The FIFTY

[telefreewasatch]

Bjarne is a beast.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

I'm pretty sure if people regularly call a line a name, such that the majority of folks would understand what line they are talking about, then that's it's name.

I refuse to call it "Silver" or "Elvis"

To me it will always be "Dead Dog" or "Dragon Tail."

Anyone who disagrees with me is an idiot.

[thefrush]

While I never called it, or any of the other 'Elvis' lines up there by those names, Elvis was the most popular name for it and now with this episode out, you can count on it being Elvis to most people forever. It was cool to see shots from places I instantly recognized from touring on Buffalo quite a bit over the past few years. Really a special mountain with an insane amount to offer beyond the Silver.

[jackstraw]

Bjarne is a beast.

Yes!

And Elvis is dead.

[yeahman]

Really enjoyed that episode.

[tang]

Great episode as always. Fun to see ones you've skied. I wish I could magically skip past the exit! It feels like you should be able to eek out some more vertical, but no... it's a net hike out.
Silvers a cool line for sure. It gets called out for making the fifty as a "roadside attraction". We could have a debate on Buff/Silver vs Torreys/Emperor - and certainly some others within site of I70. But Buffalo does really loom over the heart of summit co, and is so accessible to all those towns, so it certainly deserves the roadside attraction nod. But dropping the summit of a 14er (possibly) all the way to I70 is pretty damn cool too! 4 of the 5 Colorado "fiftys" are 14ers - Pyramid, N Maroon, Holy Cross, Wilson... Buff summit is actually sub 13k

[thefrush]

Great episode as always. Fun to see ones you've skied. I wish I could magically skip past the exit! It feels like you should be able to eek out some more vertical, but no... it's a net hike out.
Silvers a cool line for sure. It gets called out for making the fifty as a "roadside attraction". We could have a debate on Buff/Silver vs Torreys/Emperor - and certainly some others within site of I70. But Buffalo does really loom over the heart of summit co, and is so accessible to all those towns, so it certainly deserves the roadside attraction nod. But dropping the summit of a 14er (possibly) all the way to I70 is pretty damn cool too! 4 of the 5 Colorado "fiftys" are 14ers - Pyramid, N Maroon, Holy Cross, Wilson... Buff summit is actually sub 13k

And variety was something they strived for in assembling 'The Fifty' so rather than include another 14er with an arguably less spectacular descent than those other four (don't get me wrong, I love Torreys and all of it's aspects and it is for sure a front range classic) they went with a line that has some different characteristics which still qualify it as a classic.

You can argue the lines they chose for The Fifty forever, but at the end of the day the list is what it is, it's arbitrary but with some set ideas of what they wanted to include, and I think they did a great job of that. It's been really fun to watch Cody show the differences between all these lines and what factors make them deserving of inclusion as a 'Classic.' That view from Buffalo alone makes it worthy.

[goldenboy]

Just a small point, but the silver couloir has never been referred to as Elvis. Elvis and Little Elvis are entirely different lines on your approach side. Sometimes the Silver is called the NE couloir. Thanks for not filming the exit turnoff so that I can have a few years' more laughing at folks who miss the turnoff back up to the TH.

I had thought that Elvis was the one that people mistakenly ski, that kind of cliffs out except in big years (see link below). It isn't really an area that I'm that familiar with though.

I do think that my friend Andy's Beacon Guidebooks do the skiing public a favor by hopefully getting everyone on the same page. Hopefully if you say you need help in Elvis, SAR goes there, not maximum Elvis or Elvis crotch or whatever. (And yeah, GPS coordinates would hopefully eliminate any confusion, but still...)

CAIC report from 5/31/15: "A group of 6 backcountry riders (Riders 1 through 6) ascended Buffalo Mountain above the town of Silverthorne on the morning of May 31, 2015. The goal was to descend the Silver Couloir on the north side of the mountain. Upon reaching the top of the Silver Couloir around 11:30, the group decided that the current snowpack conditions had become too warm and wet to ride safely. The group decided to go a little further west and descend an area known as the Elvis Chutes."

[tang]

^^^ thefrush - Yes, agree on the variety and certainly worthiness of Silver. Plus so damn visible and just beckons. Torreys is more of a quick glimpse @ 70 mph
What if they had filmed some of the discussions on coming up with the 50 book list... splice in some pics and vids of the peaks and lines... how damn cool would that series have been?!

[thefrush]

What if they had filmed some of the discussions on coming up with the 50 book list... splice in some pics and vids of the peaks and lines... how damn cool would that series have been?!

Certainly not too late, interviews with authors and contributors would make a great bonus episode! Pretty cool to note that all of the contributors to the book are still alive. Go team!

[Name Redacted]

I had thought that Elvis was the one that people mistakenly ski, that kind of cliffs out except in big years (see link below). It isn't really an area that I'm that familiar with though.

I do think that my friend Andy's Beacon Guidebooks do the skiing public a favor by hopefully getting everyone on the same page. Hopefully if you say you need help in Elvis, SAR goes there, not maximum Elvis or Elvis crotch or whatever. (And yeah, GPS coordinates would hopefully eliminate any confusion, but still...)

CAIC report from 5/31/15: "A group of 6 backcountry riders (Riders 1 through 6) ascended Buffalo Mountain above the town of Silverthorne on the morning of May 31, 2015. The goal was to descend the Silver Couloir on the north side of the mountain. Upon reaching the top of the Silver Couloir around 11:30, the group decided that the current snowpack conditions had become too warm and wet to ride safely. The group decided to go a little further west and descend an area known as the Elvis Chutes."

That guy got pushed off a cliff at the bottom of Maximum Elvis by his friend’s sluff. They thought that they were in the Silver (aka Elvis) but followed tracks into Maximum Elvis w/o a rope. His friends called SAR then hiked out and skied down the front side. Might wanna ski a little earlier in the day when it is almost June and 60F during the day.

[tang]

Certainly not too late, interviews with authors and contributors would make a great bonus episode! Pretty cool to note that all of the contributors to the book are still alive. Go team!

Paging Cody Townsend to the courtesy bonus episode phone... Title: The 51st Classic Ski Descent of North America

[davjr96]

He did interview the Authors for a bonus episode

[tang]

Thx... somehow I missed. Watching (and procrastinating) now

[thefrush]

Durr, thanks for the reminder davjr96!

[TahoeJ]

Dang, I feel like Cody has been putting out banger episodes all season so far - great story telling, humility and humor - and getting a little too much criticism around here of late. Tough crowd.

[powdork]

I don't think so. Cody has opened up to the friendly banter and that's all it's really been. Sure some of us want to see more of certain aspects and some want others but we're all in this thread because we're already engaged and attached to the series. For me and probably some others, the photography aspect is interesting not only because it's a hobby or interest, but also because that aspect contains less unobtainium in our minds (even if that belief is wrong).

[cydwhit]

Yeah I see how there could be more depth but one more line could cover most of those questions. Hip Bag for cold insulation. PD leaves the camera exposed to cold and batteries die. Star photography time-lapse is set up a camera, open up aperture fully, connect a timer / shutter release device and let it go until it dies. Everything in cinematography / photography is really quite simple to learn, it's more the practice and experience that makes you good at it in the field, on the fly and when the situation is tough. Fucking up over and over, like I did and every camera person has, helps you make the mental checks to not do that again. What makes Bjarne a great cinematographer has nothing to do with cameras, technical aspects of using them, framing or anything, it's the ability to take out the camera when the situation is most gnarly and capture what is necessary. That's the art that no book or film or manual could ever teach, it's just doing it over and over and being really calm and composed in gnar.

I really appreciated this episode, and Bjarne's take. I remember as I was getting into ski filming/photography scouring the web for any insight into what the pros were doing. And so often the information I found was just gratuitous gear whoring that gives the impression that if you're not hauling six bodies and a whole quiver of L glass into the mountains you're not doing it right. The production quality of the episodes is high, and it's so obviously because Bjarne can keep up on these big lines while also having the spare energy to frame shots, get stable footage, and not screw things up, not because he's got 100K in camera gear on his back. Really cool to hear his methodology. This episode made me want to get back into the habit of shooting skiing instead of just drawing it. So thanks!

[Alkasquawlik]

I don't think so. Cody has opened up to the friendly banter and that's all it's really been. Sure some of us want to see more of certain aspects and some want others but we're all in this thread because we're already engaged and attached to the series. For me and probably some others, the photography aspect is interesting not only because it's a hobby or interest, but also because that aspect contains less unobtainium in our minds (even if that belief is wrong).

Yeah I agree with this and a little bit of TahoeJ but mainly I know the banter, criticism or desire to see more comes because people have gotten really into this project...which is rad. It's definitely sparked something within the way content gets made in skiing and the audiences that consume that content.

The only thing that I don't think ever gets translated publicly is just how much fucking work it takes to make this whole project happen. Each one of these videos is hundreds of hours of work starting from the research and planning stages all the way to ending at post-production and publication. It's the busiest I've ever been in my life and I already have the experience of starting a business from scratch.

[Blaster]

I wonder if you ever read Noah Howell's blog and think "damn that sounds a lot easier making videos".

Yeah I agree with this and a little bit of TahoeJ but mainly I know the banter, criticism or desire to see more comes because people have gotten really into this project...which is rad. It's definitely sparked something within the way content gets made in skiing and the audiences that consume that content.

The only thing that I don't think ever gets translated publicly is just how much fucking work it takes to make this whole project happen. Each one of these videos is hundreds of hours of work starting from the research and planning stages all the way to ending at post-production and publication. It's the busiest I've ever been in my life and I already have the experience of starting a business from scratch.

[Alkasquawlik]

I wonder if you ever read Noah Howell's blog and think "damn that sounds a lot easier making videos".

I've looked at it with envy for years now. Ha. Funny story though, when I was researching the shit out of this project long before I announced it, I would frequently find myself on Noah's blog. He would state it was a classic but never go further on his quiet goal to ski all the classics. I just thought like I always thought of Noah, he sure gets after it on a lot of cool lines. When I was finally totally committed to the project in the fall of 2019, one of the first people I told outside of my inner circle was Dav, for obvious reasons. About a month later he calls and says, "Did you know Noah is trying to do the same thing?!?!" I didn't but then it suddenly made sense as to why I kept coming across his blog and getting great beta from it. Although I've told him this story personally already, gotta say it again, thanks Noah!

[Peruvian]

PW05 is one of the most influential ski films to me. Noah & Jonah rock.

The Fifty is on that list too.

[TahoeJ]

I've looked at it with envy for years now. Ha. Funny story though, when I was researching the shit out of this project long before I announced it, I would frequently find myself on Noah's blog. He would state it was a classic but never go further on his quiet goal to ski all the classics. I just thought like I always thought of Noah, he sure gets after it on a lot of cool lines. When I was finally totally committed to the project in the fall of 2019, one of the first people I told outside of my inner circle was Dav, for obvious reasons. About a month later he calls and says, "Did you know Noah is trying to do the same thing?!?!" I didn't but then it suddenly made sense as to why I kept coming across his blog and getting great beta from it. Although I've told him this story personally already, gotta say it again, thanks Noah!

You guys need to check off one of the crux lines together. Like Robson? That would be awesome.

[Alkasquawlik]

You guys need to check off one of the crux lines together. Like Robson? That would be awesome.

We've been trying to link up for a line we both haven't done since year 1 to tell his story, just hasn't happened for a variety of reasons.

[TahoeJ]

^^ I know he started a while ago, how many does he have left?