The All-mountain Skier: The Way to Expert Skiing McGraw-Hill Education ( 01 September, 2002 ) Book Our Price : £ 9.62 List Price : £ 10.68 You save £1.06 (10% off) Prices subject to change. usually dispatched within 24 hours.

The best ski book. For anyone except total beginners.

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 and the advice on how it should look/feel, and be thinking about it when they are trying to perform the action later. For them, all such books are wasted efforts. Luckily for me I get real benefits from these sorts of books if they are done well. Especially in sports that are technical and often counter-intuitive, which skiing certain is. This book is superb example of a sports manual and it does all 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 and what the skis do - how it should _feel_ to do something right. This allows you to have a goal to work towards and goes some way to addressing the disadvantages of not having an instructor. - the drills The overall structure of the book is also a strong point. The author breaks down skiing into stance, steering, edging, body movement etc and goes into great detail on each. This helps you to target areas more specifically and find where lies the weakness that seems to be holding you back. There is also a great section on choosing your equipment, and perhaps more importantly, having it set up correctly. Later on in the book the chapters move away from this toolbox approach and onto how a skier should use their tools ski in a certain manner and to deal with different terrain and 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 and 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 dont get as much out of this book as I did it is a bargain, and the _only_ book I would recommend. I would defy anyone to read it and not feel that they have learned something which they can use to improve their skiing.

High Praise

The All Mountain Skier by Mark Elling is the best manual I have read. It tackles the problems faces by the second year skier wishing to become advanced. I have been taking lessons and was told to do allsorts of movements that I did not understand. This book puts those movements into perspective. On smooth piste at low speed they were unnecessary, at speed on rough and powder they become fundamental. I practice on a dry slope. Whilst reading the book I became an advanced skier overnight. All the things had been taught in training now made sense. Because I now understood why, I was able to identify the different elements and embody them in my technique. There is an effective section on equipment. I owe a lot to Mr Elling. He has saved me a fortune in tuition. This book is not for the raw beginner but as soon as you know that you want to ski beyond the intermediate level buy the book and grow into it. Thanks Mr Elling, I hope this sells some more for you.

A step by step book that really improves your skiing ability

It gives a precise idea of what each part of your body should do and feel to make the skis do what you want. It also says what you can expect from your skis on different terrains. The section on choosing and fixing your equipment is also very valuable. The book is also very reach of small tips that can play the difference in difficult situations.