In the glamorous, ultra-competitive world of figure skating, Katarina Witt is a living legend. She has won more titles than anyone else before her , including two Olympic gold medals, four world championships, and eight national championships. She is also renowned for independence and self-possession in a world where many stars are in thrall to management companies, and for her ability to stay true to skating while developing new careers in business, movies and television. Witt has always done whatever she's done with all her heart , with passion, intelligence, and a love of perfection. Now, in Only with Passion, she offers advice to a new generation of women athletes making their way in the world on how to live full out, compete with edge, and navigate life with grace. When a young skater consults her for advice on whether to train abroad , and leave a boyfriend behind , Witt finds occasion to recall the major turning points of her own journey, from her East German childhood to the international spotlight. She shares her inside perspective and frank opinions on the insular world of skating and offers her views about what it takes to be a champion, and to create a fulfilling life. Whether she's talking about life on or off the ice (or on the cover of Playboy !), Witt is always candid, fresh, and down-to-earth. Written with E.M. Swift, author of My Sergei , one of the best-selling skating books of all time, Only with Passion is the perfect gift for young women, young athletes ,particularly skaters , and skating fans of all ages.

In his diverse, exciting, and very active forty-five-year legal career, spent mainly in the world of professional sports, attorney Robert O Swados has worn many hats - owner, league executive, counsel, and franchise builder. In this wide-ranging and good-humoured memoir, Swados offers many behind-the-scenes insights into the players, coaches, executives, and owners who have created today's sports entertainment industry. Swados describes his early involvement in professional sports through his efforts in the 1960s to bring a Major League Baseball franchise to his hometown of Buffalo, NY. The deal was so close that a "New York Daily" News headline erroneously announced that new franchises would go to San Diego and Buffalo. But things really got interesting when in 1969 Swados helped Seymour Knox III and Northrup Knox to establish the Buffalo Sabres. Thus began an exciting thirty-year journey through the ups and downs of the National Hockey League. As part owner, vice chairman, and counsel of the Sabres, Swados has had many opportunities to 'score from the crease', and sometimes the action behind the scenes is just as rough and tumble as that on the ice.;He tells many fascinating tales about his dealings with winning coaches including Scotty Bowman, with General Managers Punch Imlach and John Muckler, with owner John McMullen, and with commissioners John Ziegler and Gary Bettman, among others. He also talks frankly about the impact of Adelphia's bankruptcy on the fate of the Sabres and about the obsessions and frustrations of the 2004 NHL lockout. Perhaps no one in professional sports has had such an engaging and productive view. For hockey fans in the US and Canada, especially Buffalo Sabres fans, and anyone interested in the business of bigtime sports, Robert Swados's entertaining and informative story is a must-read.

A simplified approach to learning the basics needed to start skiing like an expert, applicable to both established skiers and beginners.

"The premier guide to modern riding, from one of the sport's best coaches."
--Tim Windell, two-time World Cup co-champion

In "The Art of Snowboarding," USSA-certified club coach Jim Smith introduces you to the most popular tricks and stunts, including kickers (jumps) and other freestyle and half-pipe techniques, and stunts on rails and wood. He gives special emphasis to proper stance and turning techniques as the basis for more advanced moves. Time-lapse photographs demonstrate every step of every trick and technique, and dozens of additional photos show you the form of some of the country's best riders.

Guided by a strange epiphany, Richard Phipps traveled to Japan with $600 and a pair of skis. The result, "Skiing Zen," is much more than a ski adventure. It is a tapestry of thought about sports and awareness, about differences between Eastern and Western thinking, and about individualism amidst group pressure.

Woven into the travel anecdotes, cultural insights, and skiing action are intriguing concepts such as the spectrum of attention and distraction, the evolving spiral of learning, the power of guided imagery, and the correlation between Zen and love. Stunning in scope and yet penetrating in its earnest insight, Phipps is indeed "Searching for the Spirituality of Sport,"

When the 2004-2005 NHL lockout was realized, Sweden, Russia, Switzerland, Finland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany eagerly absorbed foreigners and locals alike, as out-of-work NHLers looked to keep their game sharp and give back to the communities that taught them to play. Little did they know how much of the experience would prepare them for the new NHL. Join them on this ultimate hockey road trip through Europe in the locker rooms, on the ice and in the streets. Sit behind Jaromir Jagr's mother in Kladno. Admire the Alps with Joe Thornton and Rick Nash. Walk through a pine forest to Peter Forsberg's childhood rink. Debate with Russian police at the Dynamo arena to meet Alexander Ovechkin before he became an NHL star. And experience all the adventures of dozens of NHLers like Danny Briere, Martin St. Louis, Alexei Kovalev, Ilya Kovalchuk, Alexei Yashin, Mike Knuble, Henrik Lundqvist, Zdeno Chara, Daniel Alfredsson, Saku Koivu, Miroslav Satan, Martin Brodeur, Sergei Fedorov and Dominic Hasek. The pain of lost dreams from a canceled season may be turned aside, but these experiences will never be forgotten.

The real mogul-skiing instruction you're looking for. Whether you want to ski gentle moguls with comfort and confidence, turn heads on your local mogul run, or compete in mogul contests, this book will give you the specialized techniques you need to reach your goal. In this first-of-its-kind book, mogul-skiing competitor Dan DiPiro reveals techniques that have remained largely unknown and unaddressed outside of competitive mogul-skiing circles. Most skiers try to ski moguls using only groomed-trail techniques, says DiPiro. But the bumps require a special set of techniques that have nothing to do with groomed-trail skiing. With an understanding of these special techniques, most fit, expert skiers can become good mogul skiers, and some can become excellent mogul skiers and even mogul competitors. For the aspiring mogul skier, this book is full of invaluable instruction. For the seasoned bumper, it's an ideal tune-up guide and a long-awaited affirmation. For all skiers interested in broadening their understanding of downhill skiing excellence, it's an original, eye-opening read.

This book probably never would have been written without the owners' lockout which led to the cancelled 2004-05 season. Missing the fastest game in the world and my team, the Maple Leafs, I instead spent many cold and quiet winter nights last season wondering just who were the greatest Leaf players of all-time. What started out as a search for a method of ranking the players evolved into a need to justify the results by organizing all the biographical and statistical data into one place and this is what came out of the research. Interlacing many action segments with the facts, this is an attempt to make sports bios more entertaining and scintillating, as well as to illuminate the great moments in the history of the team. Dating back to 1927, Toronto's team has a rich history integral to that of the NHL and this epistle is a must for all hockey fans, not just fans of the Leafs. So come read about the legendary names of both the past and the present such as Johnny Bower, Busher Jackson, Dave Keon, The Big M, Ed Belfour, Bill Barilko and many, many more.

For recreational skiers"You have skillfully and accurately described and analyzed a brand new technique that anyone can learn in a quarter of the time it took to learn the old technique. It is a technique that empowers the student to rapidly achieve heights never before possible."--Recreational skier, Tom Humphrey
For those of higher levels of skills"I have harassed you for a long time to be more interested in "cross-under" and that good skiing consists in a long S turn, not a series of individual turns. By whatever route, you have come to understand these things; and that is great. I admire the work you have done."--Master Coach, Warren Witherell
"I know it has made me a better skier and has made the last few seasons interesting and fun for me and the folks that I do a lot of my skiing with."--Veteran junior race coach, Fred Pease
"The Reids relay through their love of skiing and teaching a technique based on what works not what ought to work. Thus, this book is worthwhile reading for the Week-end Skier as well as the World Cup Ski Coach."--Ron Kipp, former Director of Athlete Preparation for the USST

Visitors to Colorado's famous ski resorts embrace alpine adventures, luxurious amenities, and a glamorous nightlife, all against a backdrop of towering mountains and high-drifted snow. Wherever they go in search of fresh powder, one thing is certain: skiing has become a major part of recreational sport and culture and, in the process, dramatically altered America's social, physical, economic, and imaginative landscapes.

Annie Coleman has written the first cultural history of skiing in the United States, telling how this European sport evolved into an American industry combining recreation, tourism, consumption, and wilderness--along with a solid dose of exhilaration and a dash of celebrity. She reveals how the meaning of skiing changed over the twentieth century, how sport and leisure in America came to be about status and style as much as about physical activity, and how modern consumer culture merged the mythic West with real western places.

Coleman traces skiing from its Norse roots and Alpine influences through the utility of ski travel in the winter Rockies to the rise of Colorado resorts. Much more than a history of the sport, her work explains how the recreation industry sold the experience of skiing and created mythic mountain landscapes with real problems--and a ski culture that exalts celebrity and status over the physical act of skiing.

Along the way, Coleman looks at bums, bunnies, betties, and everyone else who uses the sport to define who they are and how they fit in. Today's skiers are more diverse than they were half a century ago (though chances are they're wealthier), and even snowboarders have joined the very culture they once opposed--reviving places like Aspen through a subversive youth culture gone mainstream.

The allure of white powder at high altitudes, manicured ski runs designed to frame picture-perfect views, the illusion of danger--the American skiing experience is all of this and more. Extensively researched and engagingly written, "Ski Style" puts readers on the slopes--and in the lodges--to show what it's really all about.

Picking up where the best-selling IDITAROD CLASSICS left off, MORE IDITAROD CLASSICS introduces readers to more of the men and women who brave the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race from Anchorage to Nome. And do they ever have stories to tell In their own words, champions and lesser knowns share their very best stories--how they came to love the race, train their dogs and themselves, and battle all manner of winter hardships challenging the elements in what some have called the most extreme long-distance competition in the world.

"Get out in the snow and play, girl! Iseult Devlin is passionate and knowledgeable about winter recreation. Informative and inspirational, her guide is a great primer for winter sports."--Helen Olsson, editor, "Skiing

When was the last time you played in the snow?

Remember all the fun you had as a kid in the wintertime, battling the elements as you ice-skated or built a snowman? The beauty of nature and the cold, crisp air made you feel alive and invigorated. It's never too late to recapture that feeling. Don't let another winter pass without experiencing the excitement that winter sports have to offer. If you always wanted to get out and try cross-country skiing or snowboarding but didn't know where to start, this comprehensive guide is for you. Share in author Iseult Devlin's love of winter sports, and hear how women of all ages overcame their personal obstacles and made outdoor activity in winter a permanent part of their lives.

If an occasional snowball fight is as exciting as your winter gets, then this book is for you. You'll learn how to get started, what to wear to stay warm and dry, how to rent equipment, and how to find easy-to-use and family-friendly locations. Also included are clinics, classes, and camps specifically for women.

Which sport is right for you? Try them all and find out!

Snowshoeing: An easy, inexpensive, and "do-anywhere" activity. Take a walk in a peaceful winter forest or power-trek over snow-covered trails at a nearby ski resort. Cross-country (Nordic) skiing: You don't need a lift ticket to try this--with a little snow, your local golf course becomes the perfect ski trail! Downhill skiing: Experience the rush that comes from schussing down atrail you've never tried before. Snowboarding: It's not quite the same as surfing . . . but it's close! Skiboarding: The latest hybrid sport--combines skiing, snowboarding, and skating. Ice-skating: You loved it as a kid; now you can brush up on your figure skating, and discover the thrills of speed skating and women's ice hockey.

So pick a sport (or two, or three) and come on out and play!

In 1958, no one in the Fur Rendezvous World Championship Sled Dog Race knew the Athabascan Indian from Huslia who limped to the starting line in Anchorage. But when he finished with the winning time, George Attla opened a new chapter in the history of sprint mushing. For decades, Attla, the "Huslia Hustler," reined as Alaska's most winning sprint champion, having overcome crippling TB as a child.
Special note to readers: This is a new edition, with a new title, new introduction and new epilogue, of a work first published by Stackpole Books.

The competition for the senior hockey championship and the Herder Memorial Trophy in Newfoundland and Labrador began in 1935. This book looks at the early days of amateur competition for the coveted trophy, through its glory days of paid players and its eventual return to the grass roots level in the 1990s. It includes a listing of winning teams and players for each year.

The Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race is one of the most challenging sporting events in the world. Every February, a handful of hardy souls spends over two weeks racing sleds pulled by fourteen dogs over 1,023 miles of frozen rivers, icy mountain passes, and spruce forests as big as entire states, facing temperatures that drop to forty degrees below zero on nights that are seventeen hours long.

Why would anyone want to enter this race? John Balzar-who moved to Alaska and lived on the trail-treats us to a vivid account of the grueling race itself, offering an insightful look at the men and women who have moved to this rugged and beautiful place. Readers will also be fascinated by Balzar's account of what goes into the training and care of the majestic dogs who pull the sleds and whose courage, strength, and devotion make them the true heroes of this story.