BURSTCody Townsend, Tommy Caldwell, and Bjarne Salén have completed the first-ever winter ski traverse of Norman’s 13 in California, a traverse that links 13 of the highest peaks in California’s Sierra Nevada.
The current fastest time of Norman’s 13 was accomplished by Kilian Jornet in September 2025 in two days, 8 hours and 11 minutes. It was Jornet’s traverse that inspired Townsend. “Seeing the headlines and stories made me dive deeper into the route itself,” Townsend reported on Coros. “It was pretty quick that I realized the summer route connected a ton of great ski lines, and with the right conditions, it would not just be a peak-bagging trip but a journey filled with skiing, suffering, and great climbing… three aspects that make for epic adventures.”
Townsend recruited Salén and Caldwell, with Caldwell saying, “Seems to be that people call me when they want to do painful things… which I love. When somebody awesome invites you to do something cool, you just have to say yes. This being primarily a skiing trip, it didn’t really fit into my normal wheelhouse, but luckily, I have enough experience and can contribute with the climbing bits.”
Caldwell, Townsend and Salén experienced extreme conditions that ranged from nearly perfect to inconsistent. At one point, they had to shift to a nighttime schedule due to unstable snow, waking at 2 a.m. to travel before conditions worsened. On day three, Townsend said the pain from all the movement felt “like being stabbed… with thousands of hot needles.” It took them eight days to complete with the final day requiring 24 hours of skiing and climbing over technical terrain.
In order of elevation, they are: Mount Whitney (4,421 m), Mount Williamson (4,383 m), North Palisade (4,343 m), Starlight Peak (4,340 m), Mount Sill (4,316 m), Polemonium Peak (4,292 m), Mount Russell (4,296 m), Split Mountain (4,287 m), Mount Langley (4,277 m), Mount Tyndall (4,275 m), Mount Muir (4,273 m), Middle Palisade (4,273 m), and Thunderbolt Peak (4,270 m).
It covers over 160 kilometres (101 miles) with around 12,000 metres (39,000 feet) of elevation gain.
The name Norman’s 13 pays tribute to Norman Clyde, a legendary mountaineer who made over 130 first ascents.
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