Online Ski Video Roundup

COORDINATES II

(8 minutes)

Nimbus Independent

We already featured Nimbus’s two-year, full-length film After the Sky Falls in our initial movie roundup, but their COORDINATES series is worth a watch, too. Basically, COORDINATES takes the crew’s GoPro footage and cuts it together into a series of shorter episodes.

Now usually I wouldn’t wish an 8 minute POV edit on my worst enemy, but Nimbus pulls it off. Part of that is because this isn’t all just POV. In fact, much of the best footage is simply well executed follow cams. As one would expect from Nimbus, the skiing is top shelf, the soundtrack is on point, and the overall aesthetic is beautiful. Don’t let the fact that it’s all POV footage make you overlook COORDINATES, Pollard and crew make a compelling case to simplify your camera gear and let the skiing speak for itself.

 

Shaping Skiing

(33 minutes)

4FRNT Skis

4FRNT has a solid legacy of team movies, and this one is no exception. Their stable of athletes spans the spectrum, and the movie is well edited and put together. While watching many of these films, it’s a little incredible to think we’re viewing this quality of skiing for free, and I think that’s nowhere more evident than Hoji’s segment in Shaping Skiing. Let’s face it, Hoji is The Man. If he wears a wool cap to drop huge pillow lines, I’m going to wear a wool cap to drop sick groomer lines. If he carries his skis balanced across his backpack, I’m carrying my skis balanced across my backpack. So Hoji opening the film with his signature smooth style to the sweet strains of Damien Jurado? Yes.

And as tempting as it is to just rewind and rewatch that Hoji segment over and over, that would be doing yourself a disservice. Wiley Miller, Cam Riley, and David Wise all drop strong parts that testify to the diversity of 4FRNT’s team. We also get another appearance from Kye Peterson, and Thayne Rich takes some huge slams on his way to putting together a very impressive segment.

Shaping Skiing may be the most well-rounded film in this roundup. Park, pipe, pillows, backcountry booters, big lines … this one has it all.

 

The Golden Age

(26 minutes)

Gavin Rudy

The Golden Age seems pretty simple: one filmer/director/writer/producer/designer and 6 Summit County skiers. And, oh yeah, that filmer/director/writer/producer/designer is still in college. And right, I forgot, The Golden Age isn’t just straight up ski porn, bangers stacked back to back. It’s got a plot, a story. And for once in a ski movie, the staged story doesn’t suck.

The Golden Age tells the tale of these 6 skiers and their shenanigans (mostly in the parks of Colorado and Oregon) through the lens of an old grandpa telling tall tales of his youth to his grandson. That might not be a totally new concept in ski films, but in my opinion, The Golden Age pulls it off much better than the most recent big-budget version. Ski films can tell a fictional story, even the free ones, and The Golden Age delivers.

 

Eclipse

(31 minutes)

Switchback Entertainment

If you’ve been anywhere on social media the last few weeks, you’ve probably seen the hype for this one. And that hype is deserved. Salomon has been pumping out aesthetically pleasing and surprisingly deep edits with their Freeski TV series for a while now, but Eclipse is unique.

The premise is simple: Reuben Krabbe wants to take a picture of a skier in front of the solar eclipse. Cody Townsend and Brody Leven serve up some high quality skiing (as we’d expect), and the unique and desolate location (Svalbard, Iceland) makes for stunning visuals.

This isn’t just a ski movie, though. It’s a strong story that revolves around skiing, but is accessible and relatable to skiers and non-skiers alike. You don’t need to know a black diamond from a black mamba to be excited when the stars literally align, and Krabbe finally gets the ultimate shot. If good ski films can be a mirror of the human condition and struggle for success, then Eclipse is most definitely a good ski film.