointy things as a third anchor point (beyond our two edges). With a whippet, you have to lean far away from your outside edge (your strongest anchor point) in order to lean into the hill and get the point of the whippet into the snow. In the steep skiing clinics I've taught and through my own personal experience, that drastic lean in often disengages your edges so much that you begin to lose stability, power and control on your edge. When you begin to lose your edges you begin to feel insecure. So you lean in further to this anchor point on the end of your pole for stability, thus creating a cycle that creates more instability and more fear. The fact is, the conditions that a whippet point, or even ice axe point, will self arrest you is only in the hardest of snow conditions. If it's softish at all, that point will cut through the snow like butter. So to me, the whippet puts you in a horrible body position that you lose control of your edges thereby decreasing your two main anchor points to lean into a limited use anchor point that probably won't work. Hence, why I say they give you a false sense of security. In my clinics I do drills with people in the steeps to specifically show how counter-leveled shoulders and weighting your downhill ski edge gives far more control, power and confidence than leaning into the hill. You essentially can side-slip and stop on the steeps all just with adjusting your shoulder angle.

So to me, I want an axe that I can plunge the shaft in lightly and then deeply if I really need an anchor point. The ice axe has far more usefulness in a multitude of conditions and far more security in soft-ish snow, hardpack, Neve and ice. A whippet only is useful in Neve in my opinion. Plus, like in the situation on Shuksan, I place one axe in my shoulder strap on my pack and move slowly through unknown conditions, as it gets more firm or more exposed, then I take my poles in one hand and pull out the axe in a half a second and then cautiously proceed.

The only scenario I like a whippet for is when it's super hardpack skinning over some sort of slide-for-life conditions and you have it in hand incase you fall skinning. But my thing there is, if you start to get to that place, you have time to either stop, take your axe out or take a ski off to kick your boot in and transition to crampons.

To me, they're crutches that aren't very useful in real situations.

[Alkasquawlik]

I was surprised this was as gnarly as it was. Its been on my list for years, but after seeing Cody stressed and listening to Alexi speak as he dropped in, maybe not. Any idea if it was super windy prior to skiing?

It's a stressful line. Anytime you're skiing unknown variable conditions that changed drastically from the day before over a fall you die cliff, it's stressful. It's a line not for the feint of heart though not necessarily technically hard. It's just exposure man.