Ski resort movies are a cinematic staple, but we aren’t exactly sure why.
Beach movies provide an excuse for good-looking people to frolic around in swimsuits — we get that. But ski resort movies? Why did so many people, especially in the ’80s, decide to set their hormonal romps on the slopes? Especially when snow generally means heavy clothes?
We may never know. But we do know that the following are our 12 favorite ski resort movies.
Ski Party (1965)
Ski Party may be the first movie to take the beach movie formula and transfer it to the slopes. If you’re familiar with the beach party movies made by American International Pictures in the 1960s, you know the drill.
This template for many future ski resort movies features beach party movie regular Frankie Avalon, but instead of Annette Funicello, he’s joined by Batgirl herself, Yvonne Craig, and Dobie Gillis himself, Dwayne Hickman.
The cast also includes Deborah Walley and Lesley Gore, and, in a case of did-not-see-this-one-coming, James Brown stops by for some musical numbers.
Of course, Ski Party doesn’t stray too far from the beach party routine: It ends at the beach. And the lobby cards featured a lot of bikinis, for complex reasons.
Winter-A-Go-Go (1965)
Winter-A-Go-Go is kind of a poor man’s Ski Party. It has “ski buffs” and ski babes” as per the poster, but it doesn’t have the same all-star cast, though the lead will catch the attention of serious cinephiles: James Stacy is best known for starring in Lancer, the TV show Quentin Tarantino included it in Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood.
Also, Vidal Sassoon’s then-wife Beverly Adams is the female lead.
Like Ski Party, Winter-A-Go-Go is definitely drafting off the beach party movies. A ski bum inherits a lodge and tries to turn it into a happening music club — the better to include catchy tunes and dancing ski babes.Without the formula or the experience of the AIP movies, though, this one only works in fits and starts.
Downhill Racer (1969)
Here’s some whiplash for you. We go from the silly Winter-A-Go-Go to a movie that takes skiing as seriously as anything.
Downhill Racer is about skiing as a sport, skiing as a passion, even skiing as an obsession. Of course, Robert Redford stars, which helps in terms of keeping the movie in the cultural firmament.
Downhill Racer is focused on the U.S. skiing team in the lead-up to the Winter Olympics. Of course, this is when Olympic athletes had to be amateurs. Redford, the bright light of the team, and his cohorts don’t get paid for skiing. They are doing it for the passion, for the desire to be the best, and for the glory of winning.
The skiing action is shot frenetically, occasionally too chaotically, and you see plenty of wiping out. Downhill Racer makes the physical risk, and physical toll, clear. It’s one of the rare ski resort movies you have to take seriously.
Hot Dog…the Movie (1984)
Fun fact: Hot Dog is not about hot dogs. Or dogs. And its in color, though the artsy publicity photo above may indicate otherwise.
As the poster tagline says, “There’s more to do in the snow than ski.” This is a broad sex comedy, the kind of movie Shannon Tweed would have a role in. That is literal, as Tweed is in this movie. She’s one of the many wacky, hard-partying characters in Hot Dog…the Movie. (That’s her above with Tracy Smith.)
Notably, Hot Dog has some pretty solid ski sequences for a comedy. Screenwriter Mike Marvin had made a few low-budget movies about skiing by the time he wrote this film, and the cast included a couple actual skiers as ringers.
Also… why the ellipses?
Ski Patrol (1990)
The poster for Ski Patrol notes that it is from the producers of Police Academy. That is designed to get you to picture a wacky comedy like that successful one that started a franchise.
The ski school instructors in this film are the baddies. They join forces with a crooked real estate developer to try and get the Forest Service to ax the ski patrol so they can have the land. That plan, naturally has to be foiled with antics.
Martin Mull and Ray Walston have small roles in order to lend some name recognition and comedy cache to the proceedings, and there are some other big names involved as well: This was George Lopez’s first movie, and the director Paul Feig has an acting role in it.
Ski School (1991)
What’s is the quintessential ski resort movie? There’s a good argument to be made for Ski School, even if by 1991, this genre of bawdy comedies was starting to wane.
This is a Canadian production, and the mix of mountains and wintry weather set the table for nicely for a classic slobs vs. snobs comedy. There are two rival groups at the school, essentially frats in ski resort form. Naturally, our protagonists are Section 8, the hard partiers looking to have a good time and take their snooty counterparts down a notch or two.
Ski School was designed to be a silly, broad comedy for people who can’t get enough of anything in the Caddyshack vein. There was even a sequel released in 1994, so enough people must have also had fun with the first one.
Dumb and Dumber (1994)
Harry and Lloyd traverse the country in Dumb and Dumber, and end up at a ski resort in Aspen. This is one of the most-beloved, most-successful comedies of the last 50 years, so we probably don’t need to explain Dumb and Dumber to you too much.
Should we instead just mention some of the classic bits? Harry’s tongue on the pole. The tuxedos. Harry in the bathroom. “So you’re saying there’s a chance?” This was Jim Carrey’s third film of 1994, after Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and The Mask. Few actors have ever had a better year.
Is the best section of the movie the stuff in Aspen? Is the ski resort the peak of this iconic comedy? There’s a strong argument for that, unless you really enjoyed watching Mike Starr die or a bird without a head. Ooh, frost!
Out Cold (2001)
Would you be interested in a throwback to the ‘80s and ‘90s ski school movies that is also in a lot of ways riffing on Casablanca? If so, Out Cold is for you! The film didn’t make its budget back, and it has Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic scores that indicate a chilly reception. However, it also aired on Comedy Central one trillion times, so it has some nostalgic fans.
Since Out Cold is from 2001, it replaces skiing with snowboarding, and it has a remarkably of-the-moment soundtrack, including Eve 6 and Sum 41 and Lit.
Perhaps the most-notable thing about Out Cold is that the cast includes a pre-fame Zach Galifianakis, as well as The Fall Guy, Lee Majors and actress-singer Victoria Silvstedt. Also, Out Cold was directed by the Malloy brothers, who were very successful music video directors.
Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)
Hot Tub Time Machine does a better job with the winking throwback jokes than Out Cold, and its time travel angle didn’t hurt.
This is one of the best ski resort movies and time travel movies. Hot tubs were a staple of comedies set at ski resorts, and time machines were also found in ‘80s and ‘90s comedies, so…. why not mix it all together for a comedy that has its cake and eats it, too?
Three, estranged friends, all unhappy in their lives, and one of their nephews go to a ski resort that has also seen better days. Luckily, the hot tub turns out to be a time machine.
The four head back to 1986, where they both balance enjoying reliving their youths (save for the nephew) and realizing they need to get back to the present. This one’s a lot of fun. And it was a lot of fun that star John Cusack played a skier in Better Off Dead, which holds a proud place on our list of Rad ’80s Movies Only Cool Kids Remember.
Chalet Girl (2011)
This British romantic comedy is notable because it was an early role for Felicity Jones, later of Rogue One fame, and she got good reviews for her performance.
Jones plays Kim, a college-aged former successful skateboarder who lost her way when her mom died in a car accident. Feeling listless, she reluctantly takes a job as a “chalet girl” at a ski resort in the Alps. She takes up snowboarding and finds romance, reinvigorating herself both personally and professionally.
While Chalet Girl doesn’t reinvent the wheel, a breezy romantic comedy can scratch an itch. Jones is a talented actor, there are some notable faces in the supporting cast, and kudos to everyone for filming on location in a real German ski town where the main character in our next film trained.
Eddie the Eagle (2015)
Underdog sports movies are not exactly rare, but the ones that stand out often are the ones about real people. Specifically, real people who have, you know, realistic outcomes for underdog athletes at the highest level. To that end, Eddie the Eagle is kind of like the Cool Runnings of skiing.
Michael Edwards wanted to be an Olympian, but he didn’t have a go-to sport. He decided to try to qualify for ski jumping for the 1988 Winter Olympics, the same Olympics the Jamaican bobsledding team went to. However, Great Britain had not had a ski jumper in the Olympics since 1928, and Edwards is not taken seriously.
Anway spoilers, kind of: It’s something of a spoiler to say what happened, but also Edwards was a real person so the same spoiler rules don’t necessarily apply. Edwards went to a ski resort in Germany to try and train himself, but then got the help of an American ski instructor. He then did, indeed, qualify for the Calgary Olympics. There, at a Calgary ski resort… Edwards came in last. And yet! The crowds loved him, and the media loved him, which is how he got the nickname “Eddie the Eagle.”
It also has a stronger cast than many ski resort movies: Taron Egerton plays Eddie. and Hugh Jackman plays Bronson Peary, an ex-ski jumper who becomes Eddie’s trainer.
Downhill (2020)
Darker than most ski resort movies, Downhill is an Americanized remake of Ruben Ostlund’s Force Majeure, which was quite well-received, but also quite European in its sensibilities. So why not take the original and add Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus into the mix?
Ferrell and JLD play a married couple on a ski trip to Europe. While on the slopes, an avalanche occurs, and the two both have intense, but different, reactions. This moment colors their feelings about each other, and their marriage, from that point on.
It felt inevitable that Force Majeure would be remade for American audiences, but that presupposes Americans can’t handle the original. If you love Ferrell or Louis-Dreyfus, you can skip right to Downhill. If you don’t mind subtitles, though, Force Majeure is right there to watch first.
If you enjoyed this list of our favorite ski resort movies, you might also like our list of Cocky Blond Guys in ’80s Movies.
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Main image: A publicity photo from Ski Party, the earliest of our favorite ski resort movies. MGM
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