All Signs Point to Ski Season

Autumn is an exciting and hopeful time for many Coloradans because it means the countdown to ski season is on.

Yes, a few resorts are already open, and more will be spinning lifts soon (including our faves, Copper, Winter Park, and Eldora). But terrain is limited, and for the next month or so, skiers would be wise to use their “rock skis” (i.e., “old skis used for thin snow conditions in early and late season when hitting rocks is more likely,” according to REI’s skiing glossary).

Even as big storms blanket the high country, most skiers and snowboarders are weeks away from their first day back on the slopes. So we continue to mark the run-up to a new season by marking off several milestones: Falling temperatures, shorter days, continued snowmaking efforts to supplement the real stuff, multi-mountain season passes arriving in the mail, and more.

Those are all joyous moments worth commemorating as ski season nears, but the sign I’m celebrating today is literally that—a sign.

I’m talking about the brightly lighted marquees announcing a fresh slate of ski film premieres. For me, nothing says we’ll soon be making turns quite like seeing the newest title from Warren Miller Entertainment or Teton Gravity Research (TGR) emblazoned above the entrance to our local venue, the Boulder Theater in Boulder, Colo. (as seen in the header image).

With these preseason screenings signaling the anticipation of another ski season, I thought now was a perfect time to explore the world of ski films, other ski and snowboard culture rituals that prepare us for winter, and why I’m a fan of it all.

Last April, I paid tribute to the joys of spring skiing, which I consider the best time to hit the slopes. Soon after posting that blog, my wife, Sandy, and I wrapped the 2023-24 season by storing away our ski gear and shifting our focus to summer activities. It was a great few months of mountain biking, hiking, camping, and concerts galore.

But like many Coloradans, we kept an eye on the calendar as it crept toward autumn.

Along with changing leaves, cooler weather, and—Sandy’s favorite—pumpkin spice season, we eagerly awaited the ski film circuit to arrive in Boulder. Once those marquees started displaying the latest ski film release, we knew we’d be back on the slopes soon.

For the uninitiated, ski films are feature-length action movies released annually by niche media companies like TGR, Warren Miller (the OG of ski movies), and others that depict the world’s best skiers and snowboarders carving snowy lines in dreamy locations.

The movies usually have a formulaic theme and are more about the action than any discernible plot. That’s why this genre is often called, yes, “ski porn.”

As the New York Times explained in an article on ski films, “ski porn” is an apt description because each movie is “an assemblage of repetitive shots of gratifying action, tied together with music, largely indistinguishable from one another.”

Filmmakers debut their newest offerings each fall by hosting watch parties at theaters in dozens of ski-crazed cities and towns from coast to coast.

Each tour stop is indeed a party, a celebration, a final reminder that a new season is almost here. It’s a gathering of like-minded ski and snowboard enthusiasts as we ritualistically unite to watch these films en masse.

Replete with gear giveaways, libations, and good vibes, these film premieres help rekindle skiers’ and boarders’ winter stoke. One step inside a ski film premiere, and it’s easy to grasp the giddiness of a group that knows they’ll be on the mountain in no time.

Ski films aren’t the only events that get folks psyched for sliding down snow.

For example, ski shops and breweries in mountain towns usher in the new season with themed kickoff parties. They play old ski films on big screens. They hand out freebies like pass lanyards, lip balms, and koozies. They have live music. They hold raffles for free skis and other swag. And they serve lots of beer.

It’s the perfect prelude to the next six months of winter fun.

A few of these parties specifically pay tribute to Ullr, the Norse god of snow. At massive, raucous events, like the inimitable Ullr Fest in Breckenridge, Colo., superstitious skiers and snowboarders toss old skis and gear into a gargantuan bonfire as a sacrifice. True believers think these offerings will yield a powder-filled winter.

One of the best local Ullr-focused events we’ve attended recently was a preseason party at REI in Denver called “Summon the Snow.” When we attended a few years ago, the REI team set up a display of Twinkies—for reasons I haven't determined—on a wooden stand and ceremoniously burned them to appease Ullr.

If the sight of flames burning high in the night sky filled with the ash of old skis and snowboards—or perhaps some processed Hostess cake—seems a little strange to you, that’s because it is.

If you didn’t already know, the world of skiing and snowboarding is delightfully odd and offbeat. As we anticipate what’s to come, we will find any reason to celebrate our chosen sport, whether on the mountain with a celebratory bonfire or in the city with an action-packed ski movie. I’m a fan of everything about it.

Sandy and I have almost checked off all the season’s milestones, but there’s one more ahead. On Nov. 16, we’ll attend our last film of the fall, the local Warren Miller screening of “75”, before venturing into the mountains for our first day back on the slopes.

It will be our final warmup for the 2024-25 ski season—and a fun, joyous sign that winter starts now.