Do you remember the first ski movie you watched? Maybe it was a Warren Miller film in a high school auditorium or Hot Dog…The Movie from a friend’s 1980s bean bag or a TGR flick seen back when VCRs still existed. Regardless, it was likely a memorable experience. Ski movies transport us—into the mountains, into winter, into a whimsical way of life. “A good ski film locks those moments in time,” freestyle ski pioneer Glen Plake says. “They’re like time machines. It’s an opportunity for us to go to that place at that time with those skiers and ride along on the journey with them.”
There’s no bad time of year to watch a ski movie, but there’s a reason new shred flicks tend to premiere just before winter hits: they get us excited for the snow-filled season ahead. We asked Plake and pro skier Cody Townsend, both of whom have appeared in dozens of ski films over the years, to help us pick the best classic ski movies to rewatch—or see for the first time. One note: the movies listed here are classics and were made before the recent movement to improve representation and accessibility in the outdoor industry. Which means they may feel, for lack of better terms, excessively male and very white. Be sure to cue up newer movies too, like 2020’s Paha Sapa, last year’s Mountain Revelations, and The Approach 2, which premiered this fall, for a wider sampling of snowsports athletes.