The FIFTY

[Core Shot]

Holy crap. Well told tale. And damn gnarly on the final successful descent.

[Alkasquawlik]

Latest episode was incredible!

The story-telling has absolutely improved over time. I've spent a ton of time in the Eastern Sierras (with Kip, back when we were both newer to ski mountaineering — definitely miss him and appreciated your tribute) but never attempted Split. It's been particular interesting for me to watch some of the episodes where you ski lines that I've done... but where you used no mechanized assist (e.g. Meteorite... wow!).

Re: Nick — Although I think I've seen every episode, it's possible that I'm missing something or mis-remembering. What stood out to me is that at least on a few occasions (Split, St Elias), Nick appeared to have a notably higher risk tolerance than others in the group. With St Elias it struck me as..... contentious, maybe? I wasn't there and I'm forming an opinion based on a few snippets. That he dropped into Split first, got ahead, went further down did not seem surprising in that context.

It read to me like he had an agenda.

Definitely cool to turn around — SO hard to do when it means hiking up and out (wonder if he would have been less stoked had St Jean not been a consultation prize — and what a cool one at that!).

Hope this doesn't come across as more than a reflection and an honest question.

Major respect for what you are all (collectively) doing. I very much appreciate how you've had the humility to show the arc of your development including some close calls. I also have special respect for Bjarne filming all of this intense terrain. I'm the photographer in my crew, but (a) I don't carry nearly as much as Bjarne and (b) I'm not nearly as talented with photos/videos AND the ski mountaineering.

Thanks for your devotion to this project and sharing it with us.

So in regards to Nick, the thing is, we totally could've done it that day and I'd say 99/100 times in those conditions, at that time, with the gear we had, we would have been absolutely fine. So Nick was correct in continuing to move down and in fact that was the right call at that time considering it was so late. It was me that was adding up the little mistakes we made in route to dropping in, the cold, the looming darkness and what was going to be a shit ton of tricky raps (every report from previous skiers talked to me about 1.5 hour anchor builds, polished rock and shitty rock anchors) and making a very hesitant and indecisive call to pull the plug. A call I regretted for some time. But in the end, it was a good call not even for safety or succumbing to a self-prescribed epic, it was a good call because we skied it in such good conditions later on. What makes Nick a partner I will go into the mountains with a ton is shown in this episode, he's down to try, keen to give'r, quick to move but so easy and unfussy to turn around when one person doesn't feel it, the mountain shows something to us or he doesn't feel it. We sort of balance each other out. I'm generally on the conservative side, which has its own faults, he's generally a little more keen, which has its own faults, but together, we often get to the right decision. That's what a good team can do. I want people in the mountains who aren't 100% in alignment with my obs, thoughts and decisions but can be see, think or agree with them when necessary.....and vice-versa. Two minds are better than one, but you only have one mind if two people think exactly the same way every time on every thing.


Oh and to the extra days questions from Seeburgler, it's hard to pack for 5 more lbs of food when you think you're gonna get it the next day. In February, yeah, an extra days or two's worth of food would've been awesome. But hindsight is 20/20. The second attempt where we got blown off the mountain, the winds were even worst the next day.

[byates1]

On the 05 trip we skied a fair bit of the Sierra classics. My buddy was def pretty gung ho and brash, day 3 we did Whitney, I asked about weather he was like whatever. We got to the top of the mtneer couloir, we had 2 other girls along that were strong but fading. It was nuking and blowing. I was like I don't know man. He was like I'm summiting no matter what. The look in his eyes was pure recklessness. I bailed and skied down. 9 hrs for me. The 2 girls faded hard. He had to ski w one of thier packs, they took forever to get back to Whitney portal.

We did red slate to bloody in a day. I did bloody to parachute in a day. That dude ended up having a major accident.on Denali.

I'm chill af these days.

[snoboy]

Great stuff, so cool to see how far you have come as a team with the storytelling, the alpine savvy and the filming.

Oh and yeah, with hindsight, we could've easily done it on that February day. We would've for sure been rappelling in the dark, been cold as hell, stressed and nervous but we could've done it. What's not shown in the film is all these little mistakes we were making the day before, the night before and the day of our attempt. Small little ones inconsequential mistakes that weren't big deals at all in the moment but added up together, it's that which helped add up in my mind that we weren't 100% on point on our first big mission of the year. That was a big part of it for me, if we were to continue and succeed successfully in the dark, we would have to all be on our A+ game and I felt we all weren't on our A+ game. I saw the margin for error being small if we were epic-ing down that thing in the dark.

Was good to see that discussed and even better to see the payoff of getting it in good shape later. It looked gripping but fun when you finally did get to ski it.

[Island Bay]

Since we all agree that it was a bloody good episode, and one I will watch again, can I ask a question about Split Couloir and why it's so highly rated?

It looks interesting from afar, but it seems like decent snow is hard to come by, even in a bumper year. It's got a mandatory rappel, and it's "not that steep" (Cody's words). Is it because it's hard to tick off?

[TahoeJ]

Since we all agree that it was a bloody good episode, and one I will watch again, can I ask a question about Split Couloir and why it's so highly rated?

It looks interesting from afar, but it seems like decent snow is hard to come by, even in a bumper year. It's got a mandatory rappel, and it's "not that steep" (Cody's words). Is it because it's hard to tick off?

A lot of these lines are as much about the aesthetic than anything else, and in that regard Split certainly qualifies. And also if they were all easily done that wouldn't be nearly as fun. Same deal with that other E Sierra line Giant Steps.

[meter-man]

A lot of these lines are as much about the aesthetic than anything else, and in that regard Split certainly qualifies. And also if they were all easily done that wouldn't be nearly as fun. Same deal with that other E Sierra line Giant Steps.

Yep. It’s a mega-aesthetic couloir splitting a beautiful 14er (14,000’), 8000’ elevation gain, mandatory rappels and/or ice climbing, and steep (not incredibly steep but steep enough!), rarely done, and a king line in the Sierra.

Island Bay, wait until you see the Bloody episode… It’s a relatively mellow line - it hovers above the highway (395) near Mammoth so it stares down every traveler in the area. I told alka it was too easy so he ought to snowboard it. Don’t think he took my sage advice.

Two different kinds of classic: elusive and rare versus ultra-visible and well-known.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Island Bay]

Cheers, guys.

Would be interesting to read the book for a deeper insight into the different lines.

[twat]

I got a question too. What’s the story with Bjarne soaked in soup? Was this on the approach of the first attempt? And did play a role in decision making for all the little errors?

[yeahman]

Cheers, guys.

Would be interesting to read the book for a deeper insight into the different lines.

Yeah, buy the book, it's cool. It doesn't give much insight in the form of specific info about approaches or descents. It takes a more holistic angle, with lots of photos, written accounts from people who have skied the lines, and separate profiles of some of those skiers. In the Split entry, for example, Glen Plake writes about how he and his partner, "masters of the sport" and "no fear extreme dudes," were so intimidated they did stem-Christies down the couloir. So you get your insight from that, but not much specific info (which is surely available online anyway). I have to admit as somebody who has edited more than 600 books in my career, I found the organization of the book somewhat triggering at first. But after I got used to it, I came to appreciate it's unique charm. I like to watch an episode, then go read the entry in the book, rather than the other way around. I find the book to be a lot more meaningful after I've watched the episode. YMMV

Anyway great job Cody and Bjarne! One thing about Plake's account in the book I found interesting was how by climbing the couloir, they were able to rig their rappel anchors on the way up and leave them in place, which I think would alleviate a lot of the apprehension one might feel about skiing it top down and knowing you would have to fiddle those anchors in as you went, and not knowing for sure how bomber (or not) they were going to be. But at the same time the point of not spending any more time than necessary in the couloir itself due to objective dangers like rockfall makes a lot of sense too. Lots to think about in this one. I hope Nick gets back up there and does it. I'm sure he will.

[alpinevibes]

I got a question too. What’s the story with Bjarne soaked in soup? Was this on the approach of the first attempt? And did play a role in decision making for all the little errors?

Heh. I made the mistake of stuffing a recently-hydrated Mountain House pouch into my down jacket on Rainier or some climb years ago, trying to get some extra warmth. It opened and I learned my lesson

[McDee]

Recently watched "the ordinary skier" and saw that bjarne ist credited with cinematography als Bjarne Sahlen? Did a little Google, can it be that Bjarne is also listed variously as Salen, Sahlen and Salén? Hadn't realised the extent of Bjarne's work and experience. Man's been in the trenches and seen things.

[galibier_numero_un]

Recently watched "the ordinary skier" and saw that bjarne ist credited with cinematography als Bjarne Sahlen? Did a little Google, can it be that Bjarne is also listed variously as Salen, Sahlen and Salén? Hadn't realised the extent of Bjarne's work and experience. Man's been in the trenches and seen things.

Bjarne's input in these episodes is one of the high many points for me.

... Thom

[alpinevibes]

Recently watched "the ordinary skier" and saw that bjarne ist credited with cinematography als Bjarne Sahlen? Did a little Google, can it be that Bjarne is also listed variously as Salen, Sahlen and Salén? Hadn't realised the extent of Bjarne's work and experience. Man's been in the trenches and seen things.

Bjarne cut his teeth in Cham in the late 2000s after Fransson and Bjarne's older brother Morgan (IFMGA guide) had been there for a couple seasons. He started filming with Fransson and other young, high-level skiers in and around Cham in 2010. And quickly became involved in some very cool projects, especially stuff with Salomon backing, because he could climb and ski at a high level. Between Fransson, Rosebarger, Morgan, Ptor and others - he's skied some big-time lines all around the world and spent years on the go. I think his moving to the States was a choice to follow love but also to step a bit away from that risk and lifestyle, after Daven then Andreas and JP passed away.

[Alkasquawlik]

Anyway great job Cody and Bjarne! One thing about Plake's account in the book I found interesting was how by climbing the couloir, they were able to rig their rappel anchors on the way up and leave them in place, which I think would alleviate a lot of the apprehension one might feel about skiing it top down and knowing you would have to fiddle those anchors in as you went, and not knowing for sure how bomber (or not) they were going to be. But at the same time the point of not spending any more time than necessary in the couloir itself due to objective dangers like rockfall makes a lot of sense too. Lots to think about in this one. I hope Nick gets back up there and does it. I'm sure he will.

Yeah, the top-down approach has it's benefits but it also has it's own specific dangers. Pretty much everyone I talked to that had been up there had told me the anchor building was quite brutal. Pondella described one anchor taking an hour and a half to build. So dropping in top down to four raps on that February day was not only nerve wracking because of the question mark of knowing where and when to build anchors, but also added up to me pulling the plug since I was guessing it was going to take so long.

I got a question too. What’s the story with Bjarne soaked in soup? Was this on the approach of the first attempt? And did play a role in decision making for all the little errors?

That was the February attempt and it did play a role in turning around. Bjarne's down layers were soaked and never dried out, which is partly why he was shivering so bad so early into dropping into the couloir. It was one of the small inconsequential mistakes that added up for sure.

[Buster Highmen]

#MOGA

[$teezus]

Watched the episode The Polar Star last night. Another banger. Baffin Island is absolutely nuts, and I am really interested in seeing it myself some day though the logistics look heinous.

Also, it was cool to talk to Cody for a few seconds but I have to admit I was a bit starstruck.

[John_B]

Watched the episode The Polar Star last night. Another banger. Baffin Island is absolutely nuts, and I am really interested in seeing it myself some day though the logistics look heinous.

Also, it was cool to talk to Cody for a few seconds but I have to admit I was a bit starstruck.

Just in case anyone else wanders to YouTube because of this comment it looks like the Baffin video isnt up there yet. No idea when that is planned on being uploaded but hopefully soon!

[twat]

Just in case anyone else wanders to YouTube because of this comment it looks like the Baffin video isnt up there yet. No idea when that is planned on being uploaded but hopefully soon!

Just happened to me : )

Watched the episode The Polar Star last night. Another banger. Baffin Island is absolutely nuts, and I am really interested in seeing it myself some day though the logistics look heinous.

Also, it was cool to talk to Cody for a few seconds but I have to admit I was a bit starstruck.

Yep if was starstruck when Cody answered my question here! Oh my goosh, like a teenager. Did you get a selfie : D and an autograph

[Alkasquawlik]

Just in case anyone else wanders to YouTube because of this comment it looks like the Baffin video isnt up there yet. No idea when that is planned on being uploaded but hopefully soon!

Going live online on November 15th. Next episode up on the 25th of October.

[John_B]

Going live online on November 15th. Next episode up on the 25th of October.

Awesome. Thanks Cody. I'll schedule accordingly.[emoji16]

[BeefSupreme]

Taking this back to the bugs to rogers episodes, any word on how the caches were placed on the route prior to the trip?

This is more out of curiosity than a beta request - if I ever find myself out there no amount of swedish fish will save me anyway.

Huge fan keep it up etc. etc.

[ptavv]

Taking this back to the bugs to rogers episodes, any word on how the caches were placed on the route prior to the trip?

they chartered a heli, there's an interview somewhere cody did explaining it bc he was worried people were gonna be big mad about the trivial carbon footprint of such a thing

[Hart Gremlin]

I made it out to the Salomon QST Film fest in San Francisco earlier this week. Cody's "The Polar Star" Episode was the final film and was amazing. Do yourself a favor and go if the tour is in your area.

https://www.salomon.com/en-us/qst-film-tour

I got to fan boy out a bit with Cody. That stache is way more attractive in person.

[~mikey b]

does it tickle?