Who really did the snow stunts in these Hollywood films?

Ever wonder who’s behind some of the movie’s biggest ski scenes? Well, most of the time its kick-ass skiers and boarders not Hollywood actors. Check out these 5 big ski scenes, the talent might surprise you.

James Bond – The Spy Who Loved Me

Arguably one of the most iconic James Bond scenes of all time was the ski-to-cliff-jump escape in the 1977 film, The Spy Who Loved Me. No one could forget the vision of Roger Moore donned in a canary yellow onesie soaring loftily below his billowing Union Jack.

Now, as many a keen eye may be able to pick up, the shots filmed with the lead actor were done in front of a green screen. Whilst Roger Moore was too precious a commodity to risk on the snow, there was some serious talent carving the turns.

World Grand Prix aerial champion, Robert Young and freestyle competitor Eddie Lincoln took care of the skiing. For the grand finale, Squaw Valley’s own Rick Sylvester actually jumps off a massive cliff (Mount Asgard, Canada) strapped into a pair of skis.

Remembering that this was shot in 1976, I think he did damn good!

Eddie the Eagle

One of my favourite movies of 2016 for sure. I don’t think anyone could reasonably expect our mate Hugh [Jackman], or Aaron Egerton for that matter to nail the 90 meter Olympic ski jump though. A team of real-life ski jumpers took care of the mid-air antics whilst Jackman and Egerton managed the more realistic task of skiing down the landing ramp.

To be fair to the wolverine, his skiing prowess is held in high esteem by his co-star.

xXx

Heli-Skiing? Pfft. How about Skysurfing straight in to big mountain shredding with a casual mid-landing shoot release? Oh and then there is the whole outrunning-the-gargantuan-avalanche-you-just-intentionally-set-off-by-lobbing-a-couple-grenades-over-your-shoulder, thing. All in a days work for Zander Cage.

Vin Diesel’s reputation for first class performances in award winning films doesn’t exactly bode well for xXx’s foray into snowboarding however. One horrifically CGI’d avalanche was almost enough to quash any excitement upon a re-watch.

What I have just learned though, is that all of the snowboarding in this movie was actually done by none other than big mountain legend, Jeremy Jones. Redemption!

All said and done, I remember loving the movie as an overenthusiastic pre-pubescent. If I’m honest, maybe I still get a kick out of it today…

James Bond – The World Is Not Enough

Pierce Brosnon is just about as cool as they come. (Except when it comes skiing, which he couldn’t do when filming the 1999 James Bond Movie, The World Is Not Enough) Pierce was told to kneel on the back of a snowmobile, given short little ski poles and act as if he was the real deal.

The camera men shot him from waist up so no one would suspect his lie. It’s basically skiing right? I think the couple of hundred skiers at Chamonix waiting for Pierce to carve his way down the run might have noticed.

In typical bond fashion, not much is said about the women who shredded alongside stunt double Stephan Dan. From what I can tell, it was World Freeskiing legend, Francine Moreillon.

Point Break (2015)

Granted, this was one of the bigger let downs of 2015 in terms of untapped potential. In saying that, all the action sports filmed in the movie were actually done by the best athletes in the game:

That is the film’s biggest redeeming feature. The movie trailer could easily be mistaken for a GoPro clip, and if you treat the whole movie like one, there is some serious talent.

The snowboarding segment was handled by some of the worlds best; Lucas Debari, Xaiver De le Rue, Mike Basich, Ralph Backstrom and Mitch Toelderer. Debari pointed out that it wasn’t like shooting your normal boarding segment; more like an all-expenses paid, five-star month of hitting unlimited powder with your closest ‘homies’. Sounds good to me!