What is The Fifty?

A HANDFUL OF INTREPID MOUNTAIN HEROES have been defined by multi-year quests that most would deem impossible, ill-advised or insane.

The FIFTY was simple, it’s a goal I set out for myself, to try to climb and ski all fifty of the lines and mountains chronicled in the book, “The Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America.”

The book is a visual tribute to the continent’s finest ski backcountry ski lines. Penned by Chris Davenport and Penn Newhard and designed by Art Burrows, it encompasses the lines and mountains a collection of the most prominent climbers and skiers around North America deem the most ‘classic’.

Now more nearly 15 years old, the book still ranks as an alluring catalog of adventure that can be found atop the coffee tables of diehard skiers throughout Canada and the United States. Without dispute, it is the iconic reference to classic North American ski mountaineering objectives.

From Alaska to Colorado, California to Baffin Island, these lines are among the most difficult in the world and all of them have at least one historical descent. But no one has skied them all. I tried to change that.

Drawn in simply by the allure of “I want to ski that,” I devoted five years of my life to successfully skiing 46 of the 50 lines documented in that book — the hard way, by climbing every line that I skied. Two of the lines I tried but failed on — one more than once.

I announced the formal end of the Fifty Project in 2024.

Why? I now have the freedom to pursue other endeavors and do the last four lines on my own dime, my own time, and my own motivation. I am completely removing any pressure, because the last four lines are among some of the most challenging in the world.

—Cody Townsend