Synopses & Reviews
The early, romantic days of skiing in the West-the 1930s, '40s, and '50s-were a time of glamour and great excitement. Hollywood movie stars in the latest snow fashions shared chair lifts with the originators of "extreme" skiing. Skiers zoomed down the mountains with primitive equipment, relying on enthusiasm and their own brand of skill to take them successfully to the bottom. Otto Lang, Hannes Schneider, Errol Flynn, and dozens of other celebrities and even early Olympic athletes peppered these snowy slopes, having the time of their lives.
That era of fun and elegance was captured on film by famed outdoor photographer Ray Atkeson and ski moviemaker Warren Miller, who became friends in Squaw Valley in 1949. In this nostalgic tour of an earlier time, Miller reminisces about the places, people, and props that color the history of skiing in the West. His lively, firsthand account of the events that populate this unequaled photo collection is fascinating reading.
Ray Atkeson became a legend in his lifetime, taking over 40,000 photos of the pioneer years of skiing the West. Warren Miller has produced nearly five hundred sports films during his fifty-year career. He teaches skiing in Big Sky, Montana.
Synopsis
Return to the early days of skiing in the West, when movie stars shared lifts with the first ""extreme"" skiers. Atkeson's photos and Miller's essay are fascinating.
About the Author
Ray Atkeson became a legend in his lifetime, taking tens of thousand of spectacular outdoor photographs. He became especially well-known for his stunning black and white images of the ski and snow country in the Western states. He was named Photographer Laureate of Oregon in 1976. Ray passed away in 1990 at the age of 83.Miller, during his 50 year career, has shot, produced, edited and narrated over 500 films on skiing. He has also written scores of newspaper and magazine columns and four books. He splits his time between Montana's Yellowstone Club ski resort and San Juan Islands of Puget Sound.