Image :: Ace Media

Mountainwatch | Alex Horvath

You know what excites me most about this time of year? Nope, it isn’t the Melbourne Cup, and it sure isn’t the nervousness with which I watch international airline ticket prices rise and fall with more volatility than the New York Stock Exchange…

It’s release season. This provides literally hours and hours of teasers, full parts and 24 hour online-only full releases. What more could you ask for when you’re getting psyched about those overseas trips?

Here is a list – and teasers – of each movie I think you shouldn’t miss this summer. Hit your local shop to grab them in all their laser disc glory; or just buy them on iTunes; whatever…

1. “McConkey” The Movie

“McConkey” is a heartfelt examination of the legacy one athlete left to the progression of his sports, and the path he paved to conquer his dreams. Shane McConkey is revered as a pioneer of freeskiing and ski-BASE jumping, and through his talent and ability to use his trademark irreverent humor, he inspired countless lives. In a new film from Red Bull Media House in association with Matchstick Productions, “McConkey” celebrates the life of one of the world’s ultimate innovators.

2. Jake Blauvelt — Naturally

Jake Blauvelt and friends seek new lines across the globe in Naturally, a snowboarding media project two years in the making. Presented by Oakley, Adidas and Ride Snowboards. Jake continues where his naturally webisodes left off, producing a full movie, web tv series and tv documentary with Friday. Jake Blauvelt has been searching for natural lines for most of his career. The last two years he’s been documenting what it takes. Get to know Jake Blauvelt, his past, the present and what his future dreams are.

3. Go! A Snowboard Road Trip

GO, a snowboard road trip, is the story of four friends and our journey through the winter. With very little relativity in professional snowboard media, they have set out to create a project that every fellow snowboarder can appreciate on a personal level. The project is spearheaded by Lucas DeBari who has been filming video parts with large production companies such as Teton Gravity Research and Absinthe Films over the past 5 years.

4. “Valhalla”

Valhalla, Sweetgrass Productions’ fourth feature film, is the tale of one man’s search to rediscover the freedom of his youth. Feeling the distant heat of it’s fire still burning in the mountains of the frozen north, he goes in search of those tending the flame—the untamed, the wild, and the outcast dwelling on the fringe.

Weaving narrative-driven style with award-winning, face-melting backcountry ski and snowboard cinematography; Valhalla is a vivid explosion of color, character, snow, and nostalgic soul.

5. Nike’s Never Not Part 1 & 2

Featuring a diverse cast of the world’s most talented riders, Never Not brings viewers along for a nonstop, all-terrain mission to the bleeding edge of snowboarding progression. From the high peaks of the Alaskan alpine to Canada’s powder highway to the streets of Moscow and the American Midwest, Never Not presents a mind-bending blend of backcountry and urban action. Whether your favorites are veteran powder pros like Nicolas Müller and Gigi Rüf or young and hungry riders on the rise like Jed Anderson, Jess Kimura, and Halldór Helgason, Never Not is a movie that will inspire you to get up and go riding.