Alas, the jam scene doesn’t always jive with the masses-not everyone can stay awake during an extended “Drums/Space” run-on from the Dead.īut, those legendary classic rock tunes you hear emanating from base lodge speakers certainly align with most people’s preferences, if not simply a nostalgia for the good old days. Last season, Chris Benchetler’s ambitious Grateful Dead-inspired ski flick “Fire on the Mountain” offered psychedelic mind-bending ski edits as Bill Walton narrates. This season, the best seat in the house is the bed of your truck
Party Like it’s 1959 at a Drive-In Ski Movie Premiere Perhaps there’s something about the nonlinear approach to these musical genres that resonates with skiers looking to carve their own unique paths down the mountain? Maybe it’s just the herb. Or, maybe it’s the “I don’t need to shower” vibe that attracts ski bums. There’s also a connection between skiers and bluegrass, specifically the jam grass scene, that seems to lie in the way a banjo and mandolin distill the mountain lifestyle into song. On the subject of live music, skiers have always held a special place in their hearts for the improvisational techniques of jam bands like the Grateful Dead, Phish, and Widespread Panic. Reggae has intertwined itself with many a ski film segment, and reggae artists have even produced tracks specifically for ski films, in the case of Cali P and Cookie The Herbalist’s song, “Cyaan Stop!” which appeared in Poor Boyz Productions’ “Everyday is a Saturday.” Sugarloaf Resort, in Maine, has held its annual Reggae Fest for over 30 years, a further testament to reggae’s standing in the ski community. Urban goes drone! Ski bus slip-up! Uber Ski expands! Watch Chris Benchetler's Deadhead Ski Project “Blizzard of Ahhhs” was one of the first ski films to rely on the energy provided by a top-notch soundtrack, and Alpha Blondy’s slow-paced reggae jam, “Jah Houphouët” that accompanied the Telluride segment is the most memorable from the film. We can, of course, look back at the tens of thousands of tracks used to accompany skiers in feature films and web edits throughout the years.
Whether it’s the oldies station accompanying the thousands of lunch-gatherers at the base lodge, the heart-pumping tracks that accompany our favorite pro skiers on the big screen, or maybe that muffled beat emanating from that dude’s earbuds, there’s a whole soundtrack that accompanies a day on skis.īut if we were to narrow down the track listing on skiing’s soundtrack, what would the pieces look like? Would it be the masterful blending of different musical genres you’d find in a ski film? Or something more existential, featuring the sounds of the breeze and the scraping of metal edges upon hardpack? Sound and skiing are intrinsically linked.