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Ski-Resort Episode

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The Beach Episode is when the cast goes out in the heat and has some wet and splashy fun, but what if you want them to go out in the cold?

That's where the Ski Resort Episode comes in. This trope is often used for adult-aimed, urban-setted works where it wouldn't make sense for the cast to hang outside in the freezing weather, though some kids shows use it as an easy setup for Slapstick humor. Situations often include one of the characters dealing with a Jerk Jock skier, a character failing at going down the Obstacle Ski Course (where most of the slapstick ensues), and the protagonist getting in The Big Race down the hills, usually against said Jerk Jock. Expect one or more characters to get Stuck on a Ski Lift, typically with someone they despise. A Snowball Fight is likely too.

While the characters are on their way to the snowy alpine setting, they may have a road trip to the ski resort or to a mountain cabin. There may be "après ski" drinking and a farce may ensure with a flurry of romantic encounters at the chalet or resort. They may try other winter sports , too, like snowboarding, bobsled, sledding, or skating. The characters may get stuck in a blizzard or even see the Abominable Snowman.

Also see Vacation Episode. Compare to Slippy-Slidey Ice World, for when video game levels go into the cold.


Examples:

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    Anime & Manga 
  • In the "Holy Night" OVA of Brothers Conflict, Ema joins her stepbrothers on a Christmas trip to Mount Naeba planned just the day before, where Kaname, Natsume and Yusuke keep her company with snowboarding as they await Futo's concert which will be held there later tonight. When Ema pairs up with Yusuke after lunch, they get trapped in a snowstorm. Ema crashes into a tree and sprains her ankle, is rescued by Kaname and ends up missing the concert.
  • In episode 64 of Cardcaptor Sakura during a class ski trip, while being caught in a blizzard, Sakura uses her powers in an attempt to prevent an avalanche from hitting the ski lodge where her classmates are, but she uses up too much of her energy and passes out, so Eriol who is with her intervenes and prevents the disaster.
  • Case Closed has hit the slopes on a few occasions. In manga case #39 (episodes 84-85), Conan solves the murder case of Shinichi's former schoolteacher and a few others at a mountain villa in Nagano Prefecture.
    • In case #148 (episode 490), Shinichi teams up with Heiji Hattori to solve the murder of an actor at the Yamagata Zao Onsen resort.
    • In the anime original episodes 1036 and 1037, Professor Agasa takes Conan and the Detective Boys gang to a ski resort just outside Tokyo. Ayumi accidentally witnesses a murder taking place. The perpetrator immediately spots her looking at the scene, putting herself and the whole gang in peril.
    • The 15th theatrical film in the franchise also takes place in a ski area, where we get to see Conan perform some snowboarding stunts.
    • Its spinoff Magic Kaito also has one chapter in which the main characters go on a class ski trip.
  • In chapters 74 and 75 (episode 19) of Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro, the titular character becomes her favorite upperclassman's personal ski trainer.
  • Chapters 344 and 345 (episode 237) of Gintama sees Gintoki and Hijikata racing down the piste, riding on the Shogun and Kondo respectively as "human snowboards." Infamously, Gintoki figures out how to slow down by pulling his ride's underwear to manipulate his private part as a brake.
  • In episode 8 of The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague, Himuro takes Fuyutsuki and two other colleagues to a ski trip over Christmas by a ski lodge where his sister works.
  • The first OVA of Kimagure Orange Road sees Kyousuke and his friends go on a ski trip at a lodge owned by his maternal grandparents, where their excitement turns into fear when his grandfather tells them of a superstition that couples who ski together will end up naked and dying later. Yet, Kyousuke and Madoka went skiing together anyway, only to end up hiding from an avalanche in a cave where they would encounter a series of paranormal phenomena that inspired that very superstition.
  • A snowboarding arc makes up a large part of Komi Can't Communicate Volume 20.
  • In episode 43 of Marmalade Boy, after finding Yuu's brochure and misgiving that he will go traveling with Miki, Suzu successfully pressures the New Year's shrine visit committee into organizing a ski trip where she later attempts to separate Miki from Yuu by lying to her that he took the slopes for advanced skiers. Miki, a beginner in skiing, decides to go after him and winds up getting caught in a blizzard.
  • Non Non Biyori sees the main characters trying their hand at skiing in the countryside they live in, which itself is a ski area; the local candy store owner also runs a ski rental business.
  • The first OVA of Noragami is a thriller taking place during a ski trip where Yato confronts numerous attempts on his life by a mysterious man.
  • One of the earliest Japanese animated works to feature skiing is Oira no Ski (My Ski Trip), a 1930 black-and-white cartoon short starring a pair of rabbits and a raccoon dog enjoying the sport.
  • Chapter 47 of Ojojojo focuses on a class trip to a ski resort. Around half of the chapter has Haru reflecting on her Character Development over the course of the series.
  • In the "Legend of Fate" arc of The Quintessential Quintuplets, the titular quintuplets' competition for the affection of lead male Futaro intensifies as he bonds with each of them individually in a drama-filled winter camping and ski trip.
  • The first season of Sailor Moon has an episode where Usagi and the rest of the Sailor Senshi go to a ski resort to try and win the "Moon Princess" skiing competition (really a trap set by the Dark Kingdom).
  • In episode 36 of Sgt. Frog, Momoka takes Fuyuki on a ski trip at her family-owned resort in yet another attempt to bring herself and him closer together.
  • The main cast of Shugo Chara! hit the slopes twice on two separate occasions, one in episode 11 during a training camp at Kukai's grandfather's temple, where Tadase confesses his affection towards one of Amu's alter egos; and the other three episodes later where Amu helps with the Guardian Character of a top snowboarder her age.
  • Episodes 20 and 21 of Toradora! see Taiga and Ryuji's class go on a ski resort trip over the New Year, where Taiga seizes an opportunity to mend Ryuji's relationship with Minori after a recent breakup, but when Taiga gets caught in a blizzard, she was rescued by Ryuji, and while barely conscious, mistaking her rescuer for another male classmate, she confesses her love to Ryuji.
  • Chapter 21 of the Urusei Yatsura manga sees Ataru and his classmates take skiing lessons from a beautiful ski instructor whom the monk Cherry warns is actually an ogress in disguise. Ataru brushes off Cherry's advice and lodges in her house, only to suffer from hallucinations about her being an ogress until he flees.
    • In chapter 68 (episode 58 of the original anime adaptation), Ataru joins a treasure hunt ski race where the winner gets a kiss from the "Snow Queen". He goes on to win the competition, only to realize that the Snow Queen was Lum all along.
  • In one arc of Wandering Son, the middle schoolers go on a class trip to a ski resort. The anime skipped this arc.

    Comic Books 
  • The Valley of the Cobras, the last album of the Jo, Zette and Jocko series, starts in a ski resort, where the Legrands and the Maharajah of Ghopal are on vacation.
  • Robin: In a crossover with Impulse Tim is investigating a saboteur and finds he's at a ski resort, so he and Bart go there in their civilian identities with Alfred.
  • Sensation Comics: During Wonder Woman (Charles Moulton) the Holliday Girls go to a ski resort for some members to compete in a cross country ski race. While there a kidnapper sees them with Wondy and Steve and assumes they're there for her and attacks them, resulting in the capture of the kidnapping ring and the rescue of the little girl they'd taken.
  • Slaloms, an album of The Spiffy Adventures of McConey, is about a ski vacation.
  • Youngblood (Image Comics) has an issue where Badrock has to fight an enemy while on vacation in Aspen.

    Fan Works 
  • The Bolt Chronicles: In “The Ski Trip,” Penny, her mom, and the three pets vacation at the title venue. Bolt, Mittens, and Rhino, however, engage in naughty pet behavior by riding up a chairlift without a ticket, snitching a pair of skis, erratically descending down a mountain trail while tearing up its freshly groomed surface, and engaging in a snowball fight. As punishment, they are banished to the hotel room for the last two days of the trip, but luckily find comedy movie marathons featuring the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges on television to help pass the time.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • French Fried Vacation 2 (Les bronzés font du ski) has the cast of the first film going to the French alpine ski resort of Val d'Isère (in Savoie) for vacation. Every imaginable ski resort-related slapstick gag ensues, and then some.

    Literature 
  • One The Babysitters Club Super Special focuses on the club going on a week-long Stonybrook Middle School trip to a ski resort.
  • Bret King Mysteries: The Mystery of Blizzard Mesa takes place at a ski resort, although Bret and his friends are there to investigate strange goings-on and not to ski.
  • Chalet School: As many of the books take place in the Alps, skiing happens in some of the stories, often with falls and injuries.
  • In a Mrs Pepperpot story, Mr. Pepperpot goes skiing and when Mrs. Pepperpot shrinks, she can't find him.

    Live-Action TV 
  • One Boy Meets World episode had the gang takes a school winter trip to a ski resort and Cory ends up getting injured and isn't able to ski and snowboard with his friends. He ends up getting inappropriately close to a girl (played by Linda Cardellini) at the lodge.
  • Forever: In "The Night In Question" Detective Hanson is supposed to be going on one of these with his family, which we hear about several times in various contexts. When Henry and Jo need some information from a rural hospital that happens to be /along the way, Hanson offers to stop briefly to get it. Then one of his "nitwit kids" manages to fall in the parking lot and they have to stay for him to get x-rays. Then "nitwit two" gets his arm stuck in a vending machine. On the plus side, that means Hanson is still at the hospital when they need more information. Presumably he eventually makes it to the ski lodge off-screen.
  • The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air had two.
    • "Christmas Show" which likewise doubles as a Christmas Episode. The Banks family, including Vivian's sisters, their husbands and kids, go to a lodge and rent a cabin to spend the holidays together. Along the way, one of Vivian's sisters reveals herself to be pregnant. The other, who happens to be Will's mom, reveals she's dating again to Will's worry and the cabin ends up robbed by a thief posing as a drifter. Surprisingly, the family doesn't get their stuff back, but still come together in the end and the news of aforementioned pregnancy raises everyone's spirits.
    • "Three's A Crowd": Will and Carlton are set for a ski trip getaway, but things get mucked up when Will invites Lisa along to the chagrin of Carlton who wanted to be only them. After another broken promise, the duo get into a car crash after slipping off the road. They survive but are stranded on a cliff made no better when Will finds out the rental car wasn't insured. But the duo manage to finally talk a bit about their morality and feelings. Eventually they hit upon the idea to use their skis to try and jump the cliff to the snow below, with their hands being forced when they accidentally cause an avalanche trying to hail a passerby. Again they survive with some slight injuries. It's all Played for Laughs of course.
  • Good Luck Charlie: In the two-part special "Snow Show", the Duncan family goes to the Ski-Resort where their parents were married, and where a bunch of drama goes down; Teddy is told she'd find the love of her life there and ends up reconnecting with her ex-boyfriend Spencer, and Bob and Amy find out that their wedding wasn't technically official. Meanwhile, Gabe pays way too much on room-service, and PJ ends up in an ice-skating contest.
  • The It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia episode "The Gang Hits The Slopes", as the title states, has The Gang go on a skiing vacation in the Poconos, where they find Frank's plans to buy the mountain and turn it into an exclusive resort for rich CEOs unless his old rival can beat Dennis in a race. The two subplots have Mac and Dee attempting to relive the resort's '80s glory days and Charlie hitting it off with an European model, parodying raunchy ski films of that decade.
  • The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour episode, "Lucy Goes to Sun Valley", in which Lucy and Ethel go to a lodge in Sun Valley in a scheme of Lucy's to make Ricky jealous. Along the way, she gets into shenanigans with celebrity, Fernando Lamas
  • An episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch has the titular character and her two aunts vacation at a ski resort, on the moon!
  • In the Murder, She Wrote episode "Snow White, Blood Red", Jessica is staying at a ski resort. As per usual, a murder takes place and Jessica tries to figure out the culprit, all while a blizzard hits.
  • Frasier episode "The Ski Lodge" is set at one of these but never actually leaves the titular lodge. Instead, a series of miscommunications between Frasier, Niles, Daphne, Daphne's friend Annie and the resort's Straight Gay ski instructor leads to confusion over who's attracted to whom. The result is a Farce of doors slamming as people sneak into the wrong bedrooms.
  • The Friends episode "The One Without the Ski Trip" is a defied example. After Ross and Rachel break up, Rachel decides to take the others to her sister's ski lodge for a fun weekend. But halfway there, the car runs out of gas, and they have to make the difficult decision of calling Ross for help. He brings the gas, but Rachel won't let him come to the lodge. After Phoebe breaks up their argument Ross points out he has to return the car he borrowed anyway. The gang set off without him... and then he realises his battery's dead.

    Podcasts 
  • The Adventure Zone: Amnesty: The second between-season interlude has the main characters having fun together at a ski resort, which makes sense as the town they live in used to be a popular tourist destination for skiers. Most time is spent indoors in the cabin, however. This episode also provides the introduction of Jake Coolice, a deliberately Totally Radical snowboarder.

    Video Games 
  • In BanG Dream! Girls Band Party!, the First Time!? Winter Sports event revolves around a few of the girls going to a ski resort to play around in the snow and try out skiing.
  • The White Peaks district in Criminal Case: Pacific Bay is a chain of snowy mountains where one of the main touristic attractions is the presence of a ski resort.
  • In Mega Man Star Force 2, Geo and co. visit Grizzly Peak, a ski resort maintained year-round thanks to snow-producing EM technology, while on summer vacation. Hijinks ensue, including getting locked out of their suite, entering an eating competition, meeting a famous athlete, and getting plunged into a deadly storm by Yeti Blizzard.
  • Persona 4 Golden: The Investigation Team goes on a field trip to a ski resort during their 3rd semester, which leads to the introduction of the Hollow Forest arc. During the 2nd day of the trip, you are able to choose who Yu wants to ski with, who will then get lost in a blizzard and get trapped inside of a storage shed. Once the rest of the team finds them, they discover the entrance to the Hollow Forest in a nearby television. There is also an episode dedicated to the ski trip in Persona 4: The Golden Animation.
  • Scooby-Doo! and the Spooky Swamp: Howling Peaks, in which a yeti has been scaring visitors away from the ski resort.

    Visual Novels 
  • Double Homework gives an unorthodox example. Dennis, blackmailing Dr. Mosely/Zeta, arranges for an end-of-summer class trip to Barbarossa. Dr. Mosely/Zeta also arranges for the protagonist to receive bus tickets to Barbarossa, and he uses them. After the final confrontation with Dennis, Dr. Mosely/Zeta tries to kill the whole class with an avalanche to keep the details of her work secret. The protagonist then successfully evacuates everyone on skis.

    Web Animation 
  • In the JaidenAnimations video "My Horrible, Traumatic Skiing Experience", Jaiden talks about a time when she skied down a scarily-big hill as a child.

    Western Animation 
  • All Grown Up! has "Fear of Falling", where the gang plus Stu go to a ski resort. Tommy gets a crush on a girl there, alienating his friends, while Chuckie tries to overcome his fear of heights.
  • On The All-New Popeye Hour, in the short "Tough Sledding", Popeye helps Olive Oyl's grandmother save her ski resort from her dishonest rival, Bluto.
  • The American Dragon: Jake Long episode "The Ski Trip" involves Jake's class going to a ski resort where Jake hopes to get close to his love interest, Rose. It doubles as a Wham Episode as well when he finds out she's the Huntsgirl.
  • In As Told by Ginger, the episode "Stealing First" has Ginger's class going on a ski trip. Ginger doesn't want to go because she doesn't know how to ski and is worried about looking stupid in front of her peers and tries to bail on going. But her mom forces her to go because she doesn't want Ginger to miss out on what should be a fun experience. During the trip, Courtney bets Miranda that she can hook Ginger up with the foreign-exchange student Jean-Pierre and get them to kiss on the ski lift.
  • Betty Boop: In Thrills and Chills, Betty and Pudgy go on a ski trip and keep encountering a guy demanding a kiss from her.
  • Camp Lazlo: In "Snow Beans", the Bean Scouts go skiing on Mount Whitehead. Lazlo and Scoutmaster Lumpus are assigned to the bunny slope and get stranded on a broken ski lift.
  • One episode of Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels takes place at a ski lodge.
  • Classic Disney Shorts: In The Art of Skiing, Goofy shows us the proper points of skiing (pronounced "shee-ing"). Notable for being the first use of his famous holler ("YAAAAAAH-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOOEY!").
  • The Fairly OddParents! episode "Snow Bound" has Timmy, his dad, and Vicky go to a ski resort to save Timmy's mom from the Abominable Snowman rumored to be at the vicinity of the resort. Timmy's mom and her friends happen to be there on vacation, but not without leaving an excuse that she's at the resort for her sick aunt. While Timmy's dad tries to track down the Abominable Snowman, Timmy and Vicky go snowboarding, with Vicky using Timmy as the board. After an avalanche caused by Vicky's antics and a chase with the Abominable Snowman, they manage to go back to the resort, where the Abominable Snowman reveals himself to be a hunky pizza delivery guy. After Vicky calls out Timmy for saving her from a hot guy and causing another avalanche at the resort, Timmy tricks his dad that Vicky was the Snowman and still falling for his wife's "sick aunt" excuse.
  • The Futurama episode "Xmas Story" begins with the Planet Express team vacationing on a ski resort before Xmas. They enjoy some winter sports (skiing, snowboarding and bobsled). There are some accidents and injuries, but they all end up relaxing by the fire and enjoying hot drinks.
  • The Harlem Globetrotters: The 10th episode of the series is "It's Snow Vacation," in which an amiable and honest hotelier is being railroaded out of business by a devious competitor. The Globetrotters decide to play a challenge match to remedy this situation.
  • Johnny Test: "Downhill Johnny" which involves involves Johnny trying to find a way to go down a tall slope at Behemoth Ski Resort after the ski captain refuse to let him go down by himself because children under 13 years old need an adult to do it, and Hugh is too afraid to go down.
  • Josie and the Pussycats visit a ski lodge in "The Midas Mix-Up." They actually do some skiing there: the first go results in bumbling upon the villain's chateau, where they are presumed to be investigators, and are taken prisoner. The second go occurs during their escape, after which they decide to thwart the villain themselves.
  • Kim Possible: In "Downhill", Kim's class takes a ski trip to Mount Middleton. Ron and Mr. Barkin go looking for a rumored "snow beast", which turns out to be one of DNAmy's creations.
  • Milo Murphy's Law: The Season 1 episode "Love Toboggan" features Milo, Zack, and Melissa going skiing.
  • In an episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies, Laurel and Hardy help the gang solve the mystery when the ghost of Bigfoot reportedly haunts an abandoned ski lodge.
  • In the Nina Needs to Go! episode "Snow", Nina and her family go skiing.
  • In an episode of Peppa Pig, the titular pig and her family go skiing. Mummy Pig is offended by the fact that the amateur slope is called the "baby slope" and decides to ski all the way down the mountain instead, which results in her going uncontrollably down the slope instead.
  • In the Pinky and the Brain episode "This Old Mouse" Brain ends abadoning his dream of world domination and becomes a ski instructor at a ski resort. He's back to trying to take over the world by the end.
  • The Quack Pack episode "Snow Place to Hide" has Donald following Daisy to a ski resort when he thinks she's cheating on him with a co-worker.
  • Rocko's Modern Life: In "Snowballs", Rocko delivers a shipment of comic books past a ski resort, and Heffer convinces him to have a little fun there.
  • Rocky Kwaterner: Episode 25 "Rocky, King of the Slopes", sees the Tikka family take a trip to a ski resort; something Rocky is not too thrilled about as skiing and sledding are not his thing.
  • In The Simpsons episode "Little Big Mom", the Simpsons and Ned Flanders go skiing and Marge breaks her leg.
  • South Park: "Asspen" has the boys go skiing while their parents are trapped in a timeshare meeting. Stan in particular gets into a fight with a skier who challenges him to a race in a parody of '80s ski films.
  • What's New, Scooby-Doo? premiered with the Gang going to a ski lodge to see a snowboarding competition and, as usual, a monster attacks the competitors, forcing them to investigate the mystery.
  • The X-Men: The Animated Series episode "Nightcrawler" opens with Rogue, Gambit and Wolverine on a skiing vacation in the German Alps. A ski accident leads to them getting taken in by the monastery where Nightcrawler lives.

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Skiing in 3000

Ski resort vacation in the year 3000

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