Winter Sports Books

Mike Sroka's photographs of the Canadian Forces 'Snowbirds' fighter planes would have been treat enough, but when paired with behind-the-scenes access into Snowbird team aviation history and daily details, it becomes an outstanding pick any military or aviation collection must have. Gorgeous color photos accompany insider's details that could only have been gained from a photographer who had access to the team as one of their official photographers. The history, aviation insights and eye-catching photos make for an extraordinary package.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This book is full of Canadian Pride. I have seen the the Snowbirds perform in the US a few years ago. As an avid airshow fan I was impressed. Their red uniforms stand out. The book gave a great account in the the life of a Snowbird. The pictures were first class. A great addition to my aviation collection of books. Larry S

This was a cool book!
The story is about a boy named Keegan, who skis. He gets all tangled up in a mess that surrounds the local resort--snowboarding equipment that's being stolen. In order to figure out the source of the problem, he has to trade in his skis for a snowboard, and he befriends a new snowboarder who doesn't seem dangerous, but as time goes by, questionable things happen...

Quick chapters, drastic cliffhangers plots, and the author's wit is the perfect solution to keep anyone intrigued with the book, and craving more.

Keegan Bishop is a terrific skier, but the real question is, can he snowboard? He is about to find out and find out fast in this Rippin' adventure. He finds a wire stretched across two trees and in his direct ski path. He witnesses people putting some snowboards into his team mate's van...they belong to someone else. He over hears them planning to meet at night at the top of the ski run. He gets to the top of the ski run and he has already been spotted. The guy has a gun, he hasn't yet mastered snowboarding yet, but he needs to get help and get help fast! A girl's life is in danger and so is his own! Read this book, it's great!

I own a lot of summer and winter trail guides, and this is one of the best. It's quality and quantity, with dozens of trails all over the state, and also tours, races and even a few tips on cool places to eat and stay. It has maps showing the trailhead locations, but I wish it had topos too. Oh well, you can't have everything--and topos are the only thing missing here.

I picked up this book at the local library, and now I plan to buy it. Claire really knows her topic! My only quibble with the book (2nd edition) is that in a few places she didn't delete information from the 1st edition, but merely superimposed a black box saying "trail closed" or "this restaurant is now closed". This is somewhat bizarre, and might be an editing/production error. In any case, this is a valuable guide that I want on my bookshelf!

Doug Rose has authored an authoritative, entertaining, and artful narrative about one of the most amazing gamefish -- the sea run rainbow trout known as The Steelhead -- and one of its most pristine habitats: Washington state's Olympic Peninsula.

Rose writes in a colorful narrative style that brings the Olympic Peninsula's winter palette to life. He also introduces the reader to the people who live their lives in pursuit of, and in support of, this great sport fish. Within the story he weaves the important ecological issues regarding the management -- and mismanagement -- of this wild, fragile, natural resource. A series of color plates in the middle of the book bring the reader even closer to the subject.

This book is a fine read: a "literary fishing book" in the tradition of Roderick Haig-Brown and Harry Middleton; a book that should be -- and will be -- read and reread by lovers of fly lines and literary lines alike.

Doug Rose has written a beautiful tribute to the West End rivers and the spectacular fish of Washington's Olympic Peninsula. Three parts conservation, one part natural history, with a bit of how-to fly fishing; Rose's passion for his subject comes through on every page. What makes this read particularly enjoyable is how easily he makes good writing seem effortless.

Rose comes across as a dedicated naturalist and astute observer of riverine habitats. These observations extend to the Peninsula's geography, climate, local history, local Tribes and conservation politics. Absent is the grandious bravado of many angling writers and their simple 'catch-and-tell' naratives. He presents solid arguments for protecting wild fish, particularly the remaining wild winter steelhead, from harvest and further habitat destruction. Most notably, he shares with us what these fish and rivers mean to him on an intimate level. Rose paints an image of the Olympic rain forest landscape that is both unique and precious; and outside National Park boundaries, remains in desparate need of protection.

I began reading this book to learn more about winter steelhead fishing from a technical perspective. While there are several sections relating to technical aspects, they are few and somewhat short on detail. Illustrations are limited to so-so quality photographs of West End riverscapes and many (but not all) of the flies described throughout the text. One small complaint concerns a number of typos remaining that the editor failed to catch. Admittedly though, my gripes are nominal.

I highly recommend this read for those wanting to enjoy an eloquant tribute to the remarkable anadromous fisheries of the Olympic Peninsula rivers.

In 1985, Libby Riddles became the first woman to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, a grueling 1,100+ mile test of stamina and spirit. When an unusually severe snowstorm stopped all the other mushers in their tracks, Riddles pushed on. It was only her second time running the Iditarod, but her courage and determination brought her into Nome, Alaska ahead of the pack. In this book she recalls her experiences, briefly recounting her childhood and early life, and then describing the famous race. The writing is simple and fast-paced, but still captures the feeling of her adventure. You can feel the cutting sharpness of the wind-driven snow or see the northern lights dancing overhead. The book is also beautifully illustrated with simple but vibrant colored pencil drawings by Shannon Cartwright. This is an excellent Iditarod story for any young reader and I'd definitely recommend it.

Once I started reading Libby's STORM RUN, I could't put it down! Even though I've lived in Alaska for 33 years, Libby's dog mushing background and Iditerod experience kept me spellbound until the end.

I can't wait to read it to my second graders. It will be a terrific geography lesson as well as learning about dog mushing.

Libby definitely has 'true grit'.

My grandchildren and my ESL students are collecting state quarters, and the next one to be issued honors Alaska. The final selection was of a grizzly bear catching a salmon at Denali Park. However, among the finalists was a drawing of a musher, mushing along his dog-sled team. My foreign students had never seen this part of Alaskan culture, so I looked for a book on the subject, preferably with pictures, for my hour-long classes fly by quickly. Storm Run" proved to be the perfect vehicle for my purpose, since I was able to match new vocabulary with beautiful pictures.

Libby Riddles, the first woman to win the 1,100-mile race, is also a wonderful role model for young girls. The pictures are inviting. "Storm Run" should be included in everyone's birthday or Christmas lists.

Libby Riddles' Storm Run is a picturebook of the exciting true story of the first woman to win the Iditarod Sled Dog Race in Alaska. Storm Run is the story of fulfilling one's dream, daring freezing treasures and bonding with loyal sled dogs. Wonderfully illustrated by Shannon Cartwright with soft, full-color artwork, Storm Run is an especially recommended giftbook for young girls nurturing their own dreams.

Anyone who works or plays in the winter should read this book. As an avid outdoor sportsman, I found it to be very comprehensive and well organized. The illustrations and photos are great. I intend on buying the other books in the series.

The best part about this survival guide is Davenport's descriptions of "improvised" items. Most people don't plan to be in a survival situation in freezing temperatures, and may not have the proper equipment. He teaches you how to use survival items you have purchased and may have with you (such as an avalanche beacon or a signal flare), but also what to do in a situtation in which you don't have what you need (improvising snowshoes, stick and shadow compass, etc). The section on constructing emergency shelters gave detailed instructions for many options depending on what resources are available - trees, ice, and/or deep snow. He even provides pictures as proof of his methods. The information on how to obtain food, especially berries, and how to navigate without a map or compass was also extremely helpful. The only disappointing thing for me in this book was the information on animals. Many of the descriptions seemed cut-and-pasted, with really no specific tips on how to avoid polar bear attacks versus brown bears versus pumas.

I bought this book because I live in Alaska and was hoping to learn something that would keep me from becoming one of the many people that do not survive in the wilderness out here because they are unprepared! I bring it with me when I go backpacking or camping, because you never know. I recommend reading this book if you spend time outdoors in cold weather, whether you put yourself in risky situations or not. You'll learn not only how to be prepared but how to stay alive if you are lost or find yourself without adequate transportation, food, or shelter.

Reading is not my favorite thing in the world,but when I see a good book I actually read it. This book is called, "Ultimate Snowboarding". The book tells about good skills and techniques you need to now about snowboarding. It has good trick tips also in the book. I rate this book 5 stars.

Billy Miller has compiled a collection of stories written by some of the best writers in the world of snowboarding. He's taken them and organized them in such a way that any newbie (beginner) or seasoned snowboarding pro will walk away having learned something about the sport they love or hope to learn to love. Learn the history of the sport, and then continue onward into the personal lives of some of the sports icons. Learn basic and advanced tricks all to the tune of rocking full color photography, albeit some of it slightly outdated. Consider it a history lesson in extreme with an inside look at a snowy white snowboarding world that is now as common as MTV, but was once a renegade outlaw sport. Take it to the limit. Billy Miller and his team of contributors did. You won't be disappointed in this book, I thought I knew everything there was to know about snowboarding. Mr. Miller proved me wrong.

This is an amazing book. It covers the answers for the questions that skiers and snowboarders have prior to visiting resorts they've never been to before - what are the trails really like in detail - where can we afford to eat - what tricks are there to getting around in the resorts? -Which resort leans more to our particular skills?...and so much more...

The tips are cool, the quips are fun, and it is just so much better than those stale books that spend 2 short pages and tell you no more than a resort's website.

Since I live in the deep south and don't know a lot of skiers, this book fit the bill for me in deciding where and when to try my mountain legs in the West. Not only does this book describe all the major resorts in detail, but it compares them in table form one with another. If you are spending money on airfare, lodging, ski rentals, tickets ect, this book has the potential to keep you from making an expensive mistake. It also has lots of technical skiing tips also. The information is very accurate. The only thing that is sparce is individual lodging reviews. I guess that is beyond the scope of a book like this. The folks that write the book are real SKIERS, not just travel writers. I highly recommend this book, and looking forward to a new edition when it comes out.

A superbly organized and profusely illustrated to Alpine, Nordic, and Telemark skiing, along with several other increasingly winter sports such as snowboarding, "Utah: The Complete Ski & Snowboard Guide" by skiing and winter sports enthusiast Michael Fine provides the reader with all the information necessary to enjoy memorable winter athletic activities whether as a recreational weekend or part of an extended winter vacation in the mountains and high valleys of Utah. Accessible organized to be thoroughly 'user friendly', aspiring skiers and winter sports recreationists will learn of each major Utah resorts' terrain type, as well as such amenities as restaurants, rentals, transport, and more. Thirteen Utah destination resorts are showcased and range from the Alta Mountain Resort to the Wolf Mountain Resort. "Utah: The Complete Ski & Snowboard Guide" will prove an invaluable, essential itinerary planning resource for enjoying Utah's winter sports resources and opportunities.

The author actually went to every single resort in Utah last year and wrote about his experiences. Mike Fine is a long-time Utah resident and an avid skier. The book is very helpful for non-Utah resident skiers at any level to find a resort that will give them the most of what they want out of a skiing vacation. It's even helpful to a local seeking a day trip to a ski resort he either hasn't tried, or has not been to for a long time. It's an absolute must for anyone looking to ski in Utah.