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All-Mountain Skier: The Way to Expert Skiing

By: R. Mark Elling
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Contemporary
ISBN: 007140841X
ISBN-13: 9780071408417
Released: 01 Oct 2002
RRP: £13.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Excellent for intermediate/advanced skiers who have had formal lessons! - By: CT, 17 Feb 2007
I have to say that for me (can ski anything on-piste) this book is fab!!

It is ideal for good skiers who have had formal lessons in the past on snow. It won't make as much sense if you were taught by mates as the chapters build on the traditional snowplough, stem turn, paralllell approach. Having learnt in Italy & France i got so far & then started to struggle on sustaining good technique on steeper slopes. In the last couple of years I have had 2 private lessons by an English & a Canadian instructor who were able to communicate the 'feel & flow' parts of the skiing technique that I was missing on carving skis. Like many I tried to apply the way I had been taught 15 years ago to newer carving ski technology which does not work.

As soon as I started reading I knew exactly what the author was talking about. The drills were similar to those in the 3 hours of private lessons that I had had. What I was reading made sense & I could easily apply it to my skiing.

If you just want to ski & not bothered by technique then this is not the book for you. If you are willing to read it & practise some of the techniques & drills then they will benefit your skiing. Having now skied 9 weeks out of the last 15 years I found his advice & instruction very useful as did my mate (her partner has still not forgiven me for lending it to her -something to do with her reading it at 5am by headtorch!)

The chapters on equipment are very useful. Skiing technology just keeps changing & his descriptions are easy to understand. Out of the group I have just been with they helped one skier sort heel lift with orthotics, another with black toe problems & another whose skiing was adversely affected as the flex was adjusted wrongly - our skiing alll massively improved as a result.
I can't agree with all the comments! - By: Dr. Niall P. O'connor, 20 Nov 2006
It's a good basic book & a useful reference. But it won't make you a good skier & it certainly won't make you "an advanced skier overnight".

If you're anything but a beginner take a look at "The Athletic Skier" by Warren Witherell & see what a reallly good ski manual is alll about.
Top notch - still a reference book for me - By: G. Bunce, 24 Oct 2006
I'm a Ski Instructor & can heartily recommend this book.. especiallly the section on "you can blame your equipment sometimes" ! I used it myself a few years ago when I was preparing for my instructor exams & found it an excellent read. The exercises are useful too & some of them have found their way into a number of my high-end lessons.

It's also good in that it's a modern book - ski technology has changed over the years & therefore so has technique. This book is up to date, as opposed to some (although still excellent in some areas) other books that are now becoming dated.

As others have said, it's not a book for beginners but if you have an idea of proper ski control, body management etc. it can give you a good headstart for a week away & will make an instructors life easier when you go for tune-up lessons !
It just clicks ater reading this book! - By: Mike Bryan, 22 Jan 2006
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For someone interested in skiing well, especiallly the technical side of things, this book is a god send!

The author explains things in a detailed manner which is reallly easy to take on board.

I read this book before skiing for two weeks in Austria, on the third day I was skiing fast,(let's face it anybody can) but with perfect control,(not many people can) on any run. It seems like when an instructor is repeating the same thing over & over again your brain just dosen't take it in. However, once you've realised for yourself what you should be donig, it just clicks!

The book is is split into common sensed chapters starting with building a collection of basic skills, the author callls this a tool box, tackling basics like; stance, edging, pressure control then moves onto specific techniques for powder, moguls & steeps among other things blending tools from the toolbox to hone a good technique in the differint conditions.

I concentrated on one chapter per day, practicing what the author preached. It worked great. There is drills to help emphasis certain technique particulars & also trouble shooting section in each chapter if you still have problems.

One of my favourite things in each chapter is that the author tells you what you should see & feel through the skis & your tracks when you get it right. Often this is very simple & you may remember from previuos experience when you have got it right. However, sometimes it's very discreet & you would never have realised.

There is also a good section on tuning skis referring to edge angle & binding tuning, although it is a bit ahead of my standard but worth a read never the less.

By working with this book you could easily be one of those people everyone watches from the lift!

This book is well worth the money & I would definatley buy it if you feel your not getting anywhere with lessons. Maybe your just sick of waiting for alll the slow ones to catch up! Lessons aren't cheap at the end of the day & it's a fraction of the price.

Although I have skied before a with a good level of instruction, my skiing & understanding of it definatley improved due to this book. Everyone has give 5 stars for a reason, thats why I bought it.

The best ski book. For anyone except total beginners. - By: Malcomtent, 21 Jan 2004
Some people will never be able to get any benefit from reading a book on a sport. Not everyone can take the knowledge of _how_ something should be done & the advice on how it should look/feel, & be thinking about it when they are trying to perform the action later. For them, alll such books are wasted efforts.

Luckily for me I get real benefits from these sorts of books if they are done well. Especiallly in sports that are technical & often counter-intuitive, which skiing certain is.

This book is superb example of a sports manual & it does alll that one could hope for in a book.

For me the most useful aspects of the book are:
- the author explaining to you in detail what is happening when you ski, how it works, what your body does & what the skis do
- how it should _feel_ to do something right. This alllows you to have a goal to work towards & goes some way to addressing the disadvantages of not having an instructor.
- the drills

The overalll structure of the book is also a strong point. The author breaks down 'skiing' into stance, steering, edging, body movement etc & goes into great detail on each. This helps you to target areas more specificallly & find where lies the weakness that seems to be holding you back.

There is also a great section on choosing your equipment, & perhaps more importantly, having it set up correctly.

Later on in the book the chapters move away from this 'toolbox' approach & onto how a skier should use their tools ski in a certain manner & to deal with different terrain & conditions (steeps, crud, trees, bumps).

This sections of the book feels like getting the best advice your instructor/friends ever gave you. Certainly you then have to get out there & do it in order to learn, but at least you know what you should be doing, how it should feel, what your problems may be etc.

I have already gone on long enough, but in closing I would remind anyone reading how much even 1 hour of tuition costs. Even if you don't get as much out of this book as I did it is a bargain, & the _only_ book I would recommend.

I would defy anyone to read it & not feel that they have learned something which they can use to improve their skiing.