Classic ski films on DVD (Lang, Jay, Barrymore)

My wife gave me an early Christmas present, a new 8-DVD boxed set of vintage ski films. The set was produced by Topics Entertainment . We bought it from the New England Ski Museum . You can order it from this page . The following films are in the set:<br><br>Otto Lang films<br><br>Snow Flight (1937)<br>The Basic Principles of Skiing (1941)<br>Skifully Yours (1947)<br><br>John Jay films<br><br>Olympic Holiday (1960, Squaw Valley)<br>Ski Down the Years (Circa 1966) <br>Winter Magic Around the World (1940s-1970s, retrospective)<br>Head for the Hills (1940s-1970s, a.k.a. The Best of John Jay) <br><br>Dick Barrymore films<br><br>The Last of the Ski Bums (1967)<br>The Performers (1971)<br><br>I've skimmed through each of the films and there's some really good stuff here. The Lang films are a mix of instruction and inspiration, with Otto demonstrating flawless Arlberg technique at Mt Baker and Sun Valley. The Jay films are a grab bag, with everything from Dick Durrance doing the Dipsy Doodle at Alta, 10th Mountain Division ski troups, racing and ski jumping, world travel, heli-skiing, and the Mt Baker slush cup. The Barrymore films inspired me when I was a young teenager.

I'll have to check into that, sounds great. I've been buying 8mm ski films and found some great Castle Films stuff from the late 30s and early 40s. My favorite one shows folks loading on the Milwaukee Road train and unloading at Hyak, followed by some ski classes at the ski bowl and later Mt Rainier skiing and such.. Great stuff.. Thanks for the tip Lowell!

This boxset is also available at the downtown Seattle REI. I saw it there last night and thought about buying it but didn't. Don't know how much they're asking for it.

This boxset is also available at the downtown Seattle REI. I saw it there last night and thought about buying it but didn't. Don't know how much they're asking for it.

<br><br><br>Cool, I still have some $$$ on my REI gift card.....

Lowell:<br>As always, you uncover the best gems of the history of our sport. I'll use your link to purchase, and add to the stack of stuff I view all winter while riding my bike trainer in the basement!

In light of the recent thread about the Dipsy Doodle, it was fun to watch Dick Durrance do this turn. John Jay describes it as "essentially lifted stems while going down the fall line."<br><br>The Otto Lang film "Snow Flight" (called "Ski Flight" in most of the reviews I've read) shows Otto applying and removing wax-on climbing skins, which were pretty rare in those days. Most people used strap-ons. He stripped the skins off without removing his skis, just like many people do today. You can see why Otto was so widely regarded as a stylist. His technique is flawless. There was an article in the Seattle Times magazine about a week ago that said Otto is about to turn 98. He lives in West Seattle.