Cody Townsend Reveals New Details About 'The FIFTY+'

Throughout the course of the five years of The FIFTY Project, Townsend successfully summited and skied 46 of the 50 lines laid out in the 50 Classic Ski Descents of North America book, but took fans by surprise when he announced in March of 2024 that the popular YouTube series was coming to a close.

Fans didn't have to wait long, however, for Towsend to reveal his next project— The FIFTY+. POWDER covered Townsend's announcement of the new series on October 8, 2024, but the vague details of the simple Instagram post left us wanting more.

Thankfully, Townsend obliged to a phone interview and revealed some previously undisclosed details about The FIFTY+. He also teased what he'll be up to during the Winter '24/'25 season, and reflected on the success of The FIFTY Project.

"The beautiful thing about the mountains is you go into them and you see other possibilities," says Townsend. "The FIFTY was a great excuse to go into zones that I wouldn't necessarily frequent, but when I [would] come back [from skiing the line] I would have three more lines I'd like to do."

Townsend will explore some of these FIFTY-adjacent lines in the FITY+, and determine if the line is a "classic" based on a custom ranking and points system.

"I'm taking this seriously, but I'm also with the knowledge that this is completely arbitrary, and this is completely my own opinion," explains Townsend. "The categories are Aesthetics, Popularity, Dream Factor, Ski Quality, Climb Quality, and Bragging Rights."

Each episode of The FIFTY+ will be centered around Townsend's mission to summit the line, ski the line, and then determine if it's a "classic", or not. Details related to the scoring system will be covered in the first episode of the series. It sounds like a great strategy for producing quality backcountry skiing content, but the inspiration comes from a more personal desire.

He explains, "I want to expand upon the [50 Classic Ski Descends of North America], not replace the book. The book had its time and slice of history when it was created. Backcountry skiing has all evolved since then, and there's certain things that I think would be better to update."

The purpose of the "+" in the title of Townsend's new project is two-fold, he revealed. The obvious reason is the desire to explore lines outside of those laid out in the original book, but similar to many companies who have launched subscription models in recent years, Townsend will offer a new way to connect and interact with fans of The FIFTY+.

"I started a new website called thefiftypluspro.com. It's going to be the definitive place for all this information. So after an episode comes out, there'll be a write up including guide Beta, the GPX file, and then my kind of write up along the scoring system and my justification for each score. Including a full explainer of what the scoring system means to me," Townsend explained.

A premium model with a paywall might be a deterrent for some skiers, but Townsend ensures that his service is meant for true skiers, climbers, and outdoor adventures who are sick of the "bulls*t" of social media. He also confirmed that all episodes of The FIFTY+ will release on his YouTube channel for free. Paywalls will only be established for the bonus content surrounding each episode.

Townsend mentioned in a previous conversation with POWDER that the thing he enjoyed most about filming The FIFTY Project was the shared experiences with his closest friends.

It's why he ended the series with a star-studded cast of friends including his wife Elyse Saugstad, Josh Daiek, JT Holmes, Greg Lindsey, Michelle Parker, Ming Poon, and more. Townsend confirmed in our phone call that his backcountry skiing friends will continue to make regular cameos throughout The FIFTY+.

"Honestly I like being out there with my friends. I like having conversations. I like sitting down with lunch and looking at the view with friends," he said. "I like that shared experience, and to me, skiing is a team sport that's disguised as an individual sport."

Townsend disclosed that Chris Davenport, Elyse Saugstad, and Mali Noyes will appear in the first season of The FIFTY+, among others.

It was always evident that Townsend was passionate about The FIFTY Project, but the risk vs. reward of skiing high-consequence lines in often sub-par conditions was an obvious challenge.

Townsend seemed excited when asked about how his mindset has changed now that he's not beholden to the pre-determined 50 lines. "I'm going to be operating along the philosophy that I've always built in the mountains, which was completely the opposite of The FIFTY, which is you go into the mountains and you ski what the mountains let you ski."

What was interesting, however, was that Townsend went into filming the first episodes of The FIFTY+ last year without knowing if it was something that would elicit the same passion as The FIFTY Project. That changed quickly, and Townsend admitted that filming the new series has been, "more fun" than the original.

The first episode of The FIFTY+ is being shown to live audiences at Salomon's Quality Ski Time film tour. It will release to public audiences on Townsend's YouTube channel on October 30, 2024.

Oh, and for fans of The FIFTY Project, Townsend confirmed he has plans to tick the remaining four lines off the list when conditions allow. He alluded to a future media project to document the buildup to the final four lines, and that he's "reserving space" to complete them in the near future.

"I haven't called it quits yet, but when I 100 percent do, everyone will know," he said.

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