Mountain of Madness

"Mountain of Madness" is the twelfth episode of The Simpsons' eighth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 2, 1997. In the episode, Mr. Burns tries to encourage more cooperation among his employees and forces the workers of Springfield Nuclear Power Plant to go for a team-building hike in the mountains. Burns and Homer are paired together and trapped in a cabin that gets buried by multiple avalanches.

"Mountain of Madness" was directed by Mark Kirkland and written by John Swartzwelder. The script underwent many rewrites and the story was completely rewritten. Several new designs and backgrounds had to be created for the wilderness scenes. The episode received mostly positive reviews.

Mr. Burns decides to hold a good old-fashioned fire drill in order to excite things up around the plant. Upon hearing the bells ring, the employees panic and fail to clear the plant within 15 minutes. Outraged, Burns declares that everyone will be subjected to a teamwork competition at Mt. Useful. Homer brings his family to the mountain, not realizing it was only for employees, so he leaves them in the visitor center. Homer ends up being partnered with Burns while Smithers has to journey on his own, fuming that he was not paired with his boss. The object of this competition is to reach a cabin at the top of the mountain; the last team to arrive will be fired.

Along the way, Burns talks Homer into cheating and they use a snowmobile (which Burns refers to as a "horseless sleigh") to reach the cabin. Arriving several hours early, they settle down in the comfortable surroundings. Burns and Homer quickly become friends. However, while clinking their champagne glasses, they inadvertently cause an avalanche that buries the entire cabin. Despite Burns's attempt to operate a telegraph machine or Homer's attempt to dig a tunnel through the snow, they remain trapped. The pair attempt further tunneling escapes, but each time they speak, they cause more avalanches that place even more snow between them and freedom. Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa meet Smithers and offer to help him proceed to the cabin, though they cause more stalling than helping.