Ski Glove Tips: Cody Townsend's Hand Warming Mashup Guide | Gear Fans

2021-11-12 09:59:33 By : Ms. Alina Peng

October 18, 2021 | Sponsored Post

We checked the progress of Cody Townsend skiing on the 50 toughest routes in North America and the gloves he used throughout the mission.

Cody Townsend has been an athlete at Hestra Gloves for nearly 12 years. He was one of the first members of the brand's North American team. At that time, Hestra Seth Morrison Pro Model was the glove he remembered people talking about.

Now, he has chosen a pair of gloves as his partner in the most challenging ski mountaineering activity on the African continent.

Townsend is about to complete The Fifty project, which is his "trying to climb and ski the 50 most challenging, beautiful and classic cross-country skiing lines in North America."

This is a great feat, and it is also a feat where the quality gear works. It turns out that his field experience has fine-tuned the way he protects his hands under various conditions.

Due to the recent travel restrictions last year, his pursuit of ski mountaineering slowed down, and he had to change his approach as he sketched more goals on a dwindling list.

Three years later, Townsend completed 36 lines. He did it 20 times in the first year, 10 times in the second year, and 6 times in the travel interrupted by the coronavirus earlier this year.

When the project started, he asked most of the western states and British Columbia to monitor and plan.

“Earlier, what I did was map the difficulty of each route and figure out what snow quality—such as avalanche conditions and/or coverage—is needed to ski the route,” he explained. "Then when January came, I was just checking the weather and the avalanche forecast."

Chasing conditions at the first thought, Townsend might go hiking in Colorado. Recently, as the number of rows left on his list is decreasing, he is mainly pursuing stability in the snow. For example, for most of last season, the harsh conditions caused by early snow kept Townsend away from Colorado. He completed his last game in Colorado in April.

This year, he has only 14 of the 50 people left, and he no longer has the option of "unlimited self-help". He said that he must learn to turn off his brain and enjoy this position while waiting for the right conditions.

In fact, the remaining routes have become logistical challenges not just for skiing.

"Generally speaking, the skiing part is easy. This is research, collecting betas, understanding mountains, lines and snow," he explained.

"Especially in new areas where I don't know much about the area or snow. A lot of concentrated learning is needed in a short period of time to find these very complicated, large and usually very dangerous routes."

So far, he has relied on the support of the local community to complete this project, especially so quickly. "This is probably the coolest part, and I am very grateful to everyone who helped me through the difficulties," Townsend said.

If you follow The Fifty online, you will see that he crossed out most of his remaining lines in the continental United States. He has one route left. His goal this season is to cross as many defenses as possible in British Columbia, while keeping a close eye on Alaska's defenses.

These are the three most daunting challenges he faces. "Some of the biggest and most burly challenges, key lines, are still imminent."

As a professional player, Townsend understands his body's heat regulation-and he knows how to stay ahead on cold hands. After all, it takes more energy to catch up with the warmth. Similarly, it takes time to learn how to avoid sweating through pads.

You cannot teach it; it comes from experience.

Over the years, he wore Hestra gloves on large mountain skiing adventures and developed a layering system. He uses the same principles to layer your body and apply them to his hands.

"On any important day in the mountains, when you cover a lot of'vertical' and a lot of mileage, you basically want three levels of protection and thermal regulation," Townsend said.

His system starts with three different gloves, starting with lightweight Merino gloves for high output and low altitude. Then, as soon as the cold hits, he will wear standard mid-range gloves. Finally, in higher exposure areas, especially after sweating, he will protect them with hard shell materials.

"The problem is that the system needs to carry three kinds of gloves. When you go on these ski mountaineering adventures, you pay a lot of attention to weight and backpacks," he said. "You don't want to bring tons of things. Your backpack can't fit it, it will only slow you down."

He experimented with Hestra's gloves and found a way to combine three gloves into one.

Townsend found a solution in the existing Hestra glove series. He took the liner from the pair and used it for the tour. When climbing in warm weather, Townsend uses Hestra Merino Touch Point lining when climbing in warm weather, or Touch Point Fleece lining when climbing in colder weather.

Either way, as soon as he had to dip his hands in the snow and climb the steep slope near the top of the mountain, the pad would return to a pair of classic leather gloves. His personal favorite is Hestra Fält Guide Glove.

Then, if the weather is extremely cold or if he stops for lunch, he will put on the gloves that are the shell of the system. He explained that the Hestra Pull Over Mitt case is super light and easy to pack, but it does a good job of blocking wind, snow and humidity.

At the beginning of The Fifty project, Townsend tried to use gloves and quickly chose Fält Guide Glove. Of course, as a sponsored athlete, he can get a pair of new shoes at any time, but his goal is to use the same pair of shoes to complete the project. Now entering their third season, he said the gloves "have become weathered, worn, and super comfortable."

He said that part of the reason is not wanting to waste, but it is also a way to demonstrate the durability of gloves. After all, this is the primary reason that attracted him to cooperate with Hestra.

This article is sponsored by Hestra. Find more Hestra gloves to complement your winter sports.

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