Crazy Canucks recounts the trials and triumphs off the Canadian men's alpine ski team of the 1970s and early 1980s. Eric Zweig offers a behind-the-scenes look at this innovative team that dared to take risks other skiers were too afraid of. The team rose from obscurity to prominence on the European and North American ski circuits with Olympic medal and World Cup wins. [Fry Reading Level - 4.9

Winner of the 2009 One Book, One Vancouver: The Host City Reads "Janet Love Morrison has written about an important part of our sporting history . . . For a younger generation, this is like discovering the people who laid the first tracks in fresh powder--the boys of winter who inspired so many who followed." --Peter Mansbridge, foreword No one in Europe had ever seen anything like it: a handful of young Canadian men fearlessly hurling themselves down the iciest, steepest courses of the ski racing circuit. At first they were regarded as a bit of a joke as they travelled in a rusty old Volkswagen and showed little regard for the niceties of European alpine traditions. In the early 1970s no non-European had ever won a Men's World Cup downhill and nobody expected this to change. Then in 1975 Canadian Ken Read won at Val d'Isère and the Canadian boys began appearing on World Cup podiums with increasing regularity. It didn't take long for journalists to start calling them the "Kamikaze Canadians," but the name that stuck was the "Crazy Canucks." The courage and high spirits of the young Canadian racers--Jim Hunter, David Murray, Dave Irwin, Ken Read and Steve Podborski--made them favourites across Europe, where Swiss or Austrian or French fans would rather see Canadians win than their old archrivals. In The Crazy Canucks, Janet Love Morrison chronicles the grit and perseverance of the young skiers who believed they had the right stuff to win and keep winning. Her careful research and interviews with all the key players paint a detailed picture of the Crazy Canucks. As Canadians approach the 2010 Olympics with high hopes for their ski teams, The Crazy Canucks provides a timely look at a most distinguished--and colourful--chapter in our nation's sporting history.

Skiing Heritage is a quarterly Journal of original, entertaining, and informative feature articles on skiing history. Published by the International Skiing History Association, its contents support ISHA's mission "to preserve skiing history and to increase awareness of the sport's heritage."

Jay is determined to make his name by climbing a tough rock face known as "The Wall" -- solo. No partner, no ropes, no equipment. Little does Jay suspect that it's his own life that will one day hang in the balance. In this exciting rock-climbing adventure, Kellerhals-Stewart looks at the desire to break barriers and the questionable role of the media in the dangerous pursuits of extreme sports.

It’s not surprising if you’ve never heard of Ernie Gare; the man behind innovations that paved the way for many Canadians to pursue their athletic dreams without sacrificing education cared more about the future of the athletes and the sports than garnering fame for himself. Without Gare and his drive to create the scholarship program, the world may not have seen Nancy Greene win an Olympic gold medal, or the Crazy Canucks take Canada to the top of the ski racing world. Without Gare’s collaboration with Bob Nicholson, the Program of Excellence might never have been created to help keep Canada one of the top hockey nations in the world. This is the story of the man who changed the future of Canadian winter sports.

Read it for nostalgia, for memories of pop culture, for history, or for pure entertainment. Growing Up Canadian, Volume 2 will shed a spotlight on the astonishing degree to which Canada changed in a mere twenty years from 1960 to 1980. Rolling out in a series of fast-paced entries are TV shows and personalities, rock and pop music, fads and fashion, the stars of stage and screen, the high and low lights of sports, and much more. The reader will be guided along a compelling journey through the Canadiana of the recent past. The stereotypes about Canada and Canadians being dull, and history being boring, are decisively laid to rest through wit and humour.

Did a Canadian kill famed escape artist Harry Houdini? Are the streets of Yellowknife really paved with gold? What was Canada's connection to those famous "Paul McCartney is dead" rumours of the late 1960s? And just how long does it take a drop of water to flow from Lake Superior to the Atlantic Ocean? The Great Canadian Trivia Book II brings you all these answers and more. In the much-anticipated sequel to their bestseller, The Great Canadian Trivia Book, award-winning writers Mark Kearney and Randy Ray dig even deeper into Canada's curious characters, storied past, natural phenomena, cultural idiosyncrasies, and the peculiarities of our leisurely pursuits. In the pages of this intriguing book, you'll discover the Canadian who was responsible for introducing the glove to professional baseball, the story behind Canada's blue two-dollar bill, how the robbery phrase "hands up" was connected to Canada, and whether a goalie can take a face-off in a hockey game. Think it's unlikely a Canadian might have been president of the United States? That Sir John A. Macdonald was the only one in his family to achieve political fame? Or that a Canadian rock group would turn down a chance to play at the famous Woodstock festival of 1969? The Great Canadian Trivia Book II will have you thinking again. And again.