The Edge of Never: A Skier's Story of Life, Death and Dreams in the World's Most Dangerous Mountains

by William A. Kerig

Book Overview

In the world of big-mountain skiing, Trevor Petersen was a legend. Appearing in countless films, magazines and photo shoots, his ponytail flying behind him, he was the very embodiment of the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0965633845
• ISBN13: 9780965633840
• Release Date: November 2008
• Publisher: Stone Creek Publications
• Length: 254 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.8" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Fantastic Book & a Great Film

I read the book last December and loved it. The rest of may family read it as well. Last night we went to see the film. Highly recommend both (read book before watching the film).

Great Book!!!

This book reads like a heart thumping spy novel. Never a dull moment. At the same time it gives insight to the incredible world of big mountain skiing. Kerig makes it so you understand and identify with the characters. You see that these people are consummate professionals, not ski bums. The risks taken are not frivolous. Kerig gives you a feel for what drives them. I highly recommend this book to anyone, skier or not.

A powerful story

The Edge of Never: A Skier's Story of Life, Death, and Dreams in the World's Most Dangerous Mountains "The Edge of Never". Just finished reading it. WOW ! Very powerful, gut wrenching irony, extreme honesty, excellent insight & reads of people. Tremendous respect of character, trust, and integrity. Simple, honest, clear story telling of real life events that have an everlasting impact on the reader. You are actually there, seeing, feeling, watching, experiencing. Best book I have read for several or more years. So powerful & gripping, I had to put it down many times & do something mundane to let it sink in. I would recommend this book for all the serious or addicted skiers & boarders on your Christmas list. If you have to order it - see if you can get Bill Kerig to inscribe it. Bill, thank you for getting the story told. It is an outstanding book, amazing story. I love your straight forwardness and clarity. I was initially surprised by your glaring honesty, and appreciated the lack of "drama" attached to the chapters that were less than complimentary and probably a bit hard to bring up & tell. You brought them in as simply factual and part of the story(s) needing telling. And there were a number of stories that are important parts of the whole story. You knew it, and included them. A lot of killer gut wrenching, I guess I'd call ironies? Trevor's decision to move forward with earlier plans made with his wife & family as soon as he returns. Page 120 - "Never" as defined by Glen Plake. The Gendarmes rescue training, then the best guide in Chamonix in exactly the situation he pointed out, just days later. Doug Coombs walking on, then skiing off. His death & the resulting movie Steeps from your project. For you, I can only guess at what a tremendous rollercoaster it has been, amazing and unbelievable, all the stories within stories. But with your extreme honesty, believed. Your clarity & description of some of the technicalities of mountaineering was a great education for those of us less inclined to extremes, but gain some knowledge & appreciation for those phenomenal mountains & inherent risks. Again, thank you, and congratulations !

A Thrilling Book

This book is one of the most thrilling, inspiring, books i have ever read. It tells the story of how one copes with the loss of a loved one. Throughout this incredible journey, Kye Peterson goes on a journey to Chamonix, France (the mountain that his dad died on) On a quest to find the joy that his dad had in skiing the biggest mountains, and to make the long awaited memorial of his dad. This book is truly inspiring. It touches the heart in a way one would never think a book about skiing could do. Thank you Bill for writing this fantastic work.

The Edge of Never by Bill Kerig

Bill Kerig made his bones as a skier competing for ten years on the World Pro Mogul Tour. After retiring in 1996, he began building his reputation as a writer and film producer/director, married an understanding woman, and started a family, which led him to mastermind the extraordinary adventure he relates in this remarkable book. Kerig takes us inside the world of big mountain skiing with a group of skiers who arguably invented the sport, with a story within a story within a story. In the center is the legendary Trevor Petersen, who was killed at the height of his prowess in the prime of his life in an avalanche at Chamonix in 1996; that story is encapsulated by the coming of age journey his son Kye makes to Chamonix in 2005 to ski the run where his father died; and surrounding both stories is another equally compelling one about Bill Kerig's personal quest make a movie that will enable skiers and nonskiers alike "see what it is that makes this mountain life so special that people are willing to die in order to live it. I wanted to see selflessness, the loyalty of family, tradition and respect. I wanted to see men risk their lives to help a boy become a man--a better man than themselves, perhaps." It is rare for me to read a book start to finish in one day, especially one with the girth of The Edge of Never, but that's how it was. Combining astute observation and a penetrating, journalistic style of writing, Kerig puts the reader on that trip to Chamonix with the 110-pound twin-tip riding lost boy who earns his birthright by experiencing his father's last run firsthand--with the able assistance of his dad's good friends Glen Plake and Mike Hattrup, private instruction from the man who wrote the book on ski mountaineering routes around Chamonix, Anselme Baud, and the unwavering leadership of a chain-smoking French guide called Fanfan, who later nearly dies in a "stupid" fall while filming background shots for the movie. Kye Petersen was a rising fifteen year old professional skier in 2004 when Bill Kerig proposed that he retrace his father's last run down the Glacier Rond at Chamonix as the premise of a documentary that would seek an answer to why guys like Trevor Petersen would risk life and limb to ski the most treacherous mountains in the world. The very proposition, even though Kye is acknowledged as one of the best fifteen year old skiers in the world, is so crazy Kerig marvels that Tanya Petersen would ever allow her son to do it. Crazy is the word Kye chooses to describe the experience after he does it: "This is the craziest feeling ever. The satisfaction, the one hundred percent satisfaction from the long mission! I've never done anything that took that long to ski. That much effort. This is really, really cool. And suuuper scary. I don't know what kind of words to use, really. The no-fall zones--serious no-fall zones--it's like nothing I've ever done before. Gave me a really crazy feeling of adrenaline. I always wanted to ski this