Most extreme line ever, or media hype?

It seems Cody Townsend's line is making free skiing a mainstream sport. I have now seen his line strewed across several social media sites, ESPN, and he even has people from various network channels asking him for interviews on his Facebook page. What is it about his line that is potentially going to make him a household name. It seems like I have seen many more lines much more difficult even by some posters on TAY. Was it the speed? Is it the aesthetics of the line?

Impressive? Yes. More worthy of gaining mainstream media attention, fame, and money? Personally, I think the footage from the first video I will post a link to is far more impressive than the second link, Cody Townsend's line. For one, the skier in the first video is essentially skiing exposed terrain on icy conditions!



Now the the video for the most extreme line?

It's the controversy that a pair of snowboarders might have ridden in first that's piqued my interest:
www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.p...=4374208#post4374208

Well, that and the fact that the line is straight down through a col barely wider than his shoulders...

extreme, like almost any word, is a signifier. To pinpoint what exactly the signified is can be a bit subjective...

Not to mention "most extreme" which sounds more like a copy editor's idea of how to get more hits than any grounding in reality.

And since you mention mainstream, it seems to me that if a line veers towards powder and aesthetics it's going to have a lot more appeal than ice and rocks.

I mean what would you rather ski?

I'd go for that powdery tubed line over ice and rocks any day, extreme be damned.

Call it whatever you like, but I think we can all agree: that line, at that speed, took balls of steel.

Edit: watched the OP's first video. Right there are some more steely balls. Wow!

A combination of things...
First, it's content generation, planed by the athlete and sponsors with the hopeful intention of going viral. Then it's the way it was captured. It doesn't mater if it has been skied or ridden before (except perhaps to those who did it). It's impressive none the less...
Donnelly, we need to ski together again, it's been what, 10 years or something?

media hype.
I was an extreme line caught on camera. Oh, and with a helicopter. Still insane.

There are more extreme lines skied without capturing it on a camera.