From the crater of Badwater Basin to the top of Mt. Whitney, Townsend and Honnold will gain nearly 14,800 feet of elevation by human power alone — or will they?
What does it take to link the basest patch of dry land to the highest mountain in the lower 48 states? That’s what endurance athlete Cody Townsend and climber Alex Honnold find out in episode 30 of The FIFTY series.
The FIFTY series chronicles Townsend’s attempts to climb and ski every passage found in “The 50 Classic Ski Descents of North America.” Joined this time by Honnold, Townsend’s latest schlep-fest follows the mountains as they bike 135 miles from Badwater Basin’s -282-foot elevation to the 14,505-foot-tall Mt. Whitney. Then they climb and ski down Whitney’s fabled “Mountaineer’s Route.”
“I feel uncomfortable and unhappy,” remarks Honnold, roughly halfway through the episode.
Take in some of California’s most exceptional views, and see if the elite pair can complete what, in the words of Townsend, is “the dumbest idea ever” in “Badwater Basin to Mt. Whitney Summit.”
