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.
As a freeskier, Townsend-a six-foot-one, 195-pound Sasquatch of a man-has spent his entire career helicoptering to the tops of powder-draped mountains in Alaska and British Columbia and wowing ski-film audiences by hucking himself artfully from towering cliffs. For the latest step in his progression, though, he's ditched the choppers, downshifted to human power, and embarked on an unprecedented quest, one that has consumed the past five years of his life. That brings us to rule number three: Ski 50 of the most daunting lines in North America, a mission that originated with a now mythic book.
この記事は GQ US の February 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は GQ US の February 2024 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
SHABOOZEY THE BIG SHA BANG
Shaboozey spent months at the tippy-top of the charts with a hit song about dealing with hard times the easy way: by hitting the bar. He sang on a couple songs with Beyoncé too. So we asked the one and only SHANIA TWAIN to help country's biggest new star make sense of his explosive year.
HANNAH EINBINDER BORN STANDING UP
With her star turn on Hacks, the comic turned actor has established herself as one of Hollywood's most exciting young talents-much to her own surprise.
Katt Williams The Man Who Opened The Portal
In January, the comic delivered an instantly iconic podcast interview that threw pop culture into crisis-and seemed to predict all manner of messy celebrity gossip to come. At home on his farm, Williams explains why he said what he said— and why he'd do it again, and again, and again....
JOHN DAVID & MALCOLM WASHINGTON A NEW HOLLYWOOD DYNASTY
The Washington brothers built their careers apart—until an irresistible project drew them together. In The Piano Lesson, they tackle a father's thorny legacy.
FUTURE & METRO BOOMIN'S HISTORIC Hit STREAK
What happens when the best rapper alive reunites with the hottest producer of the moment? You get a back-to-back-to-back run unlike any since the Beatles.
PHARRELL WILLIAMS Designer of the Year
Riding along from Paris to Hollywood to New York with the Louis Vuitton *men's creative director, whose prolific and often prophetic contributions to fashion, film, and music have once again thrust him to the center of the pop culture Venn diagram.
JOHN MULANEY. KID GORGEOUS GROWS UP
After immortalizing the whirlwind of the past four yearsrelapse, intervention, recovery-in his awardwinning standup special, John Mulaney has emerged as one of the most popular comedians on earth. For his next trick, he's embracing his surprising new role as a suburban dad.
DWAYNE JOHNSON THE WORLD'S BIGGEST Actor
It's hard for Dwayne Johnson to hide. Wherever he goes, there he is― as conspicuous out in the world as he is on the silver screen. But after two decades of playing a version of himself in huge movies, suddenly Dwayne Johnson is ready to do something entirely new: vanish.
How the WNBA Became the Most Fun, Complicated, and Exciting League in Sports
Caitlin Clark! A'ja Wilson! Angel Reese! This year, women's hoops emerged as a dominant popcultural force. But the road to sports-league supremacy has been long and winding. This is the inside story of how the W finally broke through.
A Companion for Your Wrist
Audemars Piguet's new release with artist Brian Donnelly, a.k.a. KAWS, brings high-art hype to the world of pop-watch collabs.
