Top Ski Films last 10 years

[thefrush]

Poor Boyz - Reasons

[adrenalated]

Steep
Swift Silent Deep
All I Can
TGR: The Big One, Soul Purpose, Under the Influence, One For the Road
MSP: Yearbook, Attack of La Nina, Focused, Claim

[capulin overdrive]

Swift Silent Deep

All I Can

McConkey



Pretty much over the big lines and flippy spinny, so apprehensive to even give things a look, or atleast to spend money blindly.

[WaistDeepGroomers]

Few Words - Candide Thovex. Mindblowingly good.

Was bummed the "character study" aspect of the film never got very deep. I know Candide loves to not talk and all, but goddamn he's human and we want to connect with him as a human.. but instead he didn't say a word the entire film. Bummed me out. But the skiing was ridiculous, no surprises there.

44 Days is another good Ostness movie that was fun from years back:



Here's Teddybear Criss as well:



For pure soul shredding, Sweetgrass's Japan film, Signatures, was awesome. I thought Valhalla was an amazing experience too, first time I'd ever found the "story" in a ski movie to be succesful. But yeah, not a compilation of ski porn bangers by any stretch.

[capulin overdrive]

Signatures was a flop in my book, and one I wish I had my money back on. Circle jerking over a guy carving wood boards, doesn't = soul shredding.

[LiveLarger]

"Supervention" and "Being There" from Field Productions.

Edit: I also liked "The Dream factory" a lot too.

[Bobcat Sig]

They've been covered, but my favorites; Claim, Superheroes of Stoke, The Dream Factory, Ski Movie, The Way I See It, McConkey, Something about McConkey, Global Storming, Aspen Extreme and P-Tex, Lie & Duct Tape.

[glademaster]

Was bummed the "character study" aspect of the film never got very deep. I know Candide loves to not talk and all, but goddamn he's human and we want to connect with him as a human.. but instead he didn't say a word the entire film. Bummed me out. But the skiing was ridiculous, no surprises there.

That is precisely why I enjoyed the movie. I don't want or need to hear a "mountain athlete" muse on the meaning of life. Broken English bro-losiphy might be the only thing less palatable than the standard 2 millimeter deep thoughts ski movie producers inexplicably think people want to hear from athletes. If I'm not watching a ski movie on mute, it is likely to make fun of the idiocy spewing from the mouths of the people on screen.

[joetron]

Wahsatch Powder Productions 0 Altavision - Andy Gardner pioneering skiing at night during a Alta Storm. Roner ski base Hellgate

!!!!!!


Some the best pow footage evar. It's on you tube.

Whichever TGR movie opens with Sage and For whom the Bell Tolls. Maybe my all time favorite segment

[raisingarizona13]

That is precisely why I enjoyed the movie. I don't want or need to hear a "mountain athlete" muse on the meaning of life. Broken English bro-losiphy might be the only thing less palatable than the standard 2 millimeter deep thoughts ski movie producers inexplicably think people want to hear from athletes. If I'm not watching a ski movie on mute, it is likely to make fun of the idiocy spewing from the mouths of the people on screen.

I don't think any ski movies that I have seen capture very much about athletes and anything deeper than the bro blah talk. Maybe it's just that with most of the pro's it is likely they have lived a "charmed" life and without any struggles it's difficult to develop an interesting story.

I did like that movie about Hunter Wood and his inner conflict with being a ski bum in contrast with the family and societal pressures to do something else. I'm drawing a blank on the title right now.

Found it.

http://1mountainmovie.com/

[spook]

no love for sweetgrass' signatures? i haven't seen a lot but it's a lot better than most that i have seen. i'd post the clip but i don't know how to do it on this new fangled version of tgr.

[dookeyXXX]

Was bummed the "character study" aspect of the film never got very deep. I know Candide loves to not talk and all, but goddamn he's human and we want to connect with him as a human..

lack of character development is a major flaw in 99.9% of ski films. then again they are referred to as "ski porn" for a reason (i.e. all money shots and no plot/story).

i, personally, like a little insight into the skiers/riders minds (I don't need "bro-philosophy" as somebody referred to it, but I like to feel a connection to the folks in the film). Greg Stump managed to do this superbly in Blizzard of Ahhhs (I think the combo of voiceover, letting the skiers talk, and having a small crew--Plake, Schmidt, Hatrup--aided in the success of the film).

Most of the recent big budget ski films fall into the Michael Bay category to me: lots of "explosions", little exposition. Don't get me wrong, I like explosions, but after awhile you need a little character development and a good story to even things out.

But I digress.

For me, I have enjoyed the following:

Signatures
I liked the story revolving around the Japanese surfboard shaper and noboard maker. I also liked how they followed all 4 seasons showing the transition from snowsports to shoulder season. I think Sweetgrass really nailed it with this film in terms of having a distinct theme and sticking to it throughout the film.

Solitaire
I enjoyed how Sweetgrass showed skiers skiing real conditions ranging from slush to ice to sleet to pow. They got out and filmed skiing rather than sitting around the lodge waiting for perfect bluebird epic days.

AK The Hard Way
This lowkey flick focuses on a group of pretty much everyday skiers from the Bay Area, Tahoe, and Washington making a road trip to Alaska via van, doing what Mike Watt would call a "tour spiel". Solid film with strong human elements.

http://www.adventurefilmworks.com/


Elevation
IMHO this is the best Powderwhore production to date. They went to some off-the-beaten track places, had some great recurring comedy segments (Rules of the Backcountry). Again, much more low-key and character driven than the bigger budget ski pornos. Oh yeah, features alpine, tele, and snowboarding, so they cover the gamut.

Deeper
I have never been on a snowboard, but this is easily one of the best snowsports movies, IMHO, in recent memory. One main character, a pretty simple story, and lots of insight into the mind of JJ. The segment where he is atop an icey coulouir in France is gripping.

The JP Auclair Segment in All.I.Can
I haven't seen the entire film, but I've watched the JP street segment a dozen times. Still one of the best shot, best edited ski segments I've ever seen.

[rockcreek]

straight up ski porn?
-War
- Light the Wick. forget the stupid 3d, Sage's crevasse gap is all time...

[drowninsnow]

Into the Mind and Claim are my favorites. Both are very different and Claim has great music, shots, and some humor.

[Altaholic]

Not enough love for 'Few Words', watching that you see how amazing and all around skier Candide Thovex is. He all about sending it with style, not about the fluff. It is amazing seeing his transformation from a park skier to a big mountain skier that won the 2010 Freeride World Tour.

[Full Stoke George]

G.N.A.R
Can't go past the fun loving lolz from this movie. Different and much more fun loving than most serious ski movies.

All I Can - Sherpas Cinema
Amazing, JP's segment of course but the whole thing is incredible.

Few Words
Im also bummed you dont get much info about Candie, and i think you hear him talk all of one sentence the whole movie. Kida sucked but you really cant go past the skiing. This guy is amazing.

Focused - MSP
Seth's HUGE backflip when it zooms out and shows half the mountain he just hucked is still one of my favourite segments. Old school gold. What ever happened to Jon McMurray??

Superheroes of Stoke - MSP
Really think the title says it all. All the big guns come out to play!

Supervention
Wow. The whole thing is incredible, i think its the filming that really makes this one my favourite ski movie. Ive watched it 3 times and each time im glued to the screen for the full 2 hours.

Valhalla - Sweetgrass
So different, sometimes hard to get into but watch it for what it is and not what you 'think' you want it to be.

The Art of Flight - Red Bull
HD. Thats all you need to know. Best Snow porn. I still prefer Supervention as it is more a complete package. This has some sick shots dont get me wrong, like one spine that pops on Rice, probably would have been the end of him.

Further - TGR
Love the mountaineering/snowboarding from one of the top athletes in big mountain. Hard to go past the trilogy, but i have not seen higher yet so cant really comment.

Let Me Take You To The Mountain - GoPro
Technically not really a movie i guess. But it epitomizes the joy that is shredding down a mountain. Here, have it for free.

[summit]

TGR High Life, Mind the Addiction
MSP Ski Movie 3, Year Book
Teddy Bear Crisis

[Name Redacted]

I think that MSP 'Ski Movie' 1&2 was the first time that I realized that ski movies could be entertaining. Those two blew my mind, mainly because up until then, I had been raised on a healthy diet of skate and snowboard films and never thought that ski films could be anything more than Warren Miller flicks. I think that was more than 10 years ago though.

I'm just not that into many of these new artsy-fartsy films with a bunch of slowmo, closeups and scenic shots with sometimes questionable music. I watch the films to get hyped up, and believe it or not, deep pow turns are fun in real life, but pretty boring to watch in a movie. I fell asleep in the theatre during Signatures.

The Deeper-Further-Higer series has been pretty good too. Not so much as a ski film, but more as a story telling series.

[Bobcat Sig]

Whichever TGR movie opens with Sage and For whom the Bell Tolls. Maybe my all time favorite segment

I must know the name of this flick so that I might procure such a masterpiece.

EDIT: Found it. High Life. http://www.tetongravity.com/video/sk...sode13-1727915

[TahoeJ]

Anything but The Recruitment. Dear god that was awful...

I would say some of the Nimbus films are right up there - love some of those En Route webisodes - and all available on Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/nimbus

[WaistDeepGroomers]

Anything but The Recruitment. Dear god that was awful...

I would say some of the Nimbus films are right up there - love some of those En Route webisodes - and all available on Vimeo. https://vimeo.com/nimbus

What was the deal with the recruitment?

[peck257]

tangerine dream has always been one of my favs....I still have the soundtrack playlist

no wm fans??

[LightRanger]

no wm fans??

I always dug the JHMR segment in Freeriders. I always look, but it's not up on Youtube. I have the DVD in the library. Maybe I'll rip that bit and throw it up.

[NoPostholio]

Steep
Swift silent deep
Few words
Higher
Tempting fear

[iceman]

Sinners

(11 years but still)