We’ve all had bad days at work.
The copier, improbably, decides to start speaking Greek and refuses to return to English. You spill hot coffee all over yourself, but it’s only hot enough to ruin the rest of your shift, not file a lawsuit. Management hosts a “pizza party” but declines to mention that it’s only “pizza themed,” and you won’t actually be eating any pizza.
All instances suck. But they might pale in comparison to what a presumed employee at an Australian ski resort had to deal with earlier this month.
It all started with an unassuming webcam video from Thredbo, which, for the first few seconds, was quiet and still. Then, the front of an unpiloted snowmobile crept into the frame, with someone chasing hastily behind. Luckily, the run was empty as the snowmobile made a beeline for the trees.
If there ever was a moment in skiing that deserved the theme song from The Benny Hill Show (you know the one), this is it.
While our star had unfortunate timing—their antics were captured on a webcam, after all—they’d hardly be the first to go toe-to-toe with a snowmobile and lose. These weighty machines are famously fickle, known for plunging into snow drifts, off roads, and otherwise getting stuck. Countless skiers have wild stories from their first, ill-conceived hours riding snowmobiles.
It also isn’t the first time a ski resort webcam picked up something hilarious. Most notably, this past winter, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, aimed a webcam at Corbet’s Couloir, one of the toughest ski runs in the U.S. The camera quickly drew attention, with internet dwellers screencapturing crash after crash. The Couloir’s fearsome reputation, it turns out, was well-deserved.
For the most part, though, webcams just deliver information: here’s how the weather looks at your favorite mountain, maybe come visit? It’s only in fringe cases that something truly wild happens. Some days, that’s a bear clomping across a beginner trail. Other days, it’s a snowmobile with dreams of being free.
The 2026 POWDER Photo Annual is here! Look for a print copy on a newsstand near you, or click here to have a copy shipped directly to your front door.
Related: How a Webcam Turned North America’s Most Famous Ski Run Into a Global Spectator Sport
