Ski Writing

Review: Fifty Classic Ski Descents

By Wayne Sheldrake, 3-09-11

Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America: A Visual Tribute to North America’s Finest Ski Descents, by Chris Davenport, Art Burrows, Penn Newhard and numerous contributors (Capital Peak Publishing, 2010), 201 pages, 59.95.

Everyone knows to see the gods face-to-face, you’ll probably have to climb a mountain. Not everyone remembers that pulling that off in winter means you get to ski down.

This book isn’t a book. It’s a little more important than that. It’s a tome of documentation and worship. By the very nature of its large format, “Fifty Classic Ski Descents” is not a page turner. The expansive leaves have the sturdy permanence of roofing shingles. The sprawling photos of menacing but skiable-for-some peaks are arresting.

With each page, it takes a little while to comprehend that the snowbound complexities and complexes featured have been climbed and skied. Indeed, you’ll probably spend more time staring in awe at the book’s photos, including shot after cliff-side shot of skiers tackling breathtaking and death-defying turns to backstraps, chops and rumps of snow steep as walls. Though the text draws from a range of writing ski mountaineers, respected for their knowledge, athletic prowess, teamwork and obvious courage, they all speak the same testimony—as prophets always do.

The same nomenclature, gusto and perched, risk-ambient worldview peppers their stories. The writing then falls in the category of a professional society—scientific, adventurous and, perhaps, religious—overviewing and compiling its history of ongoing accomplishments and firsts, while sharing kudos among its rarified membership. For mortals, these detailed abstracts coupled with superlative photos resemble glamorous trading cards.  The value of “Fifty"’s collectability will only grow each time you open it. Pick any page and feel your astonishment.

CORRECTION
The original post of this review was published under the wrong author’s name due to a mistake by an editor.

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