My favorite books about skiing from the man who has skied the most countries—75

Patrick Thorne is one of the ultimate authorities on ski resorts. He has over 6000 ski resorts in his database, and most websites about skiing are founded on information that Patrick has gathered over the years. In this book, he chooses and describes some of the classic ski descents in the world. It is an excellent book from which to create your own bucket list. 

Ray Atkeson was one of the premiere ski photographers of the early days of skiing, although he continued to produce photos from the 1920s all the way into the 1990s. His photos were primarily in black and white and can easily be compared to the brilliant nature photography of Ansel Adams. My mother, herself a ski pioneer, who became the first female to certify as an instructor in California, modeled for Atkeson in the 1940s. This book is a compilation of some of the finest ski photos ever put together.

This is, again, a different kind of book than the previous two. Namely, this is a deeply researched, historical account of how some of America’s best skiers of the 1930s ended up in the famed 10th Mountain Division, fighting the Nazis in Italy during World War II. No history of skiing is complete without mention of the 10th Mountain Division—many of whose members came back to the US after the war as pioneers in the early days of the US ski industry. Charles Sanders gives a heartfelt and detailed account of some of the key men in this saga—great athletes and soldiers. 

Arnie Wilson is a man with as long a history as a ski journalist as anybody alive. He is a passionate skier who skied his way into the Guinness Book of Records by circumscribing the globe while skiing 365 consecutive days back in 1994, and he also spent 15 years as the ski correspondent for the Financial Times and twelve years more as the editor of the British magazine, Ski and Board. This book is a coffee-table book that is divided into chapters on Arnie’s choice of the 40 best ski resorts in the world.

I must admit that I have a very personal reason for liking this book. Paul Preuss was my great-uncle. This is a book more about mountaineering than about skiing, but as an elite mountaineer of the early 20th century, Preuss was a pioneer of skiing as well as mountain climbing. There have been three previous books written about Preuss’s life and exploits, two by renowned climber, Reinhold Messner and one by an Italian climber/author named Severino Casara, but the book by Mr. Smart is the first English language book about the life and achievements of Paul Preuss. Preuss was not only a prodigious climber who completed 300 solo climbs of which 150 were first ascents,

He was a philosopher of sorts. His strict adherence to a pure climbing ethic that shunned the use of any artificial climbing aids put him at the forefront of the “piton dispute”. Preuss’s stance on this pivotal issue in the history of climbing has given him the distinction of being the father of free climbing. David Smart masterfully weaves an interesting biography of a complex man—blending his climbing achievements seamlessly with personal details of his life, character, and beliefs.