Show Notes
Welcome to Season 2 Episode 2 of The High Route Podcast. There's a video clip on YouTube, back from 2014, cataloged by RedBull. You've likely seen it. Cody Townsend shimmies on his skis, perched above The Crack, which would become the best ski line of the year. A decade might as well be a lifetime ago. Since then, Townsend transitioned from ski movie staple to something more arduous and certainly less glamorous (we're biased), but maybe more fun—ski mountaineer. For those not tapped into the freeride or ski movie culture, Townsend came into our lives with his Fifty Project just at the right moment. Townsend and videographer (and badass skier) Bjarne Salen began The Fifty quest in 2019. For now, after three attempts at Mount St. Elias and 46 completed descents, the duo may call it good. That is neither news to many nor the point of the story. 2019 became 2020, which brought us into Covid lockdown. The Fifty became a needed spiritual go-to as social isolation became the norm. It is fair to say The Fifty became a part of the community's social fabric over the past five years. The project became the topic of many skin-track discussions and post-tour banter sessions. Although we're pretty certain his legal birth certificate has Cody Townsend emblazoned on it, he's one of those mononymous folks now, as if we've known him for years: "Cody."
In this episode of The High Route Podcast, we chat up Cody and get a brief intro to his ski career, but then swim into the deep end of ski mountaineering. We discuss style, the art of the jump turn, and mountain athlete inspiration.
If you are new to The High Route, we are a reader and listener-supported enterprise focusing on human-powered turn making. Our mission is simple, but it takes real deal calorie burning to piece it all together. We are also excited to announce Issue 1.0 of The High Route magazine is in the works. Fancy paper. Good reads. High-octane photos. And some fine mountain ranges. And turns. You can learn more about our subscription options here. The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Storms in the Hill Country and the album The Self Transforming (Thank you, Jens Langsjoen). You can find a link to the album here—there are so many good songs on this album. And if you think you’ve spotted a UFO in the past or visited the 7th dimension, “Beautiful Alien” is a good tune to start with. Thanks for listening, The High Route Team
More from The High Route Podcast
In this episode, we chat with mountain athlete—which, in this case, we’ll define as trail running and ski mo’er—Sarah Burke.
In this episode, we are excited to speak with Ryan Griffiths, an accomplished ski mountaineer and alpinist who, along with his partner Spencer Gray, was awarded a Piolet d’Or in 2025 for their climb of Kaqur Kangri’s Southwest Arête in Western Nepal.
In this episode we speak with journalist Mitch Tobin. Tobin co-directs the Water Desk at CU Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism, and he also publishes his own excellent newsletter, Snow.News. I first learned about Tobin’s work while seeking resources to better understand climate change and its impacts in the West. As skiers and riders, we like snow, and without it, well, life simply is not as good. After last season’s historically low snow totals, I thought it was time to get a grasp on the broader context of the 2025-2026 snow-water cycle. Also, just like everyone else, I wanted Tobin’s insights into the predicted Super El Nino. However, both Tobin and I are die-hards—we’d love an epic snow season, but Super El Nino or not, we are somewhat easy to please when it comes to snow conditions. And we should note, we read many resources covering the water and snow scenes when it comes to policy, climate, and weather—Tobin's work has set a very high bar. CU Water Desk Tobin's Snow.News If you are new to The High Route, we are a reader- and listener-supported enterprise focused on human-powered turn-making. Our mission is simple, but it takes real-deal calorie-burning to piece it all together. We’d like to thank Patagonia, ATK, Folkrm Poles, and Cripple Creek Bike and Backcountry for supporting us. We are also excited to announce that you can pre-order Issues 4 and 5 of our fine print journal (The High Route journal) on our site. Fancy paper. Good reads. High-octane photos. And some fine mountain ranges. And turns. You can learn more about our subscription options here. The theme music for The High Route Podcast comes from Bozeman-based band Jampoke. We are psyched to feature young creative folks. Jam and twirl and tour on.
While this is the first episode of the new season, it’s part two of an interview we did with Zahan Billimoria earlier in the summer. (That episode focused more on training, so if you are feeling out of sorts coming into the new season—give it a listen.) (While Zahan still occasionally guides, he runs Samsara Experience which features their Big Mountain Snow Safety Workshop. A class some of our readers and listeners might benefit from.) This episode stems from a talk I heard Zahan gave last winter in Tahoe—he spoke about learning how to become more of a naturalist as moves into and within the mountains. That concept resonated with me for a variety of reasons. One of the main reasons is that it remains a personal reminder to slow down: to do the listening and looking and hearing.
In this episode, we connect with Teton-based IFMGA guide and founder/coach at Samsara Experience, Zahan Billimoria. Samsara offers online and in-person training for aspiring and well-established mountain athletes. Over the years, whenever I’ve engaged with a story, film, or post about Zahan, I’ve been drawn in. There’s something about his message that is motivating. Having heard about Zahan for years, I found that the 2020 film Solving for Z: A Calculus of Risk provided a more complete backstory. (Definitely take the time to watch this film.) What we see in the film is a glimpse into a person’s complex relationship with the mountains. This is a two-part podcast, with this episode primarily focused on Samsara’s training principles. I stopped skiing on June 7th, and promptly began trail running. That, I know, is not a great idea. But maybe I'm stubborn. Anyhow, I needed some schooling about reengaging my body with a higher-impact endeavor and, believe it or not, getting prepped for the next touring season. Part two of my interview with Zahan will drop in early September. This second part explores Zahan's path to ski/ride touring like a naturalist. I saw Zahan speak last spring in Tahoe, and his talk centered on how he evolved as a ski/ride tourist and, many years into his career, ultimately embraced a naturalist's mindset while touring. That, assure you, is good stuff. While listening to Zahan speak about training for mountain sports, there is certainly an element of connectedness, too. It is not simply about a climb, ticking off a higher grade, or the next summit. Which, to be a bit self-serving, was what I needed to hear this offseason, as we begin the reboot.