Photo: FX Networks
As the 2026 Winter Olympics loom large and ski season ramps up, it can be hard to keep the mountains off your mind. But when you can’t quite make it to the slopes, sometimes it helps to appreciate all the other ways skiing and snowboarding permeate our culture.
The ’80s and ’90s popularized ski movies, the 2000s perfected ski/snow video games, and now YouTube hosts endless ski clips and films. But some of the best ski and snowboard content was made for television. From sitcom staples to classic cartoons, ski-themed TV episodes almost always take your favorite characters out of their standard settings and drop them onto the mountain. There’re a few standout episodes that always come to mind, but there’s likewise a slew of lesser-known ski-themed TV episodes.
So whether you’re looking for a laugh, or just want to get reinvigorated for the season (and snow that’s on the way), here are 10 of the best ski- and snowboard-themed episodes of television.
10. Skidresa
Welcome to Sweden (Season 2, Episode 3)
Steaming on: Tubi
Welcome to Sweden is a lesser-known Swedish-American TV series created by Amy Poehler’s brother Greg Poehler. While Amy and fellow Parks and Recreation alum Aubrey Plaza guest star as themselves, Greg stars as Bruce Evans, an American money manager dating a Swedish woman. In a fish-out-of-water story, Bruce follows his Swedish girlfriend overseas as she moves back to Stockholm. Season two’s “Skidresa” sees the overly confident Bruce talking up his skiing prowess, despite never having skied before. He inevitably winds up on the bunny hill with a group of Swedish children in ski school. While the episode may not serve as the best entry point into the series, as far as ski-themed TV goes, it gets points for featuring a real resort, and scenes of actual actors skiing.
9. Road To Rupert
Family Guy (Season 5, Episode 9)
Steaming on: Hulu
Throughout its tenure, the animated sitcom Family Guy has featured a handful of ski- and snow-related cutaway gags and moments, but “Road to Rupert” stands out as one of the only episodes that makes skiing part of its plot. Family Guy’s “Road To…” series pairs Stewie and Brian up for buddy comedy style adventures that typically take them far away from Quahog. Though not entirely ski-themed, the episode features enough skiing to earn a spot on this list. When Stewie’s beloved teddy bear is accidentally sold in a yard sale, he and Brian track down the bear’s new owner to Aspen, Colorado. Inevitably, a ski race ensues, complete with a pair of rocket-skis.
8. Ice Station Sabrina
Sabrina the Teenage Witch (Season 4, Episode 10)
Streaming on: Paramount+, Hulu, Pluto TV, Tubi
Likely because of budgeting and insurance issues, most live action ski-themed TV episodes seldom feature any actual mountains, or any actual skiing. Writers come up with clever ways to keep the winter or ski theme alive, without having to strap skis onto the show’s leads. Often, characters get injured or stranded, preventing them from making it to the slopes. Sabrina’s ski episode follows that formula. En route to a winter cabin, Sabrina, her boyfriend Harvey, and her classmate Brad crash into a snow bank and wind up stuck in an abandoned fire tower off an old mountain road. The twist? Brad’s a witch hunter, so Sabrina can’t use her magic.
7. Stealing First
As Told by Ginger (Season 1, Episode 3)
Not currently available to stream
As Told by Ginger is a beloved Nickelodeon preteen drama produced by Klasky-Csupo (of Rugrats, Rocket Power, and Wild Thornberrys fame). Complete with a moody theme song by Macy Gray, the show was an earnest attempt at after-school-special-style drama. “Stealing First” sees Ginger ducking permission from her mother and going on the class ski trip, despite the fact that she can’t ski. Relatable early ski moments ensue, like the anxiety Ginger develops around her first chairlift ride. Sadly, Ginger was pulled from streaming in late 2025, so there’s no legal way to watch this one (unless you’ve got it on DVD… or VHS), but maybe the show’s die-hard fandom and features in articles like this one will eventually bring it back.
6. The One Without the Ski Trip
Friends (Season 3, Episode 17)
Streaming on: HBO Max
Leaning into the idea that actors typically don’t, or can’t, ski in ski-themed episodes, Friends calls out the trope directly in their episode’s title. “The One Without the Ski Trip” starts with Ross and Rachel fresh off of their breakup and vying for the attention of their friends. Rachel invites everyone but Ross to her sister’s cabin for a ski weekend, but when the group runs out of gas, they’re forced to lean on Ross for a rescue.
5. Back Bowl/Game Day
Rocket Power (Season 2, Episode 9)
Streaming on: Paramount+
Boardsport authenticity is always off the charts in Rocket Power. From the show’s Dogtown-inspired setting, to the way the action is animated, to the jargon the characters use, Rocket Power shaped the way countless millennial youths viewed the Southern California lifestyle. Primarily a surf and skate show, Rocket Power took several trips to the mountain throughout its original run. Typically, episodes were split into two segments, and while segments like “Snow Bounders” and “Big Air Dare” featured fun snowboard-centric plots, “Back Bowl” stands out as one of the best. While on a weekend trip to Mount Baldy, Otto and Twister break off from the group to ski the mountain’s out-of-bounds back bowl and wind up getting lost in the process. Season two’s “Radical New Equipment” deserves a shoutout here too, for doing its best to normalize para snowboarding.
4. Heartbreak Cory
Boy Meets World (Season 5, Episode 14)
Steaming on: Disney+
For fans of Boy Meets World, “Heartbreak Cory” made major waves, putting the show’s central couple in jeopardy and starting a six-episode rift between them. Like in Sabrina and Friends’ ski episodes, there’s no actual skiing depicted here, and the bulk of the episode takes place in a single location: the lobby of a ski lodge. Cory and his classmates go on a school ski trip, but when Cory sprains his ankle getting off the bus, he can’t go out on the slopes with his beloved Topanga. Forced to stay inside, Cory passes the time by getting to know the lodge attendant, Lauren (played by guest star Linda Cardellini). Their chemistry set off a love affair that rattled fans of the TGIF lineup for weeks to come. Cardellini would reprise her role as Lauren later in season five, and again in season six.
3. The Ski Lodge
Frasier (Season 5, Episode 14)
Streaming on: Paramount+, Hulu, Pluto TV
In a 2021 article, Variety championed “The Ski Lodge” as the best Frasier episode of all time. Shakespearean in its plotting, the whole episode is a mess of overlapping love triangles brought on by misunderstandings. James Patrick Stuart of General Hospital fame guest stars as Guy, the ski instructor. As with most live-action ski episodes, no actual skiing takes place and the bulk of the episode occurs in a single location. Somehow, like Boy Meets World, Fraiser’s ski episode is also the 14th episode of the show’s 5th season.
2. Asspen
South Park (Season 6, Episode 2)
Streaming on: Paramount+
South Park’s “Asspen” is among the greatest ski-themed TV episodes of all time. Kenny’s season-long absence sees Butters promoted to a member of the core four, as the boys and their families take a trip to Aspen in an episode structured like a TV-special. Stan is inadvertently thrust into a race to save the youth center (complete with a sports training montage set to the montage song also featured in Team America: World Police). Meanwhile, the boys’ parents deal with a pair of silly timeshare salesmen. The episode is complete with iconic, quotable lines that internet users are still making memes out of today. Remember: “if you french fry when you pizza, you’re gonna have a bad time.”
1. The Gang Hits the Slopes
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (Season 11, Episode 3)
Streaming on: Hulu
Always Sunny’s “The Gang Hits the Slopes” starts strong straight out of the gate. The episode opens with the core cast on an actual mountain, sporting real skis, and proceeds to follow Dee, Dennis, and Mac down the slopes as the actors are swapped for pro skiers performing over-the-top stunts. Charlie pizzas into some outdoor tables and we jump into a retro-style title card. While Mac and Dee try to revive the spirit of problematic ’80s ski movies (quickly learning that it’s a terrible idea), Frank works to convert the resort into a private club. The whole thing culminates in a race between Charlie and Dennis for the soul of the mountain. The episode’s real resort setting and use of actual ski clips push it to the top of this list. Fun fact: despite the episode’s Poconos setting, it was actually shot at Mammoth.
