Ski Movies for the Coronapocalypse

We can’t ski or ride, but we can snuggle on the couch and watch skiing on our home screens. Here’s what to watch.

My initial plan for social distancing during this global coronavirus pandemic revolved around skiing. Goggles, neck gaiter, gloves. No bare skin showing. It seemed fool-proof. I would eat lunch in the van in the parking lot and pee in the woods. But for most people, there’s the lodge. The bathrooms. It was the right thing to do to lock down our skiing and riding, but we can all agree, it’s a monumental bummerfest.

As we’re moving from social distancing toward hunkering down and sheltering in place with our nuclear family, what’s a skier to do? I’m thinking box jumps in the basement and watching movies (with or without goggles on; you decide). And I’m not talking about the usual early-season pump-you-up ski flick from Warren Miller or TGR. That’s too cruel. I’m suggesting movies with plots that have killer ski scenes—more than one James Bond movie comes to mind—or maybe even slightly cringey ski movies that are good for a good chuckle (case in point Hot Dog, The Movie).

So, here’s playlist to watch during the coronapocalypse. The list runs the gamut from classic flicks from the ‘60s to ’80s cult movies. Pretend it’s après-ski. For the kids, make hot chocolates with whipped cream and sprinkles (we can’t get toilet paper, but surely there hasn’t been a run on Swiss Miss and Reddi Whip) and a nice cold IPA for the adults (hopefully you picked up a case of Guinness at Costco when you were scouring the aisles looking for TP).

Wear your neck gaiter if it makes you feel better. It’s one way to ride this thing out until we can ski again.

Aspen Extreme (1993) 

TJ Burke and Dexter Rutecki jettisoned their jobs in Detroit (Dexter worked in maintenance at Mount Brighton and TJ worked in an auto assembly plant) and road trip to Aspen, where they land coveted jobs as ski instructors. This movie came out the year I started as an editor at Skiing Magazine, so I have extra appreciation for the scene where TJ and Dexter flip through the pages of Skiing while driving to Aspen in their van.

The movie didn’t exactly get rave reviews when it debuted, but it has endured as a cult ski flick for its authenticity and the killer ski action. And the Glen Plake poster on the wall of their train car they end up living in (down by the river). And man-eating crevasses and avalanches.

More than a dozen locals and legends served as body doubles for the actors, including Scott Nichols, Doug Coombs, and Scot Schmidt. Local talent Lizzie Talenfeld filled in for Bryce Kellogg, the rich cougar who becomes TJs love interest.

Several stunt skiers were used to film the insane scene where TJ outruns the ski patrol by skiing over a cliff covered by a frozen waterfall. These skiers ability to rip steeps and huck cliffs on those skinny skis from the early 1990s is beyond impressive. Scenes were filmed at Aspen Highlands, Aspen Mountain, Snowmass, Telluride, and in British Columbia. Watch the movie and you’ll feel nostalgia for Powder 8 comps, 360 iron crosses, neon anoraks, and baggy one-piece suits. And for Aspen’s tanned Olympian Andy Mill, who plays himself as a Powder 8 commentator.

Downhill Racer (1969)

This iconic ski film was shot at European resorts such as Wengen, Val d’Isere (during the1968 Winter Olympics), and Kitzbühel, however there are also scenes from Boulder and Idaho Springs in Colorado. Downhill Racer stars Robert Redford as US Ski Team athlete Dave Chappelet, a cocky Olympic hopeful.

The original inspiration for Chappelet was Steamboat Springs’ Buddy Werner. But in 1968, Redford (along with screenplay writer James Salter) traveled to Europe to shadow the US Ski Team for research. As a result, the Chappelet character was also inspired by 1964 Olympic silver medal winner Billy Kidd (Steamboat’s iconic ambassador) and Spider Sabich, who raced on the World Cup from 1967 to 1970, moving from Boulder to Aspen in 1971. (Total sidebar: Sabich was later shot by his girlfriend, singer and actress Claudine Longet, while taking a shower in his Aspen home in 1976.)

The movie also stars Gene Hackman (as the coach), a character based loosely on legendary US Ski Team coach Bob Beattie. Evidently one of Hackman’s lines, “Tell him to uncork one,” was something Beattie would radio up to racers at the start house.

Film critic Roger Ebert called Downhill Racer “the best movie ever made about sports—without really being about sports at all.”

Molly’s Game (2017)

You probably know Jeremy Bloom, Olympic mogul skier and CU football player. But, did you know his sister was also U.S. Ski Team freestyle skier? Molly Bloom, however, is more well known for getting into hot water with the feds for running high-stakes poker games. Based on her true story, with Jessica Chastain playing Molly, the movie starts out with a riveting scene of a World Cup mogul run—what goes into and what can go wrong, including a spectacular slow-mo career-ending crash that, P.S., didn’t actually happen in real life. Dramatic flourish or no, I watched that scene five times.

The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

It’s no surprise James Bond, international man of mystery, is a crackerjack skier. Ian Fleming, who brought the character to life in his novels, lived in Kitzbühelin the 1920s. As such, skiing is a recurring theme in James Bond movies. There are too many Bond movies with ski action to name, but the ski scene in the 1977 Roger Moore classic, The Spy Who Loved Me, is legendary.

Bond leaves his latest lady friend in mountainside cabin high in the Alps to outrun gun-toting Russians (the scene was actually filmed on Canada’s Baffin Island). Bond twists his ski pole to activate the gun feature and shoot the baddie behind him while—get this—skiing switch (long before switch was even a thing). Then Bond skis backwards and hucks a backflip off a small cliff. The scene culminates when Bond launches off an enormous cliff, kicks off his skis, falls for what seems like forever, then rips the cord on a Union Jack parachute to float to safety. Cue the theme music.  

For Your Eyes Only (1981)

This 007 flick, with Roger Moore again playing Bond, features a daring ski chase set in a bobsled run. The scene was filmed on the bobsled track near Italy’s Cortina d’Ampezzo and was directed by Willy Bogner, Jr., a filmmaker, cameraman, former German ski racer, and son of Maria and Willy Bogner, Sr. (Sidebar: Maria Bogner is credited with inventing the stretch pant.)

The younger Bogner worked on James Bond films from 1969 through 1985 (including The Spy Who Loved Me, mentionedabove). It’s no coincidence that Roger Moore wore Bogner suits in most of the Bond movies. In this movie’s epic ski chase scene, Bond clicks into a pair of Olin Mark VIs (a rare product placement) and is chased by villains on motorbikes. The heroic British M16 secret agent clotheslines one of his pursuers by wedging a ski pole between two trees before dropping into the bobsled track. Eventually Bond jumps out of the bobsled track, flies over a cow, skis across the snow-covered roof of a barn, and then crashes.

Better off Dead (1985)

This romantic teen comedy starring John Cusack as Layne Mayer is a worth watching, even without the hilarious skiing scenes. It’s a campy classic with cringey lines like the one from the pretty exchange student, Monique, [in a French accent]: “All you’ve got to do eez go that way [pointing down] very fast. If something gets in your way, turn.”

Mayer’s girlfriend dumps him for the captain of the high school ski team. He considers suicide, but eventually (instead) challenges his rival with ski team tryouts, culminating with a daring ski down the “K-12,” an infamously steep and dangerous local run (that likely riffs on Squaw’s KT-22, thought the skiing was actually filmed at Snowbird in Utah).

Our favorite part of the movie is the paperboy Johnny Gasparini (played by Demian Slade), who haunts Mayer throughout the movie to pay up a $2 paper delivery debt. “I want my $2!!” The pièce de résistance: when the paperboy chases Mayer down the slopes on a ski bike, demanding his $2. Frank Beddor, author, actor, and former world champion freestyle skier played Cusack’s ski stunt double.

Streif, One Hell of a Ride (2014)

This Red Bull documentary gives an inside look at Kitzbühel’s Hahnenkamm, narrated by Streif winners Daron Rahlves and Didier Cuche. Cutting-edge camera angles offer a new perspective on the World Cup’s scariest downhill course.

Hot Dog, The Movie (1984)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgY20u1AWVo

This is another classic must-see 1980s movie that promise a high cheese factor. The trailer even calls it “the demise of good taste.”

Ski Patrol (1990)

If you get desperate, there’s Ski Patrol. Common Sense media calls it: “An inane ’90s comedy with strong language, lots of slapstick.”

Chalet Girl (2011)

This rom-com is about a skateboarder from the wrong side of the tracks (played by Felicity Jones) who goes to Chamonix to make money as a chalet girl. She learns to snowboard and falls in love with one of the guests. The New York Times movie reviewer Rachel Saltz pointed out that leading man Ed Westwick (the love interest) “looks good in ski clothes; everyone else looks like a stuffed animal.” So, there’s that.

Frozen (2010)

To be clear, this is not movie with Elsa, Anna, and Olaf. This thriller is about three friends who ride the last chair up the mountain but the lift stops and the mountain shuts down before they unload, forcing them to spend the night on the chairlift. (It’s been known to happen….)

Frostbite, broken ankles, and wolves. It’s your worst nightmare on the slopes. Frozen is to skiing what Jaws was to swimming. The New York Times called it: “A minimalist setup delivers maximum fright in Frozen, a nifty little chiller that balances its cold terrain with an unexpectedly warm heart.”

Free Ski Movies

If you do want to watch ski movies (not just movies with skiing), Matchstick Productions (MSP) offers some of its films for free here, including McConkey (2013), Claim (2008), and Attack of La Niña (2011).

https://matchstickpro.com/category/the-vault

You can find free vintage Warren Miller movies on the company’s website, like Higher Ground (2005) and Playground (2007)

https://warrenmiller.com/higher-ground-2005-watch-for-free

https://warrenmiller.com/playground-2007-watch-for-free

And Teton Gravity Research (TGR) also streams many of its movies at no charge. (You just need to sign up to be a Stash member, but there’s no cost.)

https://www.tetongravity.com/films/watch

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