The FIFTY

[Dantheman]

Finally watched the Elias episode, sweet Jesus. Really hoping I don't watch Alka narrowly escape death again.

[el hefe]

Watched with my wife last night, she was like why T F are they even doing this? Then she laughed at the being stuck on the beach.

Cool Stuff and thank you Cody!

[alpinevibes]

I rewatched Mark, Janelle and Jed's St Elias video from 2016. Pretty inspiring in light of what the 50 boys experienced. Jed's put together a good St Elias history: https://www.jediahporter.com/blog/mo...as-ski-history

[John_B]

I rewatched Mark, Janelle and Jed's St Elias video from 2016. Pretty inspiring in light of what the 50 boys experienced. Jed's put together a good St Elias history: https://www.jediahporter.com/blog/mo...as-ski-history

I did the same. At the beginning of the video I was thinking how pleasant it looked and wondered why Alka didn't go for a slightly later trip. Then the skis got cached and the ice tools came out and all was clear.

[~mikey b]

Alka

sent you a PM

[babybear]

those avalanches just after you had skied through really puckered me

I also got some miso soup packets for a ski touring hot drink for my husband based on one of your videos where you mention and he is loving it. good suggestion for anyone else wanting to mix it up from tea and cocoa

[hutash]

those avalanches just after you had skied through really puckered me

I also got some miso soup packets for a ski touring hot drink for my husband based on one of your videos where you mention and he is loving it. good suggestion for anyone else wanting to mix it up from tea and cocoa

yeah, great guide tip I pick up while climb Bear CREEK Spire in the Sierra. Another great thing I learned is hot Emergen-C. Dump a pack in hot water and drink while still bubbling...a great pick me up.

[Shorty_J]

if you like The Fifty you’d like Nikolai Schirmer’s films


https://youtu.be/aaeBN_JYkcA

Nikolai is an entertaining person to watch for sure, and maybe it's edited out for brevity... but from that parts I've seen I can't personally get behind the decision making.

Cody has made some mistakes too (who hasnt) but I feel like his show takes those more seriously and honestly and I appreciate that.

[~mikey b]

I understand your criticism about his decision making

seems a bit dodgy to me

but I’m not skiing at that level

[skiJ]

The first couloir two over from where we were slid just about the moment we reached the shale ridgeline. The second went multiple times and went about 30 minutes after the first and then two more times 15 minutes later. The giant slide that split the Ridgeline, stepped down 4-5 feet and flushed where we were stuck above the exposure went about 1.5 hours after we were in the bottom of it. It pretty much all started raining down the moment we got to a high point. It's rare you get reinforcement to your opinion of "this is fucked we gotta get outta here" in the mountains. That was one of those rare moments. It was honestly pretty terrifying. The ground was shaking and it sounded like a airliner flying 50 feet off the deck when it was happening.

( Very) scary --

I am glad you guys made it back.

Thank you for the Honesty of the episode.

damn. And FknA. skiJ

[Buzzworthy]

Thanks for the entertainment, informative content and a damn good time. Looking forward to the next go.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

Nikolai is an entertaining person to watch for sure, and maybe it's edited out for brevity... but from that parts I've seen I can't personally get behind the decision making.

Cody has made some mistakes too (who hasnt) but I feel like his show takes those more seriously and honestly and I appreciate that.

I strongly agree. I'm concerned about Nikolai. I hope he changes up his formula. I worry that chasing perfect snow in consequential terrain on a small budget is unsustainable. He's a good story teller. He doesn't need to be straightlining couloirs to make an interesting film.

[alpinevibes]

Nikolai's changed his decision making a LOT in the last couple years, especially if you watch through WAVY and his recent stuff. I wouldn't frame him as matured or risk adverse now, but he is maturing.

[thefrush]

Nikolai is an entertaining person to watch for sure, and maybe it's edited out for brevity... but from that parts I've seen I can't personally get behind the decision making.

I strongly agree. I'm concerned about Nikolai. I hope he changes up his formula. I worry that chasing perfect snow in consequential terrain on a small budget is unsustainable. He's a good story teller. He doesn't need to be straightlining couloirs to make an interesting film.

^^ What alpinevibes said. Check out Wavy and you will see that Nikolai is either starting to be a little more cautious, or at least showing that side of himself in films more. Seems turning 30 and his pop star girlfriend have something to do with it.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

^^ What alpinevibes said. Check out Wavy and you will see that Nikolai is either starting to be a little more cautious, or at least showing that side of himself in films more. Seems turning 30 and his pop star girlfriend have something to do with it.

I watched Wavy. They talked about how he was becoming more cautious, then he caught pow fever and almost got himself killed.

[Boissal]

Nikolai's changed his decision making a LOT in the last couple years, especially if you watch through WAVY and his recent stuff. I wouldn't frame him as matured or risk adverse now, but he is maturing.

WAVY made me more uncomfortable than most of his other videos. He used to not really talk about avalanches, as if they just didn't happen. Then he got lanched a bunch and now he talks about them a lot while continuing to push hard in sketchy as fuck terrain. Complete disconnect between his discourse and his actions. The whole part where the 3 of them are insisting on topping out on that sunny face was crazy. It's clear they know it's a bad call yet they push and push. Splitboard dude watches him nearly go for a hideous ride and is still talking about dropping into the next massively loaded couloir. The whole thing feels so wrong. He's an incredible skier (all 3 of them are), probably on par with Heitz when it comes to skiing like a lunatic in high consequence terrain, but he acts like a gigantic sketchball paying lip service to the whole avalanche thing.

[rudy]

I totally agree with the last 2 takes. Wavy did NOT make me feel like he is being more conservative in the least bit.

[Shorty_J]

I watched Wavy. They talked about how he was becoming more cautious, then he caught pow fever and almost got himself killed.

Yeah... it was right after watching Wavy that I made my comments here.

[WhetherMan]

Splitboard dude watches him nearly go for a hideous ride and is still talking about dropping into the next massively loaded couloir.

This part really made me question their judgement. Generally the uncertainty around avalanche problems means that I try not to Monday morning quarter-back. We all get it wrong sometimes. But there was no uncertainty here.

[CnRzG]

I believe Bjarne is the MVP for many of these adventures.

[LHutz Esq]

Yeah... it was right after watching Wavy that I made my comments here.

Did the group dynamics seem weird as well? The one who seemed most tuned into the conditions, and wanted to investigate, was kinda dropped on the climb. Wasn’t clear that the group ever really acknowledged those concerns as a group.

I am old and wish to get older and think that discussion would have been as interesting as the ski down.

One of the reasons I love the 50.

[subtle plague]

yeah. my thoughts exactly.
"I'm gonna try to straightline the other couloir"
Yeah and i won't tour with you ever again. should be the only response.

But as i posted in the other chamonix thread: I can't watch Tof or Tschirmer becasue of that. Not only because they constantly are pushing it, but they are trying to justify it. If they just said: Ah fuck it! It's dangerous, but we go in regardless. No matter what. They'd at least be honest. But telling everyone that you "try to be safe" and publish such nonsense as the wavy boat diary really annoys me. But hey Splitboard guy and the whole cham scene are basically like that so he doesn't stick out.

And even Alka gets into troubling situations like on Elias. And he is NOT going in with that mindset. Big lines are consequential enough without the cham attitude.

[I've seen black diamonds!]

One of the reasons I love the 50.

Yup. The Fifty is full of humility as well as good lessons for both novice and experienced skiers that don't interfere with the flow of the episodes. In other words, it's never preachy but it makes you think about your own decision making, whether you're new to BC skiing or you've been doing it for decades. This is clearly a reflection of who Bjarne, Cody and their partners are as skiers, and the result of careful storytelling and editing.

[Shorty_J]

Did the group dynamics seem weird as well? The one who seemed most tuned into the conditions, and wanted to investigate, was kinda dropped on the climb. Wasn’t clear that the group ever really acknowledged those concerns as a group.

I am old and wish to get older and think that discussion would have been as interesting as the ski down.

One of the reasons I love the 50.

This is totally true, but I would say she should have spoke up and she didn't.... she said she was going to dig a pit and acknowledged that they didn't care and encouraged them to ski down before she did it.

I suspect some of that is not wanting to be a downer on a video? Or maybe she did say something and it was edited out?

I would say there were zero group dynamics and it was just 3 people out skiing.

I would also say that holds true on other parts of that film. I personally don't get why 2 people go to the same zone just to climb and ski 2 totally different lines where helping each other would be made more difficult in the event of a problem.

[Jongle]

Yeah, that scene from WAVY was like a case study in heuristic traps and dangerous group dynamics. If I taught Avy 1 courses I'd use that clip for sure.

"We skied the same aspect the day before and it was fine..."
"I did some stability tests to see what the snow was doing [shot of slapdash hand shear test] and it was good and stable..."
"The snow is baking in the sun so we have to hurry up and ski this steep couloir..."
"You guys go ahead and ski your lines while I dig a pit..."
"I know this aspect and slope angle is going to avalanche, but I'm thinking about straightlining the chute anyway..."

One of the things I appreciate about the 50 Project is that there's usually a much more honest appraisal of conditions and risk levels.

Looks like Schirmer did a discussion with an avalanche psychologist on Instagram live, did anyone happen to catch it?