Product Description
This book shows that to impress legions of marvelling listeners with knowledge and advice about skiing, snow conditions, equipment and technique, you do not have to be a skier of rare ability and experience. Indeed you do not have to be able to ski at all. ... Read more

Product Description
Understanding the properties of snow and how it changes and interacts with the skis will help you appreciate the special phenomena that occur at the triple point, where the solid, liquid, and vapor phases coexist. You'll learn about alpine, cross-country, and speed skiing techniques, wax performance, and you'll get scientific data that is not readily available on the technical specifications and performance of ski equipment.

The new edition will include a chapter on biomechanics & physiology of skiing. Other chapters will be revised & brought up to date. The discussion of Alpine skiing will include an extensive discussion of the new "turning" skis. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Poorly written
I go skiing at least once a year; I am also a University lecturer in Physics. I bought this book several years ago with the expectation that it would be a fascinating read. Unfortunately, it has failed to "grab" me. Some of the problems are fairly minor: for instance, the illustrations leave a lot to be desired. The references are often not just outdated but also obscure. For example, the main reference to the phase thermodynamics of water is a "US Army Corps of Engineers Special Report No. 81-6" - surely, a more widely-available, mainstream reference could have been found for such a textbook topic! Other problems are more fundamental: (1) The book lacks a unifying approach and a discussion of the basic concepts (this was also pointed out by one of the other reviewers). As a result, it reads more like a collection of disjointed technical notes than a book. (2) It fails to provide any insights into the practise of skiing beyond what one would pick up from a private lesson with an instructor.I am really not sure, what kind of target audience the authors had in mind when writing this book. But I do know that it has not been useful to me either as a skier or as a Physics lecturer.

lots of data; lack of concept; slightly out-of-date
I am a firm believer that understanding of the mechanics of a carving ski and of the forces transferred between the skis and the skier as he makes his way down the slope are necessary to better understand why one or another skier's action may help to intiate a turn, or shorten its radius, or, in contrast, will lead to a skidded turn. "The physics of skiing" is the only book I could find which addresses the mechanics and physics of skiing. It starts with the physical properties of snow and its formation in the atmosphere, then discusses the properties of snow equipment (mostly downhill skis, briefly snowboards and cross-country skis), and then goes into dynamics of gliding, wedging, and carving. The book is written as a college textbook with numerous (although fairly simple) equations and diagrams of forces. It requires a sufficiently strong background in physics. Although it contains a large amount of interesting data, I was not quite satisfied with it for two reasons. First, it lacks a concept. It is more a review of different literature sources on skiing-related topics than an analysis combining understanding of physics of skiing with a discussion of how this knowledge is applicable to modern skiing techniques. It provides the readers with the background theory, but does not lead to any suggestions how to benefit from this understanding and improve their skiing technique. Too bad that the authors did not have a good ski instructor in their company to make the book more useful and down-to-earth. Secondly, since it is based on references published between 1977 and 1997, part of the discussion is more applicable to the old almost straight skis than to modern supersidecut skis.

Want to Know about Skiis and Snow? This book will tell you
As a ski instructor the subject of how and why these damn things work as well as how to set up your skiis has always been of interest. This book will give you 95% of the answers to those questions. The book covers down hill, cross country as well as a catagory called adventure skiing. I will be ordering extra copies to give to my skiing friends
W. E. M. ... Read more

Product Description
This guide is a passport to portals of adventure, fun, and Winter outdoor pleasure--a sampling of the best of the west of Massachusetts. Come put your foot in the door of the great outdoors! Welcome to the super, natural theme park that our Algonquin predecessors called the "land of many hills." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Some decent XC & BC tours but no telemark tours.
This is a decent guide for those looking for places to ski the ungroomed, but there are scant tours for the "touring for turns" set. The directions on how to find the starting point sometimes presume localknowledge of the towns or detailed street maps, but the tour directions areusually clear. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (7)

Good Tips for All Levels of Tele Skiers
Love the book - laid out well. Each "tip" concise and easy to understand. Book travels well, keep it in your pack for a reference while skiing. Many of the tips are focused on the same basic principles (back foot weighting, upper body facing the fall line, etc...) but approaching these principles in multiple different ways increases the chance that a tip will stick in your brain.

My boyfriend wouldn't listen to me, so I bought him this book.
What a great Christmas present for my bf - everything I was trying to teach him and more (I learned a bunch too), without the dirty looks after saying, "Almost got it, try again".The illustrations are funny and ultra useful because they show you how to do the technique right, almost right, and wrong.You decide which category you fit in.

Fun and informative little book!
This book is really well done; there are lots of fun and humorous illustrations and accompanying text with helpful little tele tips. If you are new to telemark skiing (as I am) this is a great little book. If you are already a good telemark skier there are some good tips and advice for you too. This book's illustrations are really fun and explain the text well. This book's tips range from really basic to really hard, from good basic tele form to skiing tele backwards. It's a great quick read, and you don't have to read it in the order given. Another fun aspect of this book is a flow chart which helps you decide which tips you should be working on. A nice read for the drive up to your ski resort. I can't wait to read the authors' book about backcountry skiing.

Drop the knee - Not the bomb!
I'm the illustrator of this groovy book. If the following sounds like shameless self promotion...it is. 123 tips in this UPDATED book!I personally subjected my ski partners to my less than subtal research technique, I bugged 'em by asking every concievable question and making 'em try (almost) every tip in the book. The winter of 97/98 involved getting up in the morning and going backcountry skiing, then coming home and drawing bizzare cartoons of what subtal telemark insights I uncovered durring the day. The result was the first edition of this book. People actually stop me on the street and thank me for improving their tele-skiing! Then, I spent the next decade practicing and refining NEW tips for this book. Now available, reafdy for your ski season. For example there is a funny cartoon of a guy puting a penny in his [...]...really! Strange but true, this is a valuable tool to perfect this beautiful style of skiing. 'nuff said...Mike Clelland!

The Awesome learned from this BOOK!
When I ask a very awesome and strong tele skier to teach me; she recommended this book. After having reviewed the basics - I can't wait for SNOW to do all the lessons that apply to me!! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Skiing Alaska
Skiing has been a way of life in Alaska since the turn of the century. The book provides info on the cross-country runs through cities and towns, wilderness lodges surrounded by miles of ski trails, downhill ski areas outside Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, and Cordova, and helicopter and snowcat services offering access to untouched powder on glaciers and icefields. Good guide to downhill skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing and backcountry touring includes black and white maps and photos.Read it before you go and take it with you too. ... Read more

Product Description
In April 2000, at the beautiful Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta, Canada, the coveted Ullr Award was presented to Alan Engen by the International Skiing History Association at their annual week-long gathering to honor the importance of his historic, beautifully produced publication For the Love of Skiing: A Visual History.

Illustrated with more than 150 vintage photographs from private and historical collections, For the Love of Skiing tells the story of U.S. ski sports from 1880 to the coming of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, to be held in Salt Lake City.

Told through the experiences of former Olympic ski coach Alf Engen, we relive the days when ski jumps were constructed of rickety wooden frames, when loop bindings strapped around the skier’s boots held his fate, and when records were being broken all the time as ski sports developed from their fledgling roots to more sophisticated tests of courage and skill.

Along with a historical review of the major competitions across the United States from the 1930s to the present, For the Love of Skiing relates many of the wildest early ski adventures. Alf and Sverre Engen recall a "barnstorming," summer jumping competition in Omaha, where snow was sparse and straw and soap had been added to the track to make it slicker. A bale of hay awaited the skiers at the end of the track. Stopping was difficult, and Sverre recalls, "I broke my toe trying to stop, and that toe still hurts on occasion to this day." Those were the barnstormer days, "when men were men, and most were crazy as hell."

ALAN K. ENGEN, is also the chairman and president of the Alf Engen Ski Museum Foundation, chairman and president of the Alta Historical Society, board member of the International Skiing History Association, and charter advisory member of the University of Utah Marriott Library’s Utah Ski Archives ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

If you love Alta, buy this book.
This book will appeal to people that know and love Alta, Utah or are interested in the history of skiing in the Western US.It primarily chronicles the life of Alf Engen, and therefore, chronicles the history ofAlta and and an important part of skiing in the west.Engen was theinventor of modern powder skiing and richly deserves the honor of thisbook.

Neat pictures, but too much ski jumping.
Neat pictures, but kind of a muddled presentation. This is not really a general history of skiing, but a biography of Alf Engen who was a local hero in Salt Lake City, Utah and ran the Ski School at Alta for years andyears. There's too much about ski jumping and not enough about other kindsof skiing.The author, Alf's son Alan, seems like a spokesman for the skiindustry more than a historian. ... Read more

Product Description
Written by someone whose credentials include falling into a Norwegian crevasse and having to be helicoptered out of the White Mountains through sheer clumsiness, this short but punchy book will be a delight to beginner and expert alike, to say nothing of armchair athletes. It makes a perfect gift for many occasions. The author, James B. Kobak, Jr., a New York author and attorney, has published humor and satire in national and regional publications including the New York Times, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor, Travel & Leisure, Harvard Magazine, American Way, TWA, Pace, Adirondack and the New York Law Journal, among others. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Virginia Law School and an Adirondack 46er. He has combined his trenchant wit with years of failure as a cross-county skier to provide a uniquely droll and readable perspective on this increasingly popular form of sport and exercise—or, as Mr. Kobak prefers to think of it, torture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Laughter is the best medicine.
The author effectively demonstrates that laughter is the best medicine, as he does for cross-country skiing what cross-country skiing evidently has done for him.Hits the nail on the spot. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Five Star history by a man truly in touch with the range
Teton Skiing is a phenomenal book written eloquently and comically from the perspective of a mountaineer (Tom Turiano) who has climbed and skiied nearly every peak in the range. The book is perfect for someone thinkingabout a trip to the Tetons in order to gain more insight into the historythat made it the touring site it is today, as well as, a guide to help inplanning your trip. It is also a great book for anyone interested inhistory and/or the outdoors in general. Although it is partly a guidebook,it was more intersting to me for its well researched and colorful historyof this mythical wonder called the Tetons. If you haven't been to Wyoming'sTetons, this book will make you want to go. If you have been, it will driveyou to return and discover things unseen. A book I treasure! ... Read more

Product Description
Whether you ski competitively or recreationally, you know that great skiing requires great control. Only with total command of your body can you achieve and maintain balance in motion. Exceptionally good skiing and performance skiing does not come from wearing a flashy powder suit. Performance skiing comes form the condition of the motor under all the stretch neon and Gore-Tex. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Sophisticated ski advice
A very practical book with a focus on the physical skills involved in alpine skiing.The best combined collection of off-hill and on-hill training exercises I've seen and, as a bonus, excellent race skill development tips from an experienced coach (who's also done it himself).If you are interested in philosophy or the Newtonian physics of a ski turn, there are other books.If you like to (or want to learn to) ski hard, this is a great book.

packed with information, highly professional, very clear
I wouldgive this book 6 stars if I could as it is the best book on skiing-related fitness I have seen so far. Written by a professional ski coach, it is filled with information starting from the body metabolism, plyometric and strength training exercises, to training which can be perfomed while skiing. All off-snow exercises which I saw in skiing videos, books, skiing journals, and on the internet are in this book. The importance of each group of exercises is clearly explained. No special equipment is required (except for the access to an average gym for strength training). The suggested training routines are based on US skiing team manuals and on over 80 references cited in the bibliography. All 200 pages are densely packed with information, all presented so well that it does not overwhelm you at all. Another aspect of this book which I liked is that the author treats the readers as intellegent people, who can put together their own training schedule according to their needs and possibilities. There is no suggested training schedules, just recommendations how much one should exercise and why not more or less than that. Although it is not a book on skiing, there are some tips on racing and ski tuning as well. This book is worth many others published on this topic, and I applaud the author for doing such a fine job!

Excellent book on training
I ordered this book because I am looking for training tips for my son -a young ski racer. The book is 80% devoted to training excercises, both on/off snow. The author is correct that the new shaped skiis have littleeffect on the validity of the training taught within. I would recommend thebook to coaches, racers, and others for whom skiing isn't just something todo on the slopes, but for whom the pursuit of maximum performance is mostimportant. ... Read more

Product Description
Have fun and be safe while cross country skiing like a pro.

High-tech laser printing on hard vinyl sheets make this pocket-sized "how to" guide virtually indestructible and completely portable. Waterproof. Dirtproof. You can even mark up pages with a grease pencil then wipe clean. Spiral binding allows you to fully open the book anywhere and lay it flat. Fully illustrated with easy-to-follow instructions. Index-tabbed pages allow you to quickly access the information you need. "What you really need to know, when you really need it!"

Tabbed sections include: Check List, Trip Planner, Clothing, Boots and Socks, Food and Liquids, Warmth, Wax, Skiing Techniques (Wrist Straps, Stopping: Full Wedge, Stopping: Half Wedge, Glissade, Side Slipping, Diagonal Stride, Double Pole, Falling, Half Wedge Turn, Wedge Turn, Step Turn, Skating, Climbing, Telemark), Avalanche, Safety Reminders and Emergency Shelters.

Pocket Guides are jam-packed with critical information from field experts. World renowned Pocket Guides have had an international almost cult-like following for over ten years.

Virtually indestructible and completely indispensable, Pocket Guides are perfect for enthusiasts and gift giving. Join the experts and carry Pocket Guides. Select from 28 Sports/Hobbies, Fishing and Emergency Assistance titles.

POCKET GUIDES: The Biggest Little Books You'll Ever Need. Finally, you can take it with you!

Review

This terrific, little handy reference has step-by-step, illustrated instructions for fun and safe cross country skiing. It easily fits in a shirt or coat pocket for quick accessibility. Sturdy, waterproof construction--including a spiral binding and plastic pages--makes this a perfect guide when you need it most: in the snow! The diagrams are easy to follow and tabbed pages allow for quick indexing. Very professional. A+. Appropriate for novices, intermediate and advanced skiers.Amazon.com Review
This handy reference has simple, step-by-step instructions for most aspects of cross-country skiing, including technique and safety. Sturdy, water-resistant construction--including a spiral binding and plastic pages--makes this a perfect guide when you're where you need it most: in the snow! The diagrams are easy to follow, and tabbed pages allow for quick indexing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Quite Basic
The book is very basic indeed... for simpler times. ... Read more

Product Description
Beginners use more energy than novice and advanced skiers so it's a good idea to embark on a pre-season conditioning program. Condition and adapt your body for the unusual demands placed on it from cold weather, high altitude, and new movements.Understand equipment and clothing selection for your body type to meet your expectations.Negotiate and familiarize yourself with tricky resort rules and etiquettes from the parking lot, to various types of lifts, all the way down the slopes; so that you don't look like a greenhorn.Read trail maps correctly.Gather expectations of PSIA certified ski schools to take full advantage of your first lessons.Develop a proper skiing stance.Use the wedge for braking and turning.Maintain your expensive gear for years of enjoyment.Glossary included. ... Read more

Product Description
For a generation the Basic Essentials series has been as much a part of the outdoors experience as backpacks and hiking boots. Information-packed tools for the novice or handy references for the veteran, these volumes distill years of knowledge into affordable and portable books. Whether you're planning a trip or thumbing for facts in the field, Basic Essentials books tell you what you need to know. Discover how to select or rent the right starter gear, master the basic stride and glide gracefully over the snow, perform classic techniques; the diagonal stride, herringbone, and kick turn, pick up the pace with skating techniques and perform basic Nordic downhill maneuvers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Starting out
Basic Essentials Cross-Country Skiing appears to be geared towards thebeginner skier and someone with a limited understanding of the sport.Ifthis is the goal, the book succeeds quite well. This is not 'basicessentials for advanced cross-country skiing.' Accomplished skiers may findthe technique more inexact than basic.

This book is ideal for theaverage beginner to stuff in their back-pack on a weekend ski outing. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a full-length study of skiing in the United States, tracing the history of the sport from its utilitarian origins (when frontier-dwellers in the mid-1800s mining communities used skis for practical purposes) to its advent as a purely recreational and competitive activity in the 1940s. ... Read more

Product Description
Predating the wheel, the ski has played an important role in our history. This is brilliantly brought to life in this engaging book. 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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Two Blanks and a Passion
I was very disappointed by this book.I was looking forward to reading a good history of skiing.The book is very poorly written, almost as if it is a tranlation into English.I know this is not true since the author is English.The book goes into way too much detail on early Norwigian skiing and spents too much time discussion the details of very early ski races.There is not nearly enough discussion of the developement of modern skiing and modern equipment.

More than just a casual history of the ski
I got this for my uncle for Christmas and was halfway through reading it myself by the time we had to head back home.So now I guess I have to get a copy of my own...
If, like me, you are a fan of serious history and the meticulous research that goes into it, then this book is what you are looking for.There have been other books that provide a breezy and cursory treatment of the fascinating history of skiing, but Huntford really goes far beyond what the other books have to offer.
Highly recommended for skiers and history buffs alike.

Ski history
This book isn't what I expected.It is good for the prehistoric info about skiing but is too technical and over-worded for the rest of skiing history and doesn't come up into a modern enough time period.It misses some of the recent short, shaped ski developments and their impact on alpine racing and ski instruction. ... Read more

Product Description
Skiing is not a new phenomena in Colorado.It is a sportthat has been around for well over a century.Early ventures intoskiing were mostly incidental; the main purpose of skis in the 1800swas to enable people to thrive and survive nature's vagaries.AbbottFay has done a marvelous job of tracking the history of whatoriginally was a means of survival but which now is one of America'sfavorite sports.The original version of this book was published in1982 as Ski Tracks: A Century of Colorado Skiing; but the book haslong been out of print and the author has made many additions andchanges to this revised version.Many new photographs and much newinformation has been added. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Highly recommended for anyone who ever skiied Colorado!
Skiing is a sport that has been popular since the latter part of the 19th century. Abbott Fay has painstakingly researched the history of what originally was developed as a means of survival in snow country, but evolved into one of America's most popular winter sports. In A History OfSkiing In Colorado, Fay recounts the history of skiing in one of thecountry's most popular skiing regions with an informative, "readerfriendly" text that is enhanced with photographs. A History Of SkiingIn Colorado is highly recommended reading for all ski enthusiasts andanyone who has ever strapped them on for downhill or cross-country skiingon the slopes or through the wildness of Colorado. ... Read more

Product Description
Known for its sunshine and sandy beaches filled with bathing beauties and musclemen, Southern California is a Mediterranean-climate haven for winter-weary Americans from Michigan to Maine. But for those with a hankering for winter sports, one could scarcely ignore the snowcapped peaks of Mount Baldy and San Gorgonio shimmering in the bright California sunshine. By the 1930s, skiing was all the rage, with the towns of Big Pines, Lake Arrowhead, and Big Bear Lake evolving into popular snow-sport locales. Southern California was also home to many who made their mark in the world of American skiing: Walter Mosauer, the father of skiing in Southern California; Tyler Van Degrift, owner of Los Angeles's first ski shop; Clarita Heath Bright, talented member of the first U.S. Women's Olympic ski team; Dorothy McClung Wullich, first woman member of the National Ski Patrol; and Sepp Benedikter and Tommi Tyndall, both leading the way with ski schools and instruction. These and many others are documented here in this collection of rare and vintage images of Southern California skiing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Another great treatment of SoCal ski history
I was overjoyed to receive a copy of this book as a present from a friend this weekend.

Ms. Wicken has created another excellent treatment of Southern California ski history. It is a noteworthy accompaniment to her previous work (Pray for Snow) that provides further visual record of the development of skiing as a hobby, sport, and ultimately, the commercialization of skiing in Southern California.

The book contains sections on skiing in the San Bernardinos, San Gabriels, San Gorgonio, and even skiing without snow (jumping, sand skiing, and Ski Villa). It combines photos of many of the movers-and-shakers in SoCal skiing, as well as the businesses and resorts that they helped start, augmented appropriately by some excellent examples of early SoCal ski advertising (one of my personal favorites). There is also a small section on Eastern Sierra skiing, with some nice images.

The author primarily covers the time period of the 1930's through early 1960's, when skiing was still developing.It would be nice to see a further companion piece that includes later ski history (1960s - 2000s). While all ski markets are decreasing over time, skiing is certainly not dead in SoCal. Generations new and old continue to learn and enjoy the hidden gems of skiing in Southern California (San Gorgonio, Mt. Baldy, Mt. Waterman, and maybe someday even Kratka Ridge again!), and it would be nice to see some later history included. A later history must necessarily include snowboarding, which in the last 20 years has helped invigorate snow sports and its corresponding industry in SoCal more than anything else. Focus on a later timeline (1950's and beyond) would also enable the use of color plates to enhance the beauty of this wonderful work; but alas, that doesn't appear to be the focus of the "Images of America" series. It's a real shame that SoCal history couldn't be treated with more color (even Pray for Snow is all black-and-white!)

Overall an excellent and much-needed addition to ski and snow sports literature, the history of Southern California and the "Images of America" series. ... Read more

Product Description
For recreational skiers