OUR FAVOURITE FILMS TO BRING THE MOUNTAINS TO YOU

When you can’t get to the mountains, if you’re stuck indoors or if you just want a bit of off-season inspiration, sometimes a good snowsports film is the ultimate fix. From dramatic documentaries to feature-length films and brand created shorts, there’s some seriously watchable stuff out there. If you can’t hit the slopes right now, we reckon it’s the next best thing.

We hear from one of our own at Snow+Rock, Jeremy Woods – passionate, long-time snowsports lover who moved from Australia to British Columbia for a working holiday as a lift operator and ended up running the snowboard shop on-hill for four seasons. He hasn’t looked back since then, joining Snow+Rock with the mindset that there is nothing he’d rather do than work in snowsports.

“Not being able to get to the mountains is especially difficultfor for the enthusiasts, the workers, the brands, the athletes, the beginners, the experts and everyone involved with this amazing “thing” that I love so much and hold so closely to my own identity. But soon I’ll be out there to get my turns in and get back to what makes me happy, hopefully with everyone else that loves the same “thing” as me.

In the meantime, here are a collection of some of my favourite snowboarding and skiing films to bring back the stoke on the wait for next season. Stay strong!”

“Probably my favourite ski/snowboard movie ever, though I’d liken it more to a documentary at points. This epic film follows some Norwegian friends/pro skiers on a journey around the world, to ski on some of the craziest terrain in the most beautiful locations the planet has to offer. It was funded by the Norwegian film board, featuring skiers, snowboarders and everything in between. Think Planet Earth production quality crossed with a ski movie. It completely changed the game when it came out in 2013 and it’s still my favourite to this day. Absolutely bangin’ soundtrack too!”

The full movie is available on the Red Bull site here. The 2016 sequel is also currently available on Amazon Prime.

“One of my absolute favourite films to come out recently, this is an almost entirely self-funded film made by Jess Kimura with some of the realest footage you’ll see in street snowboarding period. It covers the evolution of women’s snowboarding over the years with great throwbacks to progression over time in the intro then just hard cuts to Aninna Perhovaara who is like 8 years old at the time of filming and she is phenomenal. My favourite female snowboarder, Miyon Yamaguchi, has an absolutely killer section in it which opens with her casually front-side blunt sliding a circa-30 stair rail and crushes it!”

Watch it here.

“The brainchild of Salomon Snowboards’ big dog and all-round amazing snowboarder Bode Merrill, Melodrama came out in the 2018/19 season and did things a little differently. Rather than breaking the segments into riders like the norm, they went location based and he and his buddies just all rode each location. They went to quite a few places, riding a bit of street, a bit of back country and a bit of big mountain. It’s a super fun mix of most disciplines, and again a superb soundtrack.”

Watch it here.

“All-female led ski film which swept the award season the year it was released. The best female skiers in the world were bored of the all-male status quo in ski films, so they made their own feature-length film. It's a really eye-opening film about what motivates and inspires the best women's skiers in the world, while tastefully including the people that support them. Absolutely incredible skiing in this and the intro to the film is brilliant. My low-key favourite part of the film is when pro skier Cody Townsend is explaining when he first met his wife Elyse Saugstad. He perfectly sums up how good of a skier she is! Would recommend, 10/10.”

Watch it here.

“What I would watch every single day before a powder day if I still lived near a resort and got to snowboard more often. This movie was made by Korua Shapes and is basically just celebrating having fun on snowboards whatever that looks like. From beautiful, powder turns to tight carves on resort groomers, it has everything that makes snowboarding feel accessible. You watch what they do and it’s impressive, but there’s also that element of, “I could do that”, especially with some friends to egg you on. It’s also in black and white which is cool! A fun, short film that’s really uplifting and inspiring ahead of next winter.”

Watch it here.

“Made by the Drink Water team, ENERGY is just about riding with friends. A really fun movie that again, has an element of accessibility about it. It gives me warm memories of messing around at resorts with a massive squad of friends, everyone having a good time and just pushing each other further. Really high-energy soundtrack, some great shots and just a bit of fun really, not a crazy-high production value or anything which I think was the whole point. It also takes a bit of a cheeky dig at the energy drink companies which is funny.”

Watch it here.

“Made by the Nitro team this season, this film does exactly what it says on the tin. Getting offline, turning the phone off, shutting down the laptop and going snowboarding with friends. Really fun film with some funny intros and great shots.”

Watch it here.

“Really nice and chilled movie made by our friends at Patagonia. It follows Nicholas Wolken going split boarding in the Austrian mountains with a few friends and is really just about being out in nature, taking things slowly and enjoying your turns. They also discuss activism and environmental responsibility while they are on their way up. There are some really beautiful shots alongside a super simple message about ‘Type 2’ sports and just being more aware of things. It’s a shorter feature that is available on YouTube for all to watch.”

Watch it here.