Many are called but few are chosen to join the canon of truly great ski films. The following are essential viewing for anyone taking the ‘hold-your-nose’ plunge into the deep crevasse of ski nuttery. (As an aside, Red Bull TV has tonnes of excellent stuff, as does the Matchstick Productions hub ‘The Vault’.)
Top ten: Essential viewing (in rough order)
1. Gnar: the movie (link)
GNAR stands for Gaffney’s Numerical Assessment of Radness and is an extremely silly game where skiers try to (ironically) one-up everyone else on the mountain (telling strangers that you’re the best skier on the mountain, calling your mom while sending a crazy line … you get the idea). Filmed at the iconic Squaw Valley resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) GNAR: the movie is a unique blend of humour and extreme skiing. Without watching this, much ski-banter will go sailing way over your head.
2. Claim (link)
Self-proclaimed ‘The Greatest Ski Movie of All Time’, Claim is everything you want from a ski movie. Unbelievable skiing, great soundtrack and plenty of tongue in cheek humour. As with several of these ski films, it comes from the famous Matchstick Productions studio. Look out for the section with Shane McConkey, aka ‘Saucer Boy’ (which will make sense of one of the jokes in GNAR)!
3. Blizzard of Ahhs (link)
A classic in the ski film genre, Blizzard of Ahhs takes viewers on a high-energy ride, showcasing some of the world’s best skiers ‘shredding the gnar’ down epic mountains. It was the first of it’s kind, so a piece of history, and features plenty of ‘rad’ turns and epically failed 80s backflips.
4. ‘Ski Twist’ (link)
I’m going to slip in Hansee Hinterseer’s pop hit Ski Twist as an all-skiing, all-dancing, all-yodelling palette-cleaner and to lend a European flavour to the top of the list.
5. Hotdog: the movie (link)
This is a rather racy attempt at a ‘proper’ ski film, though the narrative (a young hotshot skier aims to win the championships, and his sweetheart) is pretty subordinate to the rest of the action. The film combines impressive freestyle skiing, ski ballet and outrageous cultural stereotyping (watch out for Rudy, the Austrian baddie, and his henchmen). The Chinese Downhill at the end of the film is one of the iconic moments in ski film history. Fernie, in BC, Canada, where I did my ski season, has an annual Hotdog Day on 1 April, where everyone dons 80s garb and spends the day messing around on the mountain.
6. Daicho Hara’s double-backflip mogul run (link)
If in trouble, tuck for double….
7. Apocalypse Snow, le film (1-4) (link and channel)
A niche but engrossing four-part series of increasingly ridiculous monoski chases through the French Alps.
8. Laurie Taylor’s vlogs (link)
Laurie Taylor is one of GB’s best ever slalom skiers and posts a regular series of vlogs called ‘Behind the Brits’, giving mere mortals an insight into what they get up to in the GB ski camp, both on and off the slopes. Britain’s other top two slalom skiers, Dave ‘the Rocket’ Ryding and Billy Major, also feature heavily.
9. Shane McConkey documentary (link) (and There’s Something about McConkey – link)
This 2013 documentary delves into the life and legacy of Shane McConkey, a true pioneer and legend in the world of extreme skiing (which, incidentally, he essentially invented by strapping on a pair of waterskis and jumping off a cliff). Watch out for when he threads a piece of spaghetti through his nose and out of his mouth.
10. Skiing in colour with Marcel Hirscher (link)
A more modern one, this, featuring the all-time GOAT Marcel Hirscher, skiing a quite unusual slalom run.
The end
Thanks for reading! Some other good bits of content that didn’t quite make the top 10:
- 1999: a Film by Scott Gaffney (link)
- Candide Thovex – Few Words (link)
- Days of My Youth (ski film)
- Huck Yeah! (ski film)
- World record rail attempt (link)
PS I’m the best skier on the mountain 😉
Rupert Swallow 