The Story of Modern Skiing

The Story of Modern Skiing
Author :
Publisher : University Press of New England
Total Pages : 404
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781512601565
ISBN-13 : 151260156X
Rating : 4/5 (65 Downloads)

Synopsis The Story of Modern Skiing by : John Fry

This is the definitive history of the sport that has exhilarated and infatuated about 30 million Americans and Canadians over the course of the last fifty years. Consummate insider John Fry chronicles the rise of a ski culture and every aspect of the sport's development, including the emergence of the mega-resort and advances in equipment, technique, instruction, and competition. The Story of Modern Skiing is laced with revelations from the author's personal relationships with skiing greats such as triple Olympic gold medalists Toni Sailer and Jean-Claude Killy, double gold medalist and environmental champion Andrea Mead Lawrence, first women's World Cup winner Nancy Greene, World Alpine champion Billy Kidd, Sarajevo gold and silver medalists Phil and Steve Mahre, and industry pioneers such as Vail founder Pete Seibert, metal ski designer Howard Head, and plastic boot inventor Bob Lange. Fry writes authoritatively of alpine skiing in North America and Europe, of Nordic skiing, and of newer variations in the sport: freestyle skiing, snowboarding, and extreme skiing. He looks closely at skiing's relationship to the environment, its portrayal in the media, and its response to social and economic change. Maps locating major resorts, records of ski champions, and a timeline, bibliography, glossary, and index of names and places make this the definitive work on modern skiing. Skiers of all ages and abilities will revel in this lively tale of their sport's heritage.

White Planet

White Planet
Author :
Publisher : Greystone Books
Total Pages : 305
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781553656463
ISBN-13 : 1553656466
Rating : 4/5 (63 Downloads)

Synopsis White Planet by : Leslie Anthony

Writer and adventurer Leslie Anthony has spent his life on two planks, racing down hills, searching for the next perfect ride. His real baptism, however, began in the early nineties when Alaska emerged as the ski world’s Next Big Thing. Steep faces and vast tracks of powder snow, were captured on film and beamed to audiences around the world. The result was a freeskiing revolution. With insight and humor, White Planet, traces an arc through the new ski culture, in a rock ‘n’ roll adventure that follows a diaspora to far-flung corners of the globe. Along the way, Anthony introduces many of the daredevils, visionaries and entrepreneurs who are bringing the sport to such unexpected places as Mexico, China, Lebanon and India.

Two Planks and a Passion

Two Planks and a Passion
Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages : 456
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780826423382
ISBN-13 : 0826423388
Rating : 4/5 (82 Downloads)

Synopsis Two Planks and a Passion by : Roland Huntford

Roland Huntford's brilliant history begins 20,000 years ago in the last ice age on the icy tundra of an unformed earth. Man is a travelling animal, and on these icy slopes skiing began as a means of survival. That it has developed into the leisure and sporting pursuit of choice by so much of the globe bears testament to its elemental appeal. In polar exploration, it has changed the course of history. Elsewhere, in war and peace, it has done so too. The origins of skiing are bound up in with the emergence of modern man and the world we live in today.

Skiing Into Modernity

Skiing Into Modernity
Author :
Publisher : Univ of California Press
Total Pages : 252
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780520284272
ISBN-13 : 0520284275
Rating : 4/5 (72 Downloads)

Synopsis Skiing Into Modernity by : Andrew Denning

"Examines the relationship between skiers and the Alpine environment since the late nineteenth century. It argues that skiing and winter tourism modernized the Alps in both material and perceptual terms while the Alpine landscape itself challenged skiers to alter their practices and philosophies of sport, leisure and nature, harmonizing Alpine skiing with modern cultural values and social practices in the twentieth century"--Provided by publisher.

Downriver

Downriver
Author :
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Total Pages : 232
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780226432670
ISBN-13 : 022643267X
Rating : 4/5 (70 Downloads)

Synopsis Downriver by : Heather Hansman

Award-winning journalist rafts down the Green River, revealing a multifaceted look at the present and future of water in the American West. The Green River, the most significant tributary of the Colorado River, runs 730 miles from the glaciers of Wyoming to the desert canyons of Utah. Over its course, it meanders through ranches, cities, national parks, endangered fish habitats, and some of the most significant natural gas fields in the country, as it provides water for 33 million people. Stopped up by dams, slaked off by irrigation, and dried up by cities, the Green is crucial, overused, and at-risk, now more than ever. Fights over the river’s water, and what’s going to happen to it in the future, are longstanding, intractable, and only getting worse as the West gets hotter and drier and more people depend on the river with each passing year. As a former raft guide and an environmental reporter, Heather Hansman knew these fights were happening, but she felt driven to see them from a different perspective—from the river itself. So she set out on a journey, in a one-person inflatable pack raft, to paddle the river from source to confluence and see what the experience might teach her. Mixing lyrical accounts of quiet paddling through breathtaking beauty with nights spent camping solo and lively discussions with farmers, city officials, and other people met along the way, Downriver is the story of that journey, a foray into the present—and future—of water in the West.

The Ultimate Ski Book

The Ultimate Ski Book
Author :
Publisher : Te Neues Publishing Company
Total Pages : 0
Release :
ISBN-10 : 3961712964
ISBN-13 : 9783961712960
Rating : 4/5 (64 Downloads)

Synopsis The Ultimate Ski Book by : Gabriella Le Breton

* The best in skiing around the world: from the Alps to the Andes, from the Rockies to the Whakapapa Skifield * 150 color and black and white photos, from nostalgic ski shots to spectacular piste views * Including personal tips from ski legends A must-have tome for any ski fan, this wonderfully illustrated book is about all things skiing. Beginning with early Alpine pioneers through to the development of modern skiing, author and ski aficionado Gabriella Le Breton presents the evolution of this much-loved mountain sport and all the essentials of contemporary ski culture. Where is the longest run in the Andes? Which is the most spectacular descent in the Alps? Which is the most legendary hut in the Rockies? Hit the slopes with all of this expert insider info, as well as the best in ski fashion, style, accommodations, and après ski entertainment.

Powder Days

Powder Days
Author :
Publisher : Harlequin
Total Pages : 268
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781488069055
ISBN-13 : 1488069050
Rating : 4/5 (55 Downloads)

Synopsis Powder Days by : Heather Hansman

*A Boston Globe Bestseller!* *An Outside Magazine Book Club Pick!* *Winner of the International Ski Association's Ullr Book Award!* "A sparkling account."—Wall Street Journal An electrifying adventure into the rich history of skiing and the modern heart of ski-bum culture, from one of America's most preeminent ski journalists The story of skiing is, in many ways, the story of America itself. Blossoming from the Tenth Mountain Division in World War II, the sport took hold across the country, driven by adventurers seeking the rush of freedom that only cold mountain air could provide. As skiing gained in popularity, mom-and-pop backcountry hills gave way to groomed trails and eventually the megaresorts of today. Along the way, the pioneers and diehards—the ski bums—remained the beating heart of the scene. Veteran ski journalist and former ski bum Heather Hansman takes readers on an exhilarating journey into the hidden history of American skiing, offering a glimpse into an underexplored subculture from the perspective of a true insider. Hopping from Vermont to Colorado, Montana to West Virginia, Hansman profiles the people who have built their lives around a cold-weather obsession. Along the way she reckons with skiing's problematic elements and investigates how the sport is evolving in the face of the existential threat of climate change.

In Search of Powder

In Search of Powder
Author :
Publisher : U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages : 255
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780803228399
ISBN-13 : 0803228392
Rating : 4/5 (99 Downloads)

Synopsis In Search of Powder by : Jeremy Evans

As a recent college graduate and fledging newspaper reporter in the Lake Tahoe area, Jeremy Evans became immersed in ski bum culture?a carefree lifestyle whose mantra was simply: ?Ski as much as possible.? His snowboarding suffered when he left for a job in the Portland area; and when, at twenty-six, he suffered a stroke, he reexamined his priorities, quit his job, moved back to Tahoe, and threw himself into snowboarding. But while he had been away, the culture had changed. This book is Evans?s paean to the disappearing culture of the ski bum. A fascinating look at a world far removed from the larger culture, it is also a curious account of a passion for powder and what its disappearance means. ø Evans looks at several prominent ski towns in the West (including Crested Butte, Jackson Hole, Telluride, Lake Tahoe, Park City, and Mammoth) and the ski bums who either flourished or fled. He chronicles the American West transformed by rising real estate costs, an immigrant workforce, misguided values, and corporate-owned resorts. The story he tells is that of quintessentially American characters?rejecting materialism, taking risks, following their own path?and of the glories and pitfalls their lifestyle presents.

Ski to Die

Ski to Die
Author :
Publisher : Clerisy Press
Total Pages : 247
Release :
ISBN-10 : 1578602483
ISBN-13 : 9781578602483
Rating : 4/5 (83 Downloads)

Synopsis Ski to Die by : Jennifer Woodlief

Bill Johnson took the world by storm at the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics, coming out of nowhere to win the first American gold medal in downhill skiing. He went on to dominate the World Cup races that same year. His success made him an overnight celebrity, but his fame was fleeting. He never won another race, and personal tragedy seemed to follow him at every turn. With his post-Olympic life spiraling out of control, Johnson decided to do the unthinkable -- make a comeback at the age of forty. He had his motto, "Ski to Die," tattooed on his right bicep. In a race at Big Mountain, fearless and in the lead with one turn to go, Johnson crashed face-first into the icy mountain at fifty miles per hour. Ski to Die is a story about the cost of chasing dreams. It is about glory and the attempt to recapture it once it is lost. More than a cautionary tale, Ski to Die is a rise-fall-rise-again story -- because against all odds, Bill Johnson's story doesn't end at Big Mountain.

Downhill Slide

Downhill Slide
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 308
Release :
ISBN-10 : 1578050715
ISBN-13 : 9781578050710
Rating : 4/5 (15 Downloads)

Synopsis Downhill Slide by : Hal Clifford

The first investigative analysis of how corporate interests gained control of America's most popular winter sport, and how they are gutting ski towns, the natural mountain environment, and skiing itself in the desperate search for short-term profit.