For the past five years longtime professional skier Cody Townsend has been on a quest to ski North America's 50 classic ski descents. The journey, which he documents in serialized YouTube videos, has brought Townsend and friends to peaks familiar and remote, from just outside Aspen to just inside the Arctic Circle. Needless to say, such high-octane pursuits call for gear that's equal to the challenges involved, putting Townsend in a unique position of knowing what works and what doesn't, down to stitches and buckles. For this very reason Maine-based Hyperlite Mountain Gear brought Townsend on to help in the design process of its latest ultralight backcountry backpack, the HMG Crux 40, available as of today, 26 September 2023.
Like all Hyperlite packs, the ski mountaineering-focused Crux uses ultralight, ultra-strong Dyneema fabrics as its foundational material—it also includes a suite of clever features requested by Townsend for alpine adventures like his. Features like special strapping for carrying skis or a snowboard along with ice axes, internal sleeves for avalanche gear, a removable lid and hip belt, and an all-important rear-access zippered panel—a first for any Hyperlite Mountain Gear design.
It's clear in conversation with Townsend that a pack is more than a list of features, though.
"A backpack is your ticket to ride, your authorization of admittance in the backcountry," Townsend tells Field Mag. "In a place governed by Mother Nature, the gear you bring along is the gear that you need for comfort, execution, and survival."
Getting from philosophy to finished product is no simple feat. So we decided to dive in deeper. In the below interview, Townsend provides a look under the lid, so to speak, at how he and the Hyperlite Mountain Gear team made it happen in the Crux 40.