The darkest white A mountain legend and the avalanche that took him

Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Bestseller Blehm (Fearless) charts in this comprehensive biography how snowboarding pioneer Craig Kelly (1966--2003) became the sport's "first true professional." Kelly grew up "a latchkey kid of divorced parents from small-town Mount Vernon, Washington," and began snowboarding in the early 1980s. His skill led to sponsorships, fans, and four world champion titles, but he stopped competing before snowboarding became an Olympic sport in 1998, preferring to board just "for the experience." In 2003, Kelly and six others died on Canada's Durrand Glacier during an avalanche, and Blehm goes to great lengths to recreate what happened. He hired Ruedi Beglinger, Kelly's guide on that fateful day, to take him on the mountains where Kelly died and persuaded the tight-lipped Beglinger and another guide to divulge details that shed new light on the tragedy. Such impressive reporting offers fresh insight into Kelly's final hours, and the author's empathetic portrayal of Kelly as a purist who "turned his back on business deals, high-dollar sponsorship contracts, and... prize money" to return to the "powdery backcountry that had first drawn him to his calling" will resonate even with those unfamiliar with his legacy. It's a stirring tribute to a talent gone too soon. (Feb.)This review has been updated to remove a spoiler.

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Review by Library Journal Review

Blehm's (Fearless) latest tells the true story of a celebrated legend in the snowboarding community. A latchkey kid who grew up in the small town of Mount Vernon, WA, Craig Kelly (1966--2003) sought adventure from a young age. He first found it by riding BMX bikes and competing against neighborhood kids. Then, he heard about snowboarding, a winter sport that was so new at the time that it didn't even have a name--some called it "snow surfing," and others "snurfing." Kelly was a natural, falling in love with the sport and the snowboarding community as he garnered sponsorships, adoring fans, and world championships. Always more interested in snowboarding than celebrity, he later left the professional circuit to explore the limits of the sport. Narrator Dan Bittner skillfully takes listeners through this sensitively drawn portrait of Kelly's life and death. Though listeners will know that Kelly lost his life on Canada's Durrand Glacier during an avalanche, Bittner's narration ratchets up the suspense and tension, making the tragedy seem all the more devastating. VERDICT A riveting story, laying bare the brutality of nature and the perseverance and passion of a gifted athlete.--Enica Davis

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

The life and death of a celebrated athlete. Adventure biographer Blehm chronicles the storied career of Craig Kelly (1966-2003), a self-taught, world champion snowboarder, who died in an avalanche in British Columbia. In the 1980s, snowboarding was just becoming popular. "Small tribes of snowboarders started popping up across the country," he writes, consisting mostly of surfers and skateboarders who "looked at mountains and saw frozen waves, halfpipes, and glorious glassy-smooth powder to ride." Ski areas thought they were a nuisance: Of around 500 sites, only about 50 allowed snowboarding. By the 1990s, about 2 million people were participating in the sport, and Kelly was the brightest star. Skiing, he said, felt "disjointed," but snowboarding "felt like an extension of my body." He dropped out of college to train for competition, focusing on perfecting entire halfpipe runs and adding flourishes to stand out. In 1987, he "swept the field" of the Grand Prix of Snowboarding in Aspen; in 1988, for the second year in a row, he was named "Freestyle World Champion and Overall World Champion." As Blehm writes, "He levitated down mountains, raced avalanches, aired cliffs, and landed on the covers of magazines." But though he loved the challenge of the sport, he was not invested in the glitz and glamor of being a celebrity. Preferring to snowboard in natural terrain, he studied "the mechanics of the mountains, the engineering of avalanches, and the science of snow down to the granular, if not microscopic, level." He aspired to join the elite Association of Canadian Mountain Guides and was in the midst of training when the avalanche hit "with cold, hard indifference" and dragged him and 12 others into the icy darkness. Blehm recounts in gripping detail the terrifying disaster, the desperate rescue efforts, and the ensuing investigations into the cause. A stirring adventure narrative and sports bio. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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