Powder days Ski bums, ski towns and the future of chasing snow

Heather Hansman

Book - 2021

"Veteran ski journalist and former ski bum Heather Hansman takes readers on an exhilarating journey into the hidden history of American skiing, offering a glimpse into an underexplored subculture from the perspective of a true insider"--

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Subjects
Genres
Biographies
Autobiographies
Published
Toronto, Ontario, Canada : Hanover Square Press [2021]
Language
English
Main Author
Heather Hansman (author)
Item Description
Includes index.
Physical Description
272 pages ; 24 cm
ISBN
9781335081117
  • Introduction: The Dream
  • Section 1. Skid Luxury: Who is a Ski Bum
  • Tram Line
  • Make it up as we go Along
  • Swift, Silent, Deep
  • How is Everyone Not Doing This?
  • Hostel Tendencies
  • Section 2. How to Make a Myth: The History-and Story-of Skiing
  • Will Ski for Food
  • Tuckerman to the 10th Mountain Division
  • Eat the Rich
  • Storytellers
  • The Truth Behind TJ and Dex
  • Section 3. This is Your Brain on Skiing: Who Wants to be a Ski Bum
  • Aprèspuncture
  • Antisocial Behavior
  • What Could be Better than this?
  • Pammy or Peter Pan
  • Seeking Sensation
  • Section 4. Out in the Cold: Who Gets to be a Skier
  • Skier Trash
  • As White as Snow
  • Front of the House, Back of the House
  • The Odds are Good but the Goods are Odd
  • Lady Shred
  • Section 5. Cloud 9: Ski Town Economics
  • The Skier's Chalet
  • After the Gold Rush
  • Champagne Problems
  • If You can't Live here You cant Live Here
  • Locals Only
  • Section 6. A Thousand Words for Snow: Climate Change and the Future of Winter
  • Southern Snow
  • You don't need a Weatherman
  • Shrinking Seasons
  • Making Winter
  • We're the Grown-ups Now
  • Section 7. Monopoly Money: Resorts and the Business of Skiing
  • Ski the East
  • Outlaws and Overlords
  • Corporate Culture
  • Love, Actually
  • Section 8. The Dark and the Light: Risk and Reward
  • Land of Broken Toys
  • So Brave Young and Handsome
  • Extreme Extremes
  • Going Dark
  • Into the Mystic
  • Conclusion: Living or Giving up the Dream
  • Acknowledgments
  • Index
Review by Booklist Review

In a follow-up to Downriver (2019), about unsustainable waterways, Hansman explores "living the dream" of downhill and backcountry skiing, detailing changes within the ski culture and industry. After describing her childhood in New England, where she learned to ski, Hansman remembers her post-college years in Colorado, where she embraced the life of a ski bum and later became a journalist (she is the former online editor of Powder and Ski magazines and a current columnist for Outside online). This is both a heartfelt account of what draws her back to the mountains and a deep dive into the ski-bum lifestyle and the current "ecosystem" of skiing. Traveling to various mountain towns (Jackson Hole, Aspen, Vail, Taos), she interviews ski diehards, weaving into their stories fascinating discussions of the origins of ski resorts, the commercialization of ski communities, and the current threat of climate change. She leaves us with lingering questions: Has the dream of a "dirtbag ski lifestyle" become a fantasy? Can the sport survive environmental change? This eloquently written memoir is sure to captivate all variety of skiers.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Hansman (Down River), an environmental columnist for Outside magazine, takes readers on a riveting plunge into ski culture. After sharing reflections on her own years of "living the 'dream' " of putting the "constant sense of chase" of skiing above all else in her 20s, Hansman delivers an entertaining ethnography of what constitutes a ski bum. She defines the lifestyle, describing how prioritizing skiing could lead to "no job, no relationship, no stability," but paradoxically also foster "deep connections, community, joy." She weaves in her own experiences, beginning in the "knobby mountains of New England," where she learned to backcountry ski as a teenager and peaking in Colorado's Arapahoe Basin, where, in college, she spent her days "hopped up on a mixture of adrenaline, secrets, and the thrill of breaking rules." In addition to insightful chapters on the psychology and "heady rush" of skiing and the freedom it represents for so many of its participants, Hansman also tackles topics such as ski town economics and the ways climate change threatens to upend the industry ("Can we actually keep doing this if it gets worse?" she wonders). This is as exhilarating as the act of skiing itself. Agent: Zoe Sandler, ICM Partners. (Nov.)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review

Hansman (Downriver: Into the Future of Water in the West) recalls her years as a "ski bum" with a certain wistfulness. Working for minimum wage, scanning lift tickets to have a half day of skiing, she couch-surfed and lived on Pop Tarts and beer. But, as she tells, it's not all tales of "overindulgence and showy unlimited wealth." She takes readers behind the scenes in ski towns, many of which have large Latinx populations who often work in the restaurants and resorts. Hansman is honest about her own privilege and how the growth of the ski industry in the 1960s led to locals being priced out of their towns in favor of wealthy second-home owners and trust-fund babies. "The snow is very white and so are the people," she observes. They are also mostly straight, male, able-bodied, and financially sound. Skiing is an expensive pastime, somewhere between polo and golf. The author advocates for addressing ski-town racism on every level--social, economic, environmental, and political. VERDICT Even for non-skiers, this is an entertaining and eye-opening look at the history and economics of skiing and ski resorts in the United States.--Susan Belsky, Oshkosh P.L., WI

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