A skiing or boarding mix is a tricky thing to make.  As John Cusak said in High Fedelity, “The making of a great compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do and takes ages longer than it might seem. You gotta kick off with a killer, to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch, but you don’t wanna blow your wad, so then you got to cool it off a notch. There are a lot of rules.”   When it comes to a skiing or boarding mix, it’s a little easier; I think you just need lots of fun songs, and nothing too slow.

I just looked at my “skiing” playlist and it’s a bit long: 470 tracks and 1.2 days of music.  But, I listen to that baby all season long so I don’t want to get tired of listening to the same songs. I just throw it on, hit shuffle, and I’m good to go.  The best is when that perfect song matches up with the run you’re on.  Maybe a fast Bloc Party song down a bump run, a light and fluffy Architecture in Helsinki tune as you float down some powder, or my favorite a little “Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves on a beautiful bluebird day.

But seeing as how my complete list is not really a feasible list to share, here’s a “best of” from that list that crosses multiple eras and genres. A little bit of everything if you will, but a whole lotta good tunes for good turns. I know, I tested ‘em out.

Click here to listen to the list on Rhapsody

1. Crown On The Ground – Sleigh Bells

2. Hang Me Up To Dry – Cold War Kids

3. Ion Square – Bloc Party

4. D.A.N.C.E. [Album Version] – Justice (electro)

5. POWER (Album Version (Explicit)) – Kanye West

6. Sinister Kid – The Black Keys

7. Automatic Lover – Teddybears

8. Maybe You Can Owe Me – Architecture in Helsinki

9. Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away) – Motley Crue

10. Dominos – The Big Pink

11. Complete Control – The Clash

12. Digital Love – Daft Punk

13. Come Dancing – The Kinks

14. Hey Now Now – The Cloud Room

15. Song for No One – Miike Snow

16. Jane Fonda – Mickey Avalon

17. If You Want Me To Stay – Sly & the Family Stone

18. Gone To Save Mankind – The Winter Sounds

19. Shake! Shake! – The Subways

20. If I Didn’t Have a Goiter – Johnny Socko

21. Don’t Bother Me – The Blakes

22. Unless It’s Kicks – Okkervil River

23. Freak Out – Stellastarr

24. Walking On Sunshine – Katrina and the Waves

25. Abel – The National

26. This Way – (featuring Kayne West) – Dilated Peoples

27. Think I’m In Love – Eddie Money

28. Everybody Wants Some!! – Van Halen

29. Little Stereo – Teddybears

30. Massive Nights – The Hold Steady

31. Little Lion Man – Mumford & Sons

32. Coldblack – The Knew

33. Pop Song – Starf*cker

34. A Hit In Sweden – Say Hi To Your Mom

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