Make Skiing Sexy Again!

Make skiing sexy again!

I always talk about whether skiing is becoming more popular and what are the popular trends in skiing. As a ski school owner it is important to know what people want to do on their ski holidays. When I was a kid I remember watching ski movies and being so pumped to go skiing. The lifestyle, the cool moves, the extreme clothing and the fun (perceived fun). I remember watching the movie “ski school” and thinking, “I will be a ski instructor, that looks like the best job ever”. (Thanks Ski School!). Ski movies generally show the trends of the time and what is popular.

Photo: Ski School the movie

I feel (maybe just me?) that in the late 80’s and through the 90’s there was an aura of sexiness that skiing/snowboarding had and that now has been lost. Ski movies now, even though they have some insanely extreme skiing, seem more serious and have (to me at least) lost the impact they once had. Even though a lot of the movies back in the 80s and 90s were totally cheesy and were good comic relief as well as great skiing, they definitely instilled some type of fire inside to make skiing my life.

Photo: Glen Plake Ripping It

I still watch old Warren Miller and Greg Stump movies like “The Blizzard of Aahhh's” and ”A Fist Full Of Moguls” and think this was why skiing was booming in the 90’s. The skiing is outrageous especially for being on straight skis. Glen Plake and Scott Schmidt were what skiing was to me. The technique they both had (you have to have impeccable technique to ski on those skis like they did) and how they still ski now is amazing, and this is a testament of having proper technique. I remember meeting Glen Plake multiple times and he was as nice to me as he was to watch as a skier.

Even if the new shaped skis make it easier to carve, shorter skis make it easier for beginners learning, fat skis make powder fields accessible to intermediate skiers and twin tips make it possible to ski backwards, skiing is definitely different to what it was when I was a kid.

Not as popular? Not as cool? Not as sexy? I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, what do you guys think?

On a positive note, Marcus Caston has been making some great little segments called Return Of the Turn. The way he skis is a hybrid of Scott Schmidt/Glen Plake meets Racer on new equipment. Very exciting to watch and probably the only recent skier in the last 10 years that inspires me to go ski. One like myself can only hope this is the direction of where people’s interest in skiing will be heading.

If you are interested in skiing, check out the rest of this site and on my Youtube (Reilly McGlashan) and Instagram @reilly_mcglashan for more ski related content.