A ski film is a motion picture with sequences of expedition, recreation, competition, or acrobatic exhibition on snow

skis Skis are runners, attached to the user's feet, designed to glide over snow. Typically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partially secured heel. For climbing slopes, ski skins can ...

. These non-fiction action sport films capture the experience of an athletic outdoor snow sporting culture. Ski films typically present one or more techniques (

ski jumping Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final ...

, cross-country, downhill, freestyle), locations, or skiers (expert, celebrity or novice). Categories include the feature, documentary of competition or other event coverage (such as a snow festival or sportscast), instruction or technique demonstration, retrospective history, travel guide showcasing a region, or a

short subject A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film or ...

(such as a

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

or included in a

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news, news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a Movie theater, cinema, newsreels were a source of cu ...

). More than 200 such videos debuted in 2006. Notable examples are listed at the Ski and Snowboard Film Institute, or have received awards from the International Ski Film Festival, X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival, IF3 International Freeski Film Festival, ''Newschoolers'' magazine, Cold Smoke Winter Film, ''Powder'' magazine, or similar.

Feature film

Feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature recognition, could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (machine learning), in statistics: individual measurable properties of the phenome ...

-length entertainment films about

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

, skiers, and the ski lifestyle, shot in actual locations around the world and featuring the best skiers of the day, have been released annually since 1938. Although not distributed through normal film channels, these movies were first exhibited on the resort, club, film festival and ski show circuit and are now available via

internet video Internet video (also known as online video) is digital video that is distributed over the internet. Internet video exists in several formats, the most notable being MPEG-4i AVC, AVCHD, FLV, and MP4. There are several online video hosting s ...

home video Home video is recorded media sold or Video rental shop, rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD and Blu-ray. ...

. Many features include sequences of other mountain, airborne, water, or speed sports.

Slow motion Slow motion (commonly abbreviated as slow-mo or slo-mo) is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger in the early 20th century. This can be accomplished through the use ...

and

time-lapse Time-lapse photography is a technique in which the frequency at which film frames are captured (the frame rate) is much lower than the frequency used to view the sequence. When played at normal speed, time appears to be moving faster and th ...

effects and skier

point of view shot A point-of-view shot (also known as POV shot, first-person shot or subjective camera) is a film scene—usually a short one—that is shot as if through the eyes of a character (the subject). The camera shows what the subject's eyes would see. ...

s have been used in ski films since the first features of Dr. Fanck. Many film makers release a film early in the ski season, with content recorded in the past season or two. The following list is a chronology of prolific feature production companies or directors with numerous ski films over the indicated time span.

Feature-length film series

*annual Bergfilme of

Arnold Fanck Arnold Fanck (6 March 1889 – 28 September 1974) was a German film director and pioneer of the mountain film genre. He is best known for the extraordinary alpine footage he captured in such films as '' The Holy Mountain'' (1926), '' The White H ...

, documentary and dramas (1920–1931) *Victor Coty ski films (1933–1969) *Frank Howard Films (1935–1960) *annual Sidney Shurcliff films (1938–1941) *annual

John Jay John Jay (, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, diplomat, signatory of the Treaty of Paris (1783), Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served from 1789 to 1795 as the first chief justice of the United ...

Films (1940–1970) *Hans Thorner films (1948–1955) *annual Warren Miller and successor Warren Miller Entertainment films (1950–present) *annual Hans Gmoser films (1958–1968) *annual Dick Barrymore films (1961–1980) *

Willy Bogner, Jr. Wilhelm Hermann Björn Bogner Jr. (born 23 January 1942) is a German fashion designer, film maker and former Alpine skiing, alpine ski racer. He inherited the Bogner clothing brand, originally set up as ''Willy-Bogner-Skivertrieb'' by his fathe ...

films (1966–2009) *annual Greg Stump films (1985–1998, 2012) *Peter Chrzanowski films (1988–1997) *annual films by James Angrove and Jon Long of Real Action Pictures (1988–1998) * Thierry Donard and ''Nuit de la Glisse'' films (1989–present) *Scott Gaffney Productions and Straight Up Films (1993–1999) *annual films by

Teton Gravity Research Teton Gravity Research (TGR) is an Extreme skiing, extreme sports media and apparel company based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The company was founded in 1996 by brothers Steve and Todd Jones, as well as friends Dirk Collins, Rick Armstrong, and Cor ...

(1996–present) *annual films by Steve Winter and Murray Wais of

Matchstick Productions Matchstick Productions, also known as MSP Films, is a film production company based in Crested Butte, Colorado that specializes in content creation and expert cinematography. Steve Winter and Murray Wais founded the company in 1992. According t ...

(1997–present) *annual Sky Pinnick and Rage Films (2002–2009) *annual Howell brothers’ Powderwhore Productions (2005–2015) *annual films by Johnny Decesare and Poor Boyz Productions (2007–present) *annual films by Josh Berman's Level 1 Productions (2009–2019) *recent films by Sherpas Cinema, etc.

Other films

Many ski film makers have initially or predominately released

featurettes In the American film industry, a featurette is a kind of film that is shorter than a full-length feature, but longer than a short film. The term may refer to either of two types of content: a shorter film or a companion film. Medium-length film ...

and short films, in addition to features.

Featurette and short film series

*Winston Pote winter films (1927–1943) *annual

Marcel Ichac Marcel Ichac (22 October 1906 - 9 April 1994) was a French alpinist, explorer, photographer and film director. Born in Rueil, France, Ichac was one of the first people to introduce electronic music in cinema using the ondes Martenot instrument ...

ski films (1934–1950, 1957, 1972) * Dick Durrance films (1940–1993) * Sverre Engen films (1944–1962) *annual Jack Lesage and Cinépress ski films (1959–1984) *Roger Brown and Barry Corbet freestyle Summit Films (1961–1988, 2012) *Harvey Edwards Films (1970–1986) *Joe Jay Jalbert Productions (1970–present) *Alain Gaimard and Didier Lafond '' Apocalypse Snow'' series and other ski films (1981–1986, 2008) *annual Dominique Perret and Vertical Zoo films (1990–2012) *annual Poor Boyz Productions (1996–2006) *annual ''Free Radicals'' series films (1996–2011) *Two Plank Productions (1997–2012) *Kris Ostness and Wind-Up Films (1999–2008) *annual Darrell Miller and Storm Show Studios (2000–present) *annual Geoff McDonald and Meathead Films (2000–2015) *annual Level 1 Productions (2000–present) *annual Josh Murphy and Unparalleled Productions (2000–2004) *annual Pléhouse Films (2001–2007) *annual Lionel Géhin and WW Productions (2001–2008) *annual Martini brothers' Stept Productions (2002–2014) *annual Falquet brothers' FLK productions (2002–present) *annual Heart Films (2006–present) *AJ Dakoulas and Andrew Napier's 4Bi9 Media (2007–present) *annual Eric Pollard and Nimbus Independent productions (2007–present) *annual Mike Douglas and Switchback Entertainment productions (2007–present) *annual Nicholas Waggoner and Sweetgrass Productions (2008–present) *annual Legs of Steel releases (2010–present) *annual Dubsatch Collective releases (2011–present) *annual releases from The Bunch (2013–present) Ski film may also refer to a fictional theatrical-release

sports film A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport or a sports-related topic is prominently featured or is a focus of the plot. D ...

which incorporates a skiing theme, although the on-snow scenes may have been enhanced by the use of

stunt double In filmmaking, a double is a person who substitutes for another actor such that the person's face is not shown. There are various terms associated with a double based on the specific body part or ability they serve as a double for, such as stunt ...

s for the actors and special effects.

Film festivals and tours

Ski, snow, adventure and mountain film festivals are held in Switzerland ( Les Diablerets/FIFAD), Austria (Graz, St. Anton, Vienna Freeride), Germany (Tegernsee), Italy (Cortina, Trento), France (Annecy High Five, Dijon, Val d'Isère, Chamonix), Russia (Moscow), Spain (Torello), Canada ( Banff,

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Whistler, Rossland, Fernie, Vancouver), United Kingdom (London FreeSki, Fort William,

Kendal Kendal, once Kirkby in Kendal or Kirkby Kendal, is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Westmorland and Furness, England. It lies within the River Kent's dale, from which its name is derived, just outside the boundary of t ...

), New Zealand (Wānaka) and United States (Ishpeming, Jackson Hole, Steamboat Springs, New York City,

Midwest The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

, Crested Butte, Mammoth, Missoula, Lake Tahoe, Stowe, Salt Lake City, North Bend, Boulder, Whitefish, Flagstaff, Williamstown, Mount Snow, Anchorage). Multi-film road tours which bring a selection of films to scheduled cities have included Banff World Tour, Freeride Film Festival Prime Tour, Vancouver VIMFF World Tour, Salomon Quality Ski Time Film Tour and Level 1 Freeski Film Tour.Level 1 Freeski Film Tour 2023
''Newschoolers''

References

*Azallion, Nancy (Oct 1967
'Skiing movies going "legit"'
''Skiing'' Vol. 20, No. 1:121–122 *Oliver, Peter (1991
"Reel Life: Ski filmmaking through the years"
''Skiing'', Vol 44 No 3: 150–155 *Audisio, Aldo; Natta Soleri, Angelica (1997) ''Snow & Ski : Neve E Sci Nei Manifesti del Cinema'' *Yaple, Henry M. (2004
''Ski Bibliography 1890-2002''
International Skiing History Association, items 1487–2123, 3630–4287 *Masia, Seth (2006
"Moving Pictures"
''Skiing Heritage Journal'' Vol. 18, No. 3: 37–39 *Anthony, Leslie (2010
''White Planet: A Mad Dash Through Modern Global Ski Culture''
Greystone Books Ltd pp 83–84, 213–220, 295 *Sax, David (2013

''New York Times''

Vimeo Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...

Trailer Park
at Powder.com * at ''Ski'' magazine
Reviews and trailers
at offpistemag.com * * ''Skiing'' (Oct 2009
The Cinema
pg 26-27 {{DEFAULTSORT:Ski film * Snowboarding films *