Back in the day, we viewed skiing in one of a few ways. You’d either cram into a movie theater with your best friends for that year’s annual ski movie offerings or load up your DVD player for some reruns.
Posting up on the side of a run to watch skiing the old-fashioned way was always an option, too. YouTube altered this status quo and blew open the doors of ski content creation. Now, anyone with a camera and good ideas can throw a video online.
This is great news for skiers. The classic ski movie format will always have its place, but a small army of pros and enthusiasts are creating videos on their own time that cater to a broad (and niche) audience. These are ten of the best YouTube channels every skier should follow.
If this is your first time hearing about the LINE Traveling Circus, I envy you. This is it. This is the pinnacle of ski YouTube, and for reasons beyond my understanding, show creators Will Wesson and Andy Parry have somehow kept this thing alive for 17 seasons and counting.
The format’s pretty simple. Parry and Wesson gather a crew of rowdy skiers before jetting off to a locale. There, they ski as an ensemble cast and often eat pizza. The thing about the Traveling Circus, though, is that, unlike some ski productions, it’s relatable.
Parry, Wesson, and company aren’t notching absurd, helicopter-accessed lines. Instead, they regularly ride at normal parks accessible by average folks. What is world-class, though, is the crew’s ability to make the most of wherever they’re at. That’s where the inspiration comes from. Do yourself a favor. Get in the van.
With The FIFTY, Cody Townsend took his already-elevated professional skiing profile (that ridiculous line probably helped) and fashioned himself into a full-blown winter sports celebrity. He skied with Alex Honnold. He amassed hundreds of thousands of subscribers and millions of views. He became the subject of meme pages.
Skiers are, by definition, a discerning bunch. Townsend’s interwebs success isn’t because he figured out how to game the system. Instead, it’s the result of creating videos that speak to a real gap in the marketplace. Townsend chronicles his adventures in the mountains in a light-hearted, informative manner. They’re binge-able and entertaining, but after you wrap up, you’ll feel like you learned something about backcountry travel.
Townsend eventually shifted away from the original idea that guided the series—skiing every peak in 50 Classic Ski Descents of North America—but continues uploading videos documenting his adventures in the mountains under the FIFTY+ rebrand. You can also subscribe to the FIFTY+ for some additional perks, including written articles from Townsend.
Veronica Paulsen blew just about everyone’s socks off when she launched a backflip into Corbet’s Couloir. Then, she did it again when she launched a double backflip into Corbet’s Couloir.
Over the past few seasons, the preeminent shredder has taken to documenting her skiing antics with a series of YouTube shorts over the past few seasons.
These videos provide a closer look at Paulsen, as well as the talented skiers she adventures with. One journey follows Paulsen and Madison Ostergren as they descend Apocalypse Couloir, a hectic Jackson-area line. Another episode sees Paulsen and Griffin Post go on a winter camping (and skiing—duh) sojourn.
I’ve been watching freestyle—park and slopestyle, specifically—skiing since I was still picking my nose. But these days, the kids have gotten too damn good. Big air events are now exercises in spin-counting. Yes, a triple-whatever is an incredibly impressive athletic feat, but given the technicality involved, it can be difficult to understand and enjoy what you’re watching unless you have FIS judging credentials.
SLVSH side steps this issue with a simple, digestible format. Two skiers go head to head. One of them chooses a trick or a line of tricks. If their opponent doesn’t land the trick or tricks, they score a letter. Whoever gets to five letters first loses. All the while, handy graphics display which tricks are being thrown. These matchups regularly lead towards nail-biting finales where one skier—against the proverbial ropes—manages to land every ridiculous trick their opponent throws at them.
SLVSH, if anything, proved that all competitive skiing needed was a novel (borrowed from skateboarding and basketball, to be more precise) format to get its mojo back. And the YouTube channel has an enormous catalog of games, making it the perfect fodder for a potential ski video binge.
Nikolai Schirmer has mastered YouTube. He knows how to make a video that’ll cut through the algorithmic soup so you pay attention to something actually worth watching. Similar to Townsend’s work, his videos chronicle gnarly, you-couldn’t-pay-me-to-do-it ski expeditions.
One defining characteristic of Shcirmer’s videos—and his skiing—is speed. This wild Norwegian has a thing for going blisteringly fast down highly-exposed lines. But Schirmer, also like Townsend, isn’t some jabroni with a death wish. He’s careful, thoughtful, and, throughout his videos, carefully debates the consequences associated with his preferred flavor of skiing. Come for the straight lines. Stay for the backcountry insights.
MAGMA is best known as a trilogy of ski films starring pros Alex Hall and Hunter Hess. However, the crew, which also includes filmer Owen Dahlberg, has been steadily uploading YouTube shorts that skew more on the vlogging side of the spectrum. And you know what? I think I like vlogs now.
Professional skiing can be difficult to perceive outside canned ski movie moments. While more pros than ever have turned to YouTube to engage with their audiences informally, casual, behind-the-scenes moments remain hard to come by. MAGMA helps pierce that veil. The series of YouTube shorts still have elite-tier skiing, but they also showcase what Hall, Hess, and Dahlberg are up to off the slopes. It’s silly, unserious, and something we’d like to see more of.
Speaking of vlogs, this one’s all about Freeride World Tour champion Hedvig Wessel. In her series, she experiences the trials and tribulations of notching an overall FWT win. But the Norwegian’s YouTube back catalog doesn’t just document her FWT adventures. Episodes of Hedvig’s Way are broader, also covering non-competitive pursuits, like a journey into the mountains with snowboarder Marion Haerty.
This one’s a bit of a deep cut. Streetskier95 is a fountain of street skiing knowledge. In his series, he breaks down specific street spots, highlighting every notable trick that’s been thrown on a given feature. The amount of research required—and ski films watched—is mind-boggling. One episode, centering on a pair of rails outside Edouard-Montpetit High School in Montreal, spans two decades of freeskiing. Street skiing nerds, this one’s for you. Class is in session.
Alex Hackel went from hardcore street skier to social media mastermind, but he isn’t just good at amassing an audience. Hackel's YouTube videos range from more standard vlog fare to in-depth explainers with a bit of journalistic flair. In one episode, he unearths the story of Hammarbybacken, a year-round ski slope in Stockholm. Another explains how The Nines—one of skiing’s craziest freestyle competitions—works and came to be. Hackel, who obviously rips on skis himself, functions as a tour guide and stuntman.
Stomp It Tutorials caters to those who are on a self-improvement kick. And these videos aren’t only oriented towards the beginner crowd. Stomp It Tutorials covers the basics like carving and edge angle, but the YouTube channel also delves into more complicated moves like 360s and backslides. This means that there’s something educational to snack on for everyone. Pick the area that you want to improve in—odds are good that Stomp It Tutorials has something that’ll fit what you’re looking for.
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