One of the most personal ways to choose art for a mountain home is by destination. A poster of the resort where you learned to ski, where you spent your honeymoon, or where you go every year carries a meaning no generic decor can match. Here is our guide to the best vintage ski posters by destination — European Alps, North American Rockies, and everything in between.
Cortina is arguably the most visually dramatic ski destination in the world, and its posters reflect this. The jagged pink-grey towers of the Dolomites appear in poster after poster from the 1930s through 1960s. Look for compositions that include the distinctive spires of the Tre Cime or the Tofane massif. Cortina posters from the 1950s — warm, golden, richly illustrated — are among the most collected vintage ski images. If you have ever skied there, or dream of it, a large Cortina print above a fireplace is hard to beat.
Switzerland produced some of the earliest and most technically accomplished ski posters, partly because the Swiss Federal Railways needed to fill trains year-round. Davos posters have a medical-spa elegance — the resort was originally a tuberculosis sanatorium, and the clean-air promise persists in the early imagery. Klosters and Mürren posters tend toward the intimate and romantic, reflecting their character as car-free, unspoiled villages. Verbier posters from the 1960s have a more modern energy — suited to contemporary interiors.
French ski poster art is perhaps the most varied, ranging from the heroic mountaineering imagery of Chamonix to the aristocratic glamour of Megève. Val d'Isère posters from the 1940s and 1950s have a strong Art Deco influence — bold, graphic, with a sense of altitude. Courchevel posters from the 1960s are sleeker and more modern. Megève imagery tends toward warmth and luxury — wood, firelight, elegant figures. Match the poster to the feeling of the room.
Austrian ski posters have a particular warmth and gemütlichkeit — the untranslatable Austrian concept of cosiness and good fellowship. Kitzbühel posters often feature the famous Hahnenkamm downhill course, with vertiginous angles and dynamic racers. St. Anton posters reflect the resort's status as the birthplace of alpine skiing — there is a historical weight to them. Zell am See is unique in its lake-and-mountain compositions, unlike any other resort poster.
American ski posters have a different visual language from their European counterparts — more open, more frontier, less formally composed. Aspen posters from the 1950s have a Hollywood glamour that reflects the town's identity. Jackson Hole posters carry the drama of the Tetons — vertical, serious mountains that demand serious compositions. Breckenridge has a mining-town heritage that gives its early posters a rugged Americana quality. Whistler posters from the 1970s have the laid-back energy of the Pacific Northwest.
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