A roster of good and bad ... well all good really.

Ok so the season is about to start for me. I'm heading up to Mammoth this weekend. Pretty stoked. This time of year is when anticipation is at its highest. You get your new gear (just got these boots today), you're season pass paid for (hopefully), and you're watching every new snowboard or ski movie that you can (just went to the Santa Monica premier of The Way I See It last night).

All this got me thinking of what else I do to get ready for the first turns. And since we're discussing movies it's only appropriate to review some of the classic features that Hollywood has put out.

Here's a list of some of my favorites (best and worst). If you're a skier or snowboarder you should absolutely watch every one of these and have each line on the tip of your tongue. Makes great Apres ski fodder.

Must See Ski Movies (Best)

Hot Dog The Movie

The venerable classic that started it all. Hot Dog has been the inspiration for every cliche you can imagine a ski film. Group of young guys head to the mountain town to live the life and pursue their dreams. Along the way they have run-ins with the powers that be and have to use their wits and love of tits to overcome.

Better off Dead

John Cusack's character is feeling depressed. Nothing is going right in his life. He's suicidal really. The only thing that saves him is his love of skiing and a desire to get the girl of his dreams.

Aspen Extreme

Two dudes from Detroit head to Aspen for the glory. Ironically they quickly rise to the top because of their amazing skills on the hill, which seems odd because they're from Detroit. When sex, drugs and the demons of selfish pursuit ruin their friendship and end in tragedy, our hero's only hope is getting an article published in Powder Magazine.

Ski School

Another terribly good classic. Enter Hot Dog description here.

Out Cold

There was lots of talk about this movie when it came out in 2001. Zach Galafinakas makes his big break and Todd Richards enjoys a wheel-chair bound cameo. All around entertainment and yet another reason to drink your face off in a mountain town.

Ski Patrol

I remember seeing this in theaters. The best part of this film is how the one snowboarder is portrayed. A schizophrenic 3 people in one wildman who could have been the poster child of early notions of extreme. Typically cheesy yet enjoyable kind of like Velvetta.

Dumb and Dumber

Hollywood classic starring Jim Carey and Jeff Daniels. Two knuckleheads from Providence, Rhode Island head to Aspen to make their lives better, because after all, Aspen is where the beer flows like wine and women flock like the salmon of Capistrano.

Must See Ski Movies (Worst)

Winter Break

This one was like the bad version of Out Cold, but there's some hot chicks in it and worth watching.

White Air

This was another horribly bad movie but so good at the same time. Tahoe based snowboarder is apparently the next Shaun White but has to prove it first at the White Air Pipe Jam. Andy Finch makes a cameo as a judge and Tom Sizemore works well as a washed-up mechanic and obviously took this role because his career was in the toilet.

Frostbite

I didn't actually see this one but I had to include it because any movie that has a porn star (Traci Lords) in it is worth watching, so I'll report back after the fact.

Copper Mountain - "A Club Med Experience"

I had never heard of this movie until I happened to be digging through the bin o'DVDs at Wal-Mart a few years ago and there it was. Jim Carey stars in his first movie along with the guy from Growing Pains, Alan Thicke. It's a weird combination of bad acting and infomercial for Club Med, who apparently used to own Copper Mountain.

Icebreaker

I couldn't find a trailer for this one but it's worth mentioning. Sean Astin plays a ski patroler in Killington, VT. When terrorists take the mountain lodge over and hold hostages at gunpoint, the only person who can save them is Samwise Gamgee. What I can't figure is how you can go from making this move one year and Lord of the Rings the next.