These 10 Retro ’70s Ski Ads From POWDER Are Pure Gold

To ski is to purchase. You may’t go to the mountains, not to mention experience a chairlift, with out plunking down some money. It is smart, then, that as POWDER gathered steam within the Seventies, advertisers took discover. From beer corporations to outerwear corporations, these manufacturers carved miniature fiefdoms amongst the journal’s pages within the hopes that skiers would possibly discover their wares and suppose to themselves, “I can buy that.” These commercials, as you would possibly anticipate, regarded nothing like their fashionable counterparts. For one, there was the gear on sale, which ranged from comically lengthy race skis to form-fitting jumpsuits. Then, there have been the advertising and marketing selections, which have been impressed at greatest, and hilarious at worst. Would a picture of a shirtless man bending a ski in half survive scrutiny from an promoting company at this time? Most likely not. However that’s what made the Seventies so particular.Listed below are a few of our favourite commercials from POWDER’s 70s archives.This piece is a part of POWDER’s Summer season of Ski Nostalgia content material sequence. Keep tuned in every day for extra nostalgic articles, and maintain a watch out for the upcoming Summer season of Ski Nostalgia badge to determine future content material.You can too view all of POWDER’s summer season nostalgia content material right here.Need to sustain with the very best tales and photographs in snowboarding? Subscribe to the brand new Powder To The Individuals publication for weekly updates. 

1. A Becoming Drink for the First Problem

Certainly one of only some commercials from POWDER’s first difficulty, this illustration feels becoming. It comprises the catchphrase that may ultimately develop into synonymous with the journal, “Powder to the Individuals,” and shows a beverage that, to today, is favored by skiers all over the place: beer. 

2. Constructed for Bumps

When an commercial opens with the phrase “Skiwear designed by bump-junkies,” a rollercoaster is imminent. This inset, which highlights skin-tight snowpants bought by O’Neill, solely will get higher from there. “You realize the sort. Guys who want a mogul repair to begin the day. They assault bumps so huge they want a periscope to ski them. The pressure on the wheels is boggling,” the following few sentences learn. From the copy alone, you would possibly guess that whoever wrote this was actively sweating and salivating because the phrases flowed from their keyboard. It virtually, however not fairly, appears perverted, in a Seventies form of means. 

3. The Biggest Snowboarding within the World

Typically, simplicity and a little bit of thriller sells. With this commercial, Canadian Mountain Holidays introduced the important thing to “the best snowboarding on the earth.” To be taught extra, all a curious reader needed to do was reduce out and mail a coupon. We have been bought. 

4. Welcome to the Gunshow

And there’s the shirtless man, flexing a ski like a Greek god. It’s unconventional, to make sure, however Skilom does get their level throughout concerning the sturdiness of their cross nation gear. If the most important hunk round can bend your sticks almost in half, they will in all probability stand up to a lap or two on the cross nation trails. 

5. That is a Deal

Raise tickets, discounted midweek lodging, rental gear, and a meals allowance. Within the Seventies, that’s what $26 obtained you at Ski Sierra Blanca (now generally known as Ski Apache). It’s not fairly pretty much as good because it sounds. We—or a pc, somewhat—did the mathematics, and that $26 could be value about $138 at this time. Nonetheless, for the whole lot this Sierra Blanca bundle included, that’s a fairly candy deal. On the mistaken mountain on the mistaken day in 2025, you’d pay twice that only for the privilege of ready in raise strains.

6. An Avant-Garde Invitation 

Rolling the inventive cube would possibly, in the long run, be greatest reserved for school movie initiatives impressed by David Lynch. However you possibly can admire what this advert for a lodge in Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah, was attempting to do—mix the metropolitan with the mountains—regardless of the outcomes not being significantly legible or eye grabbing. It was distinctive, understated, and completely of its period, making the commercial a worthwhile inclusion on this checklist. 

7. Planet Snowboarding

On the opposite facet of the coin, this commercial for Park Metropolis, Utah, took subtlety and advised the ineffective sentiment to take a hike. It has a collage together with seven photographs, a photograph of Jupiter, a large blurb of textual content, and, for good measure, an illustration of a cartoon cowboy-turned-skier carrying a rocket. Every component in all probability may’ve been an commercial by itself, however typically, you want the kitchen sink to get your level throughout.

8. Merchandising, Merchandising, Merchandising 

POWDER merch! Seventies POWDER merch! That’s it. That’s the commercial. If anybody occurs to have a pair of these short-shorts mendacity round, please tell us.

9. A Trusty Bud

Carrying a beer-themed sweater whereas collaborating in a famously boozy sport, like snowboarding, might be redundant. However when mentioned sweater seems to be this good, the temptation stays. Plus, anybody who picked one among these bad-boys up may take satisfaction in realizing that their hard-earned cash had gone in the direction of an excellent trigger—the sweater proceeds, because the commercial notes, have been donated to the U.S. Ski Workforce.

10. Snowboarding in Denims? Snowboarding in Levi’s 

Denim and snowboarding have had a protracted, wild romance. Printed by Levi’s, this chapter of their on-again off-again courtship screams the Seventies and, for that motive, amongst others, we adore it.This piece is a part of POWDER’s Summer season of Ski Nostalgia content material sequence. Keep tuned in every day for extra nostalgic articles, and maintain a watch out for the upcoming Summer season of Ski Nostalgia badge to determine future content material.You can too view all of POWDER’s summer season nostalgia content material right here.

Associated: The Greatest ’70s Ski Outfits From the POWDER Archives

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