THE HARDEST LINES

The world's most legendary freeskier is on a multiyear mission to become the first person to climb and ski down the 50 most storied routes in North America. But he's not that young anymore, and-inevitably-the mountains that remain just keep getting deadlier.

-  GRAYSON SCHAFFER

THE rules that govern the life of Cody Townsend, one of the greatest skiers on the planet, are pretty simple these days. Rule number one: Don't die. That's mandatory, especially now that Townsend and his wife, fellow world-class skier Elyse Saugstad, are parents to two-year-old Indiana. Rule number two: Have fun. That's pretty much a given when Townsend, a prolific star of extreme-skiing films, is flying down a mountain on two planks. Rule number three is where it gets interesting, because he's decided to do something that's never been done, or even attempted. Something almost unfathomable.

Townsend is a freeskier-a practitioner of a kind of alpine daredevilry that involves high-flying jumps and breakneck descents. The trouble with the discipline is that you're beholden to something known as "the progression," a driving force in the ski universe that requires each year's feats to be a little difficult, little more lex than what came before. The term gets mentioned in X Games commentary, social media posts, and ski magazines as part of the vernacular. And here's the thing about the progression: There are no stopwatches or judges in freeskiing. Athletes who progress stay relevant and get paid. Those who plateau fade away or become influencers. And Townsend was never going to fade away.