How Would a Dog Ski? The Internet Debates

Skiing, like any other niche sport, is well-suited to debate. 

These discussions range from consequential to entirely silly, and include, but are not limited to: Are mega passes beneficial to skiing? Is opening day at destination ski resorts worth your time, or just an overly busy PR stunt? Are mono-skis finally going to get the comeback they deserve? 

Come armed with these prompts and survey the crowd at your favorite après haunt. You’ll likely find plenty of common ground—and disagreements—amongst your fellow skiers. The internet, meanwhile, has recently offered another, perfectly ridiculous contribution to the ski debate canon: if dogs could ski, how would they?

Don’t scoff. The question, a callback to a meme about dogs wearing pants that reached peak velocity in the 2010s and even spawned a Washington Post op-ed, is more complicated than you might think. In a Reddit post, one user provided not one but three dog-skier permutations. 

The three (hilarious) options are embeded below. Tap or click the arrow to progress through the slides.

Each style is filed under A, B, and C.

In A, our furry friend has four stylish Chanel skis (which actually do exist for an eye-watering $7,800). In B, the dog mirrors what humans do, opting for two planks. Finally, there’s C. This imaginative and upright option has the most flair, but, in reality, probably wouldn’t work for dogs. As one commenter put it, “In my head, A. In my heart, C.”

That leaves A, B, and the unillustrated monoskiing option—you could, hypothetically, also put a well-tempered dog on a single, large board and send them downhill. 

Which is best? I could grouse about the answer, but hypotheticals aren't necessary. Instead, I can turn to Crusoe, the celebrity weiner dog. Around a decade ago, the now-famous dachshund hit the slopes at Quebec ski resort Vallee Bleue.

He sported a stylish pair of Oakley goggles, a furry hat, and, with some funky tunes blaring in the background, proved that dogs, indeed, can ski. Tap or click below to watch.