Since hanging up his spandex from the ski racing of his childhood, Cody Townsend has found plenty of fresh lines in the backcountry. But when the competition bug came biting back, Cody found the perfect opportunity to blend both of his passions on the Freeride World Tour (FWT) and get himself on the podium.

After jumping back into the competition circuit this season, Townsend started with a bang by taking 1st place over a field of 120 men on the first stop of the FWT in Mammoth, California on January, 17th. Using this momentum throughout the season, Cody went on tour with FWT across the globe and competed in four more competitions leaving with top five finishes in all of them.

After starting the FWT with a bang it was only fitting that Cody wrapped it up with a podium finish. At the FWT finals in Verbier, Switzerland, Cody took away a 3rd place finish in an event that was dominated by team Salomon. Teammate Kaj Zackrisson walked away with a 1st place finish from Switzerland while fellow Salomon team member and girlfriend Elyse Saugstad also finished 1st to secure her overall FWT title for the women. With the competition energy back in full force this season, Cody walked away with a 5th overall finish in the FWT, one spot ahead of teammate Kaj to become only one of two Americans to finish in the top ten of the FWT.

With a busy and successful first half of the season behind him, Cody looks for much of the same while finishing up his season. “Competition has only been half of the season,” remarks Townsend. “I have been filming for Rage Films as much as humanly possible.” With a stacked first half of the season that is sometimes easier said than done. While filming with Rage Films in Tahoe and Utah in between competitions, Cody looks to finish his segment in the backcountry of Haines, Alaska with some beautiful big mountain filming. After returning from Alaska, Cody is scheduled to cross the pond and head to Norway and Sweden in search of more big mountain freshies.