Flying Skis

A panorama of winter scenery and sports in the Laurentians.

With the opening of its winter carnival, Ste-Agathe-des-Monts in Québec's Laurentian mountains becomes the centre for a variety of competitive winter sports. Parades and floats take over the streets of Ste-Agathe and the mayor gives the signal for the carnival to commence. It begins with ice skating for the children, followed by horse-drawn sled and sulky races, a three day International Dog Sled Race and downhill ski races.

How Canadians adjust to their long, snowbound season. Filmed with humour, The Joy of Winter shows people making the best of what they cannot change. From tiny tots to human polar bears the film leaves no doubt that, in the eyes of many Canadians, winter may offer more attractions than summer. Film without words.

This short film retraces the life of Herman Smith Johannsen – the man who introduced the sport of cross-country skiing to Canadians. From past to present, his life story is portrayed through pictures from sports newsreels, Norwegian archives and his family album. The film catches up with him at both the Canadian Ski Marathon, where he is the honoured guest, and on a return trip to his native Norway.

In this short vignette, skier Kathy Kreiner prepares for and participates in her Olympic gold-medal race at Innsbruck.

An amusing view of the machine that has taken the country by winter storm: the snowmobile, revving, raring, ready to go. What the motorboat was to the summer lake, this motorized sled now is to the snow-covered fields. This film shows it all--the pull of this sit-down sport, the eagerness of the trade to keep it booming, the daring rivalry of the racing crowd, and the bemused pleasure of the family outing.

The Games included many sports seen in Olympic competition, plus others--for example, pirautaqturniq, the Inuit skill of hitting an object with a ten meter-long sled dog whip. This film captures the all-out participation in the week-long events hosted by Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon, with competitors from all over the Arctic including Alaska, and with observers from the Soviet Union.

This colourful archival record of Québec City’s Winter Carnival shows that many popular events of today—pageants, parades, boat races, folk dancing, fireworks and torchlight skiing—were also favourites 50 years ago. (Please note that this is an archival film. This film was produced in 1957 and includes mostly original footage from the 1956 Quebec City Carnaval. It is a time-capsule of a bygone era. To modern audiences, parts of the footage from the Carnaval may be perceived as offensive, as certain individuals were dressed in Indigenous garb and others wore blackface. While such practices are not condoned today, the footage illustrates tolerated practices and customs of that era.)

Filmmaker Giles Walker takes an informal look at how our best skiers work and live. Filmed in 1976, this short movie follows the Canadian ski team on a tight schedule in Chile and Argentina. With 2 ½ tons of equipment, speeds of up to 140 km/h, gruelling workouts and a dramatic theft, it's safe to say that downhill racing is not for the faint of heart.

This documentary records the extraordinary determination of Jungle Jim Hunter to be the best ski racer in the world. We witness his gruelling exercise routines, pre-race tensions, trials and deep religious faith of this dedicated athlete.

TRIGGER WARNING: This film contains the following subject matter: Suicide and self harm.

In both amateur and professional sports, being gay remains taboo. Few dare to come out of the closet for fear of being stigmatized, and for many, the pressure to perform is compounded by a further strain: whether or not to affirm their sexual orientation.

Breaking the code of silence that prevails on the field, on the ice and in the locker room, this film takes a fresh and often moving look at some of our gay and lesbian athletes, who share their experiences with the camera. They’ve set out to overcome prejudice in the hopes of changing things for the athletes of tomorrow.