The Story of Modern Skiing

By John Fry

Book Overview

This is the definitive history of the sport that has exhilarated and infatuated about 30 million Americans and Canadians over the course of the last fifty years. Consummate insider John Fry chronicles the rise of a ski culture and every aspect of the sport's development, including the emergence of the mega-resort and advances in equipment, technique, instruction, and competition. The Story of Modern Skiing is laced with revelations from the author's personal relationships with skiing greats such as triple Olympic gold medalists Toni Sailer and Jean-Claude Killy, double gold medalist and environmental champion Andrea Mead Lawrence, first women's World Cup winner Nancy Greene, World Alpine champion Billy Kidd, Sarajevo gold and silver medalists Phil and Steve Mahre, and industry pioneers such as Vail founder Pete Seibert, metal ski designer Howard Head, and plastic boot inventor Bob Lange. Fry writes authoritatively of alpine skiing in North America and Europe, of Nordic skiing, and of newer variations in the sport: freestyle skiing, snowboarding, and extreme skiing. He looks closely at skiing's relationship to the environment, its portrayal in the media, and its response to social and economic change. Maps locating major resorts, records of ski champions, and a timeline, bibliography, glossary, and index of names and places make this the definitive work on modern skiing. Skiers of all ages and abilities will revel in this lively tale of their sport's heritage.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1584658967
• ISBN13: 9781584658962
• Release Date: March 2010
• Publisher: University Press of New England
• Length: 380 Pages
• Weight: 1.36 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

John Fry's Best Publication

Most comprehensive review of winter sports, especially Skiing that has been published in years. His first hand observations and knowledge have given a rarely found "life" to the many aspects that have contributed to this mega sport. From the hills of Europe where skiing was second nature to the Western world where it is a year round sport drawing a diverse group of people to share in the thrill of being propelled on snow, John has captured it all. Congratulations, this book is a collectors must have.

a gold medal book

This is just a great book about the world of skiing. John Fry combines a complete knowledge of skiing with a terrific writing style that makes every page a joy to read.

If you like to ski (and read), you'll love this book!

If you are a skier with at least a modicum of curiosity about how the sport you are passionate about evolved and mushroomed, and who the players were along the way, this is a book that tells the whole story, how all the parts fit together, and it reads so well and so easily that at times it seems like a novel, and you wonder what happens next. But the author, John Fry, clearly knows his subject very well and has done his research meticulously, with annotated notes for every chapter, a glossary, bibliography, index of names & places, maps, record charts, etc. Skiing is a fun sport, and Fry makes it a comparable pleasure to read about modern skiing's fascinating history. Skiers, it's a great read!

Viva la Sport of Skiing

With ski icon John Fry as author and with a delicious poster art "cover" of spectacular ski slopes, any thoroughbred skier will find this book a gem - a fascinating 50 year chronicle of the development of the sport- its ups and downs and inside scoops. You'll feel nostalgic as you read this detailed account and thank John Fry who gives us such a unique, well researched and educated schuss down memory lane. A must for your library! Sandra Heath Stowe, Vermont

Tops in Its Field

An exceptionally well-written encyclopedic account that not only becomes the standard in its field, but sets the standard for future historians of any sporting endeavor. Fry's superb book covers the explosive growth of both recreational and competitive skiing with the sharp eye of the veteran insider for telling detail, ranging from the wholesome outdoors to the hedonistic indoors of apres ski.