This little book breaks down the basics of teaching kids to ski into hilarious, eye-catching cartoons that will have your little one laughing out loud and looking forward to the next adventure on the hill. Any parent who has taught kids to ski knows how tricky it is to communicate concepts of balance and movement to an undeveloped mind, but expert ski instructors have, over the years, developed a range of tricks and tips that appeal to kids from ages 4 and up. This book covers the gamut of experiences encountered when teaching kids to ski, from selecting equipment to putting it on to riding the lifts to making first turns down a beginner run to negotiating bumps and jumps--all while avoiding the dreaded meltdown. With easy-to-understand text geared toward parents who are teaching their kids to ski, and hilarious instructive cartoons the kids will love, this is a book that families can enjoy together as they plan their next ski outing.

Featuring 38 true-life stories of adventure and self-discovery, adrenaline, and honesty, a former professional NCAA downhill competitor reveals the soul skier's raison d'etre finding exhilaration, faith, grief, love, and everything that truly matters amid the gloriously tangible, tactile, break-your-leg-if-you're-not-careful rocks, trees, and gullies of the alpine world. These essays, collected from numerous glossy ski and lifestyle journals, including Powder, Couloir, and Telemark Skier, celebrate the land of winter and the author's roles as mountaineer, ski racer, father, and all-around life enthusiast. His stories will appeal to anyone who has ever hit the slopes and felt the adrenaline rush of perching atop a steep precipice, knowing that skiing is the physical, emotional, and spiritual place where deep truths are explored and the graceful interaction of body and terrain answers back.

There is something extraordinarily special about sliding on snow that has excited generations of snow sports enthusiasts. Add to this the dimension of travelling through the mountains and the result is a recipe for some of the best outdoor activity days you could ever imagine. I have been fortunate to share some of these adventures with Henry Branigan: Skiing off the summit of Mount Blanc at dawn or, equally enjoyable, skiing under the northern lights from hut to hut in Norway, still my all-time favourite way of travelling through the mountains. A complete guide to alpine ski touring, ski mountaineering and nordic ski touring sets out to provide the fundamentals about going off piste and then journeying through mountain terrain, in a logical, easy to read format. Adapting ski technique for various off piste conditions is an essential skill that makes all the difference between surviving and savouring adventures off piste. The book also covers the fundamental mountaineering knowledge including navigation, weather and avalanches that are essential before venturing beyond the confines of a ski area. Equipment and planning a tour are covered, whether it is in an Alpine or Nordic environment. All in all this is a very comprehensive and valuable resource for anyone aspiring to venture into the mountains on skis. Bob Kinnaird Principal Glenmore Lodge National Outdoor Training Centre

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 apres ski entertainment.

From its origins in China and Scandinavia, the sport of skiing has come a long way to attract daring athletes, tourists and locals on winter holiday, the chic and wealthy leisure class, and international royalty. On the technical side, pioneering innovators developed cutting-edge equipment that, over the years, has grown skiing to become a fiercely competitive spectator sport while, on the cultural side, the exciting and well-groomed stars of the ski world and jetsetter destinations have come to define a distinctive and popular global culture and aspirational lifestyle. The Stylish Life: Skiing is a nostalgic and spectacular journey through alpine history and beyond, including this singularly unique sport's founders, superstars, influence on design and entertainment, and the evolution of its resorts, fashion, equipment, and much more.

In addition to the film, technical chapters include: equipment - what to pack and what to wear; get your kit on - when and how to wear it and carry it - for maximum efficiency; and planning - from general advice to the night before, to changing plans on the slope. It includes guide books, internet, forecasts, ski maps, sketch plans, and more. It features skinning uphill fitting, caring and using skins - kick turns, picking a line, and more. It covers defensive skiing - get home without getting hurt - using side slip, traverse, kick turn and stem. It helps you in understanding snow Aspect and altitude - finding safe snow and good skiing on the move. It also covers safe travel Avalanche terrain - route choice, assessing gradient, group spacing and communication. Using a rope Abseiling, crevasse rescue, self rescue, and ski belays, it also includes skiing roped on glaciers - not falling in! It also looks at avalanche rescue transceiver, probe and shovel use from simple exercises to dealing with a 'real incident'. This DVD will educate and inspire all those wanting to learn the essential skills and techniques for back country skiing, ski touring and ski mountaineering. Filmed in the Silvretta Alps of Austria, the fifty minute documentary follows a team of four skiers on a varied and exhilarating week of piste, ski touring and ski mountaineering in glaciated terrain. Starting off piste in Ischgl, see how they get a feel for the snow conditions, find fresh tracks, and safely get away from the crowds on a big powder day. Setting off on a simple day tour, see how they make use of skins to reach a ski summit, before enjoying a superb descent to the valley. Finally, they set off on a hut to hut tour - through glacial terrain - taking in alpine summits on the way. See how they make safe decisions about the terrain and snow conditions on the move. Watch how they take sensible precautions to minimise the risks, yet enjoy some superb skiing in the mountains. The skills covered illustrate a progression through off piste skiing to multi day ski tours and ski mountaineering in glaciated terrain, and are appropriate to skiers and boarders of all standards.

"A fascinating look inside the complexities and enjoyment of skiing. For every skier, from the beginner to the Olympic Gold Medalist, this book provides a treasure of information." -PAUL MAJOR, ATHLETIC DIRECTOR, U.S. SKI TEAM
"I was delighted to learn from this interesting book more about the physics of a sport I have enjoyed for more than seventy years." -NORMAN RAMSEY, NOBEL LAUREATE IN PHYSICS, HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Here is the complete guide to a skill that may be mysterious to some, written by Monte Burch, an authority who practices many of the traditions of tanning and hiding. Starting at the beginning, Burch introduces the hunter to the tools of a tanner, and even gives complete plans for making many of these implements. Instructions are given for making fleshing beams, stretchers for pelts, fleshing knives, and many others. He also covers tanning formulas and materials, both traditional and modern. From the oldest method to the newest twist, Burch's guide will be indispensable to the modern hunter. (6 x 9, 240 pages, b&w photos, illustrations) Monte Burch has been trapping and tanning since the 1950s, and writing about the outdoors for four decades. He has written thousands of magazine articles and more than fifty books-including Field Dressing and Butchering Upland Birds, Waterfowl, and Wild Turkeys; Field Dressing and Butchering Deer; and Field Dressing and Butchering Rabbits, Squirrels, and Other Small Game. He lives on a farm in the Missouri Ozarks, where trapping and tanning are a way of life.

Few stories from the "greatest generation" are as unforgettable -- or as little known -- as that of the 10th Mountain Division. Today a versatile light infantry unit deployed around the world, the 10th began in 1941 as a crew of civilian athletes with a passion for mountains and snow. In this vivid history, adventure writer Peter Shelton follows the unique division from its conception on a Vermont ski hill, through its dramatic World War II coming-of-age, to the ultimate revolution it inspired in American outdoor life.
In the late-1930s United States, rock climbing and downhill skiing were relatively new sports. But World War II brought a need for men who could handle extreme mountainous conditions -- and the elite 10th Mountain Division was born. Everything about it was unprecedented: It was the sole U.S. Army division trained on snow and rock, the only division ever to grow out of a sport. It had an un-matched number of professional athletes, college scholars, and potential officer candidates, and as the last U.S. division to enter the war in Europe, it suffered the highest number of casualties per combat day. This is the 10th's surprising, suspenseful, and often touching story.
Drawing on years of interviews and research, Shelton re-creates the ski troops' lively, extensive, and sometimes experimental training and their journey from boot camp to the Italian Apennines. There, scaling a 1,500-foot "unclimbable" cliff face in the dead of night, they stunned their enemy and began the eventual rout of the German armies from northern Italy.
It was a self-selecting elite, a brotherhood in sport and spirit. And those who survived (including the Sierra Club's David Brower, Aspen Skiing Corporation founder Friedl Pfeifer, and Nike cofounder Bill Bowerman, who developed the waffle-sole running shoe) turned their love of mountains into the thriving outdoor industry that has transformed the way Americans see (and play in) the natural world.

With more and more people heading into the winter backcountry on skis, snowshoes, and snowmobiles, avalanche safety is of paramount importance. Allen & Mike's Really Cool Avalanche Safety Book distills the sometimes overly technical information of snow science into a user-friendly format with helpful illustrations and easy-to-understand text. With years of experience as NOLS instructors to draw on, Allen O'Bannon and Mike Clelland team up to give winter recreationists the information they need to stay safe in the backcountry, including how to prepare for your trip, proper equipment and how to use it, snowpack assessment, choosing safe travel routes, decision making, and rescue scenarios. Written for both aspriring winter backcountry travelers and experts alike, this book is a must-read for anybody who loves to experience the solitude and beauty of the snowy mountains.

Skiing in movies, like the sport itself, grew more prevalent beginning in the 1930s, when it was a pastime of the elite, with depictions reflecting changes in technique, fashion and social climate. World War II saw skiing featured in a dozen films dealing with that conflict. Fueled by postwar prosperity, the sport exploded in the 1950s-filmmakers followed suit, using scenes on snow-covered slopes for panoramic beauty and the thrill of the chase. Through the free-spirited 1960s and 1970s, the downhill lifestyle shussed into everything from spy thrillers to beach party romps. The extreme sports era of the 1980s and 1990s brought snowboarding to the big screen. This first ever critical history of skiing in film chronicles a century of alpine cinema, with production information and stories and quotes from directors, actors and stuntmen.

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 traveling 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 with the emergence of modern man and the world we live in today.