This is a classic ski movie. If you don't want to bust out of the house and head for a mountain after this movie, you have no pulse. It was extreme and hardcore before soda companies and video game makers made it "cool". It also shows the skill of Glen Plake. With a slick soundtrack and great angles, it works. The shots on Chamonix are probably some of the best in the ski movie genre. From the shootout to the finale, this is the classic ski trip. It also shows how things have changed for the better, and the worse in the ski business. It is a snapshot in a time gone by too fast. I especially like the bits interviewing people around the ski areas.
9 Reviews
An Absolute Classic!
skimoab6 October 2005
Are you kidding me? If you are into skiing or ski movies at all, no matter how old school or new school, you can't say this movie isn't awesome. This one started it all. Clearly, there were other movies before it, but this was the first that really gave us that look into what alternative/extreme skiing could and would become. So many of us remember watching this with wide eyes and realizing that's all we wanted in life was to ski like Glen Plake or Scott Schmidt. I'll never forget the first time I heard that narration, "Glen Plake...Ultimate Extreme Skiier...Original BAD BOY." Man, I'm going to go pull out the old VHS and watch it again. Catch ya on the slopes!
All time Classic
macs-online4 April 2016
Wow - A Great Ski film from the 80's. Nothing came close. Stump and the team conjured up the Ultimate Ski Story... Simple and Powerful. That's what it is, that's why it's so good. Following films failed to capture this magic. I watched this endlessly over those years. It was definitely instrumental to my pro ski career in France. These were the Mogul skiing years, the Couloir skiing years with Bright Colours and Long Skis. The theme music is also a God Send, I know people who used to ski and listen to the audio track. "Land of the Lawyer, Home of the Insurance Company".... The lines were epic and so true. PLAKE, HAT AND SCHMIDT were awesome Skiers and totally pumped up. Ultimate expression. Stump and the team produced a Classic! Well worth a re release. Ski big! Martin Mckay, Val d'Isere, skimckay.
Blizzard of Aahhh's - a Legend.
steve-131618 December 2010
On the box, it says:
"The Blizzard of Aahhh's is a rockumentary style look at the known and unknown heroes of the ski world. Featuring cliff-jumper Scot Schmidt, extreme skier / bad boy Glen Plake and precision skier Mike Hattrup, this movie contains some of the best ski action ever filmed from the premier extreme skiing destinations in the world - from France's Chamonix valley to the awe inspiring Squaw Valley in in California."
I think that the "rockumentary" style of the film together with the fervent narration, informative background footage and of course those exhilarating extreme skiing sequences provide just the right mix of engaging entertainment, spectacle and thrill to propels "Blizzard of Aahhh's" into the highground of ski movie history.
"The Blizzard of Aahhh's is a rockumentary style look at the known and unknown heroes of the ski world. Featuring cliff-jumper Scot Schmidt, extreme skier / bad boy Glen Plake and precision skier Mike Hattrup, this movie contains some of the best ski action ever filmed from the premier extreme skiing destinations in the world - from France's Chamonix valley to the awe inspiring Squaw Valley in in California."
I think that the "rockumentary" style of the film together with the fervent narration, informative background footage and of course those exhilarating extreme skiing sequences provide just the right mix of engaging entertainment, spectacle and thrill to propels "Blizzard of Aahhh's" into the highground of ski movie history.
Legendary Film-Integral Part of my Teen Ski Life
xtiansldr11 May 2021
I can't watch this film ever- w/o it shooting me right back to those times. Sometimes we'd have a full day of skiing, then go home to settle in and watch Blizzard of Ahhhs for the umpteenth time! We lived for waiting for Greg Stump or Warren Miller to release their magic.
Oh how important this film was to us skiing enthusiasts who could only dream to ski with, or meet Glenn Plake or Scott Schmidt.
Those of us who would live for skiing and trying to copy any of their stunts...halfassly...surely can relate to those times.
We were so blessed to have lived in those amazing times, along with all of our flowing fluorescent colors and hyper graphix shirts!
I still have one of them shirts!...and it's even cooler today than it was back then!
Oh how important this film was to us skiing enthusiasts who could only dream to ski with, or meet Glenn Plake or Scott Schmidt.
Those of us who would live for skiing and trying to copy any of their stunts...halfassly...surely can relate to those times.
We were so blessed to have lived in those amazing times, along with all of our flowing fluorescent colors and hyper graphix shirts!
I still have one of them shirts!...and it's even cooler today than it was back then!
Definition of classic.
travis-988-24225723 March 2020
When I was in high school skiing was my passion and this film soooo perfectly captured every emotion I had surrounding the sport. My childhood would have been significantly more drab without this epic. (And despite the lack of huge cliff drops or Mohawks Hattrup was the MAN!!)
Simply Brilliant
phil-837379 January 2022
I first saw this when skiing in Italy back in the day. They had it on in one of the bars there.
I was gobsmacked and bought the Vhs as soon as I got home.
This film is just the best ski film ever. Everything works, the music the skiing and the awesome scenery.
I've seen it dozens of times and never get bored, Hattrup, Plake and Schmidt gel so well together.
I've recently bought the ski film Steep as Ahhs came as a bonus disc. As it turns out both are awesome ski movies but I still prefer Blizzard overall.
I was gobsmacked and bought the Vhs as soon as I got home.
This film is just the best ski film ever. Everything works, the music the skiing and the awesome scenery.
I've seen it dozens of times and never get bored, Hattrup, Plake and Schmidt gel so well together.
I've recently bought the ski film Steep as Ahhs came as a bonus disc. As it turns out both are awesome ski movies but I still prefer Blizzard overall.
The Ski Movie, bar none
seivadch20 March 2018
This film to skiing is what Fleetwood Macs Rumour's is to music. Top draw, the best.
For '88 added Scott Schmidt to Mike Hattrup and Glen Plakes awesome skiing talents and then decamped to Chamonix. ZTT were back with music from Frankie, ACT, Nastyrox INC and Propaganda. I even recognised a tiny bit of Dire Straits on the a radio broadcast.
Everything just fitted in this movie. The speed skiing segment at the start, the introductions that were just the right length, the loose story line, the badness of Glen Plake, the sillyness of Cookie the Swede, the little interviews with Mike, Scott and Glen. It all just hit the sweet spot.
Forget Warren Miller or Willie Bogner, this is where the real action is. Only Maltese Flamingo comes close, and that was like a demo version of Ahhs.
So you owe to your self to go and search for Ahhs, in what ever way you can find them...
And even if you don't ski, give it a look, the music and scenery are outstanding.
For '88 added Scott Schmidt to Mike Hattrup and Glen Plakes awesome skiing talents and then decamped to Chamonix. ZTT were back with music from Frankie, ACT, Nastyrox INC and Propaganda. I even recognised a tiny bit of Dire Straits on the a radio broadcast.
Everything just fitted in this movie. The speed skiing segment at the start, the introductions that were just the right length, the loose story line, the badness of Glen Plake, the sillyness of Cookie the Swede, the little interviews with Mike, Scott and Glen. It all just hit the sweet spot.
Forget Warren Miller or Willie Bogner, this is where the real action is. Only Maltese Flamingo comes close, and that was like a demo version of Ahhs.
So you owe to your self to go and search for Ahhs, in what ever way you can find them...
And even if you don't ski, give it a look, the music and scenery are outstanding.
Greatest Ski Movie Ever Made!
LHazen-116 January 2008
Simply put, when it comes to ski movies "The Blizzard of Aahhs" is the gold standard against which all other ski movies are measured. The characters, skiing, locations, narration, camera shots and sound track are all superbly done. When I was in the Army I lived in Europe and me and my ski buddies skied at many of the locations where they shot this movie. Chamonix is outrageous! I've looked down some of the chutes they ski down in the movie, and believe me when I say that those chutes are MUCH steeper in person than they appear on film. Plake, Schmidt and Hattrup took their lives into their own hands when they dropped into them... if you fall - you die, period. This movie will make you dream of skiing while you sleep. I give it ELEVEN thumbs up and SIX stars.
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