What's Brilliant Skiing, Every Day?It's a book about how to do it, and how to learn it. It will help you collaborate better with your teacher, self-coach better, learn other sports better, AND create a great day even when you're not at peak performance."Once again Weems has shown us a path to brilliant personal growth in our quest for a better life, with each day being the best day ever. I've been his student for the past 24 years and have always found something new to learn." -Katie Ertl, Director, Ski & Snowboard Schools of AspenSnowmass

*A Boston Globe Bestseller!* *An Outside Magazine Book Club Pick!* *Winner of the International Ski Association's Ullr Book Award!* "A sparkling account."—Wall Street Journal An electrifying adventure into the rich history of skiing and the modern heart of ski-bum culture, from one of America's most preeminent ski journalists The story of skiing is, in many ways, the story of America itself. Blossoming from the Tenth Mountain Division in World War II, the sport took hold across the country, driven by adventurers seeking the rush of freedom that only cold mountain air could provide. As skiing gained in popularity, mom-and-pop backcountry hills gave way to groomed trails and eventually the megaresorts of today. Along the way, the pioneers and diehards—the ski bums—remained the beating heart of the scene. Veteran ski journalist and former ski bum Heather Hansman takes readers on an exhilarating journey into the hidden history of American skiing, offering a glimpse into an underexplored subculture from the perspective of a true insider. Hopping from Vermont to Colorado, Montana to West Virginia, Hansman profiles the people who have built their lives around a cold-weather obsession. Along the way she reckons with skiing's problematic elements and investigates how the sport is evolving in the face of the existential threat of climate change.

The author presents extracts from his hill diary in Scotland, Iceland and Norway, including hill-walking, rock and snow climbing, ski-mountaineering, observing wildlife, and being with mountaineering companions and local people. These diary days started in 1943 when he was 13. They continued through a personal exploration of hill country, often solo, until 1951. The book portrays his excitement as he trod his beloved hills at first in summer and then in winter snow, and his joy at the beauty of nature. In his diary he caught his experiences of long days on the hills, describing views, wildlife, weather and local folk so vividly that readers easily imagine being there.

"Introduces skiing through photographs and brief text that uses one word relating to skiing for each letter of the alphabet"--Provided by publisher