Cody Townsend Confronts the Hard Questions Behind a Life in the Mountains With New Film "The Edge of Reason" - SnowBrains

"For twenty years, Cody Townsend has been known as one of the most gifted skiers alive. His career spans everything from high-speed freeride films to one of the most iconic descents ever captured on camera-his line through " The Crack" in Alaska, a straight-line through a sliver of rock that etched his name on the wall of skiing's greatest lore."

"His new film, The Edge of Reason, leaves an audience quiet when the credits roll. It's sobering and heartfelt. But it was never supposed to be the kind of movie. "It's not your typical ski movie," Townsend told me on a phone interview. "But skiing can be a platform for a lot of good storytelling. Sometimes the sport makes you look at life, you know, kind of like some big questions.""

"Townsend wanted a joyous return to fast, playful skiing, like that which had shaped the early years of his career. "This was supposed to be called Return to Speed," he said. "I wanted to go back to ski some pow, ski kind of freeride-style lines again; the ultimate goal was to ski sick lines and have fun." So he teamed up with Nikolai Schirmer, widely considered one of the strongest ski mountaineers in the world today."

Cody Townsend has spent twenty years building a career across high-speed freeride films and iconic descents like his line through " The Crack" in Alaska. He pursued The Fifty project, attempting the Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America, experiencing triumph, failure, exhaustion, victory, and heartbreak. Having completed almost all lines, he shifted focus to less objective-based projects. The Edge of Reason captures a sobering, heartfelt turn, using skiing as a platform for large life questions. The project began as Return to Speed, a joyous return to fast, playful skiing, but plans changed after teaming with Norwegian mountaineer Nikolai Schirmer for big backcountry runs.

Read at SnowBrains