Alpine Reviews

Cross-Country Skiing by Ned Gillette, John Dostal will appeal to the active person wanting to take-up the sport of nordic skiing. Why 3 stars? Because skate skiing is covered only at a novice to intermediate level (see cover photo)and would be of limited use to the more advanced crowd.

This was the best book for nordic skiing up till about 1990, when the current telemark equipment evolution took the sport out of its nordic context into the realm of pure alpine skiing. For those who still are nostalgic for skiing on skinny skis, this book is still the best. For another classic, see Steve Barnett's Cross Country Downhill.

Too many manuals are written without a sense of humour, but this one doesn't suffer there. The authors write in a way as to appeal and interest across all levels. This book is useful for an XC skiier to help hone their skiing, and useful to loan to doubting friends to get them interested.

Finally the long-anticipated junior college is opened in Alpine, and the economically deprived area is given a boost. Einar Rasmussen Jr. has donated large amounts of money to the college, but his arrogance has not won him any friends. When he is found murdered, there are no end of suspects, including his eccentric and reclusive relatives. He is also reputed to be a ladies' man, so there are several jealous husbands who are also suspects. Emma Lord, publisher and editor of the Alpine Advocate, is confused as she begins investigating the murder and she is being given no help by her ex-boyfriend Sheriff Milo Dodge. To add to the puzzle, a skeleton is discovered on nearby property as well as some gold pieces. Finally Sheriff Dodge makes an arrest, but many people think that it's a mistake. This is another good Emma Lord mystery and is a good read for "cozy" fans.

Emma is such a well developed character that just gets better with each story. All of her fears and trying to make it in the world just makes the mystery plots even better. This author writes a couple of great series and we only wish they could be written at even a faster pace.

Great humor, mystery and mayhem in Alpine. Makes you wish you lived there. Enjoy this series immensely.

I really enjoyed the characters and setting in this book. I like the main character and would be willing to try earlier books in the series before the author started padding the book to make it 300 pages instead of 200. Three hundred is simply too long. Many scenes repeated themselves without further revealing character or advancing the plot. I feel it's the publishers who want the books to be longer so that they can charge more for them. Let's tighten up these mysteries and cut to the chase.

I really enjoy Mary Daheim's Alpine series. I love the characters, who are all a little quirky. This was one of the best. If you want to read a fun mystery series this would be the one! I'm anxious to read the rest of the books.

I really enjoy Mary Daheim's Alpine series. The characters are like real people. Sitting down with Emma, Vida and Milo is like sitting down with old friends for a guaranteed good time. Not only is there a good mystery, but the people are more than just words and descriptions. I look forward to each one of her Alpine books. Each one keeps getting better, and finally Milo and Emma are progressing

The book was too simple for my tastes. I have been skiing for about a year and most of the information was way below my "beginner" level. There is really very very little information on actual skiing. The book basically covers the snow plow and simple turns as related to your ski lessons. There were some interesting tidbits in the book but on the whole I found it very lacking. If you have never ever been skiing and know absolutely nothing about it then the book might be helpful....but if you have skiied once in your life I don't think it will be that much more helpful.

I've been skiing for a long time, so I don't need this book, but I think it's great for new skiers. I've given it to a couple of beginners and people who said they wanted to try skiing. It covers all the basics--clearly and succinctly--but it doesn't overload new skiers with more information than they need.

Excellent book for someone who has never skied and is not used to snow activities.

All the basics are in there, not aiming to replace a real ski class. The author fully achieved the goal proposed.

I happen to have one of these rare books and it shows it was written some time ago and in Europe, but this makes it so exciting for me - to see all the words and what they used to mean. Take a look and see what PIPE used to be.

There is not much to say. I find the book very useful and I learnt more from it than from many so called "learn how to ski" books. I quite agree with the previous reviewer but I am definitely not a snowboarder.

In disagreement with the reviewers below I think the book is great, maybe not quite *****, but **** wouldn't do it justice. As a beginner it gave me the great comfort of only looking like a fool when I really acted like one (most of the time) and not because I thought that abseiling was a skiing term. If you know what they actually mean when the instructor asks you to edge harder or to unweigh on a bump, then you are just puzzled by the reaction of your body, not so much by the reaction of your mind ... It helped me a lot!

I am a firm believer that understanding of the mechanics of a carving ski and of the forces transferred between the skis and the skier as he makes his way down the slope are necessary to better understand why one or another skier's action may help to intiate a turn, or shorten its radius, or, in contrast, will lead to a skidded turn. "The physics of skiing" is the only book I could find which addresses the mechanics and physics of skiing. It starts with the physical properties of snow and its formation in the atmosphere, then discusses the properties of snow equipment (mostly downhill skis, briefly snowboards and cross-country skis), and then goes into dynamics of gliding, wedging, and carving. The book is written as a college textbook with numerous (although fairly simple) equations and diagrams of forces. It requires a sufficiently strong background in physics. Although it contains a large amount of interesting data, I was not quite satisfied with it for two reasons. First, it lacks a concept. It is more a review of different literature sources on skiing-related topics than an analysis combining understanding of physics of skiing with a discussion of how this knowledge is applicable to modern skiing techniques. It provides the readers with the background theory, but does not lead to any suggestions how to benefit from this understanding and improve their skiing technique. Too bad that the authors did not have a good ski instructor in their company to make the book more useful and down-to-earth. Secondly, since it is based on references published between 1977 and 1997, part of the discussion is more applicable to the old almost straight skis than to modern supersidecut skis.

As a ski instructor the subject of how and why these damn things work as well as how to set up your skiis has always been of interest. This book will give you 95% of the answers to those questions. The book covers down hill, cross country as well as a catagory called adventure skiing. I will be ordering extra copies to give to my skiing friends
W. E. M.

Sensational edjucation-the most important way to understand the frequency and causes of climbing misfortune.

Chris McGovern was the founder member of the U.K. Sunbeam Alpine Owners Club in the mid seventies. In 1974 I had purchased a series V and had seen Chris's advertisement in a motoring magazine to set up the Owner's Club. His knowledge of the marque is vast, as is shown in his book. It covers all the models from Series I through to V, including the Harrington Le Mans. His extensive research covers the manufacture, advertising, racing and even films in which the Alpine has featured. You will certainly find out something you didn't know about this model; for example, did you know that a removable roof panel was part of a prototype version (never put into production), but copied by other manufacturers; interesting for me personally was my discovery that my own Alpine was one of the last 100 made (using the list of serial numbers detailed in the Specifications Section). The book is fully illustrated with photographs of all of the Series models, including race coverage, glossy promo ads and various design stages that evolved into the production models. If you are intereseted in the Alpine, you will have to have this excellent publication written by an owner obviously passionate about these cars.

A former British soldier compiles with loving care information about the German elite Gebirgsjaeger ("mountain") divisions in WWII. The book is dedicated to his wife, Edeltraude. Lucas spots the main paradox right away. These devout Catholic men from a loving and generous part of Austrian society were giving their very best to preserve a devil, who, if he had won, would have destroyed their entire way of life. He hints at an answer in their value system: their professionalism, pride of organization loyalty to each other, and above all their boyish glee in mountain-climbing and performing the seeming impossible. These are the men who, practically for a lark, planted the nazi flag atop the inaccessible Mt. Elbrus, where there were never any enemies. With regard to their ultimate fate against the Russian army, Lucas shrinks back from story-telling. ...The book includes black-and-white photos.

Croft is a legendary climber, and has contributed greatly to the sport and to its literature. However, this little book is not his best work. There is almost nothing here that isn't covered in "Freedom of the Hills", and if you want the graduate text, buy Mark Twight's "Extreme Alpinism". However, if you are a complete "newby" to the sport of alpinism, this will provide some useful information and entertain you for a few evenings. Experienced climbers will likely be disappointed in this rather unambitious book.

If you are very recent to climbing, you might like this book. Otherwise skip it.
No doubt Peter Croft is a climbing genius, but his book contains little insight for anyone other than novices. But I agree with the 13 year-old: the intro is great reading. This guy has done some great climbing.
Why 2 stars ? In this book, there is actually a drawing of a nalgene bottle and water filter with the caption "Water Filter and Bottle". He also informs us that a bivy sack is smaller and lighter than a tent. And that a headlamp is better than a flashlight because you can still use your hands. And that a map and compass are usefull items when in unfamiliar terrain. Wow. I can't wait to take this insight into the mountains.
There are a few tidbits of good info here - but surf the web and get better info for free.

I had the oppontunity to meet this amazing climber at a slide show in Truckee, CA.I was absolutely astonished at how much he has accomplished in both rockclimbing and mountaineering.I recommend anyone who has a passion for climbing or mountaineering to read everything he puts out..wealth of knowledge...plus he is a super nice guy and funny to boot.