New Mexico's long and distinguished skiing history began with the miners of the late 19th century and its pioneer settlers. Ski area development was launched in the 1930s in the Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque and quickly spread to the southernmost range of the Rocky Mountains--the Sangre de Cristos, north of Santa Fe. Students of a boarding school, the Los Alamos Ranch School, took up the sport in the Jemez Mountains, and when the school was occupied in the 1940s by American and international scientists like Neils Bohr working to create the world's first atomic bomb, they enthusiastically pursued skiing in their rare spare time. Taos Ski Valley's founding in 1955 elevated the scene to world-class status, and today, there are eight major downhill ski areas and one cross-country center stretching from the deserts of south-central New Mexico to the Colorado border.

This invaluable book tells you everything there is to know about skiing and snowboarding in the Land of Enchantment, with thousands of helpful details on the state's downhill ski resorts and cross-country and backcountry venues. Each ski area is profiled in a separate chapter, including details on facilities and services such as childcare and instructional options; statistics like average snowfall, vertical drop, and lift capacity; transportation options, including shuttle and bus services; and prices of lift tickets, rental equipment, and lessons. Gibson also includes historical facts about each ski area and its founders, suggestions for best runs by type of terrain, activities off the slopes, and notes on his favorite places to stay and eat. Separate chapters on cross-country and backcountry downhill skiing are equally informative.

Climb every mountain—and ski and snowboard the world’s most amazing slopes, from Aspen to Zermatt. Includes color photos. Based on interviews with leading experts, Fifty Places to Ski and Snowboard Before You Die chronicles the rich history of these sports and the people who’ve mastered them, including Tommy Moe, Jonny Moseley, Billy Kidd, and Greg Harms, and takes you to the fabulous mountains you’ve visited—or have always wanted to visit. Explore the world’s most inspiring skiing and snowboarding destinations: Chugach Mountains (Alaska) * Aspen, Crested Butte, and Steamboat Springs (Colorado) * Tuckerman Ravine (New Hampshire) * Rusutsu (Japan) * Chamonix (France) * Portillo (Chile) * Whistler Blackcomb (British Columbia) * Mammoth Mountain and Squaw Valley (California) * Kashmir (India) * Taos (New Mexico) Jay Peak, Mad River Glen, Stowe (Vermont) * Jackson Hole (Wyoming) * and more! Chris Santella brings to life the gorgeous scenery, the glamorous ambience, and the always-thrilling experience of visiting mountains from the Alps to the Rockies, whether it’s après-ski in Cortina or helicopter rides into virgin Alaskan powder. If you’re jetting off on your next getaway or just armchair-traveling this season, this guide will inspire beginners and black-diamond experts alike.

"Winter in Taos" starkly contrasts Luhan's memoirs, published in four volumes and inspired by Marcel Proust's "Remembrances of Things Past." They follow her life through three failed marriages, numerous affairs, and ultimately a feeling of "being nobody in myself," despite years of psychoanalysis and a luxurious lifestyle on two continents among the leading literary, art and intellectual personalities of the day. "Winter in Taos" unfolds in an entirely different pattern, uncluttered with noteworthy names and ornate details. With no chapters dividing the narrative, Luhan describes her simple life in Taos, New Mexico, this "new world" she called it, from season to season, following a thread that spools out from her consciousness as if she's recording her thoughts in a journal. "My pleasure is in being very still and sensing things," she writes, sharing that pleasure with the reader by describing the joys of adobe rooms warmed in winter by aromatic cedar fires; fragrant in spring with flowers; and scented with homegrown fruits and vegetables being preserved and pickled in summer. Having wandered the world, Luhan found her home at last in Taos. "Winter in Taos" celebrates the spiritual connection she established with the "deep living earth" as well as the bonds she forged with Tony Luhan, her "mountain." This moving tribute to a land and the people who eked a life from it reminds readers that in northern New Mexico, where the seasons can be harshly beautiful, one can bathe in the sunshine until "'untied are the knots in the heart,' for there is nothing like the sun for smoothing out all difficulties." Born in 1879 to a wealthy Buffalo family, Mabel Dodge Luhan earned fame for her friendships with American and European artists, writers and intellectuals and for her influential salons held in her Italian villa and Greenwich Village apartments. In 1917, weary of society and wary of a world steeped in war, she set down roots in remote Taos, New Mexico, then publicized the tiny town's inspirational beauty to the world, drawing a steady stream of significant guests to her adobe estate, including artist Georgia O'Keeffe, poet Robinson Jeffers, and authors D.H. Lawrence and Willa Cather. Luhan could be difficult, complex and often cruel, yet she was also generous and supportive, establishing a solid reputation as a patron of the arts and as an author of widely read autobiographies. She died in Taos in 1962.

Ultimate Skiing Adventures takes you on a skiing voyage around the planet's biggest, best and most unusual ski destinations – from the huge mega-resorts of the French Alps to sailing along Iceland's north coast in search of great snow, there are exciting adventures that will appeal to everyone from novice to expert. The inspirational descriptions of 100 locations combine Alf Alderson's personal experience with the input of experts in all aspects of skiing and mountain sports and are accompanied by stunning full-page photography from some of the world's foremost ski photographers. Published in a year of great uncertainty for ski travel, this book allows you to escape onto the slopes in your own home. Perfect for indulging in some armchair skiing of slopes that only the most adventurous will tackle and for planning your next ski trip. And it's not just about skiing – the contents cover avalanche rescue techniques, snow science, road trips, the work of ski patrollers and resorts so remote and obscure that you may never have heard of them. The book is divided into sections on Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, Scandinavia and the Rest of the World. Discover where you will ski next – in reality or in your imagination.