In Search of Powder: A Story of America's Disappearing Ski Bum - Softcover

Evans, Jeremy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0803228392 ISBN 13: 9780803228399

Publisher: Bison Books, 2010

Synopsis

As a recent college graduate and fledging newspaper reporter in the Lake Tahoe area, Jeremy Evans became immersed in ski bum culture—a carefree lifestyle whose mantra was simply: “Ski as much as possible.” His snowboarding suffered when he left for a job in the Portland area; and when, at twenty-six, he suffered a stroke, he reexamined his priorities, quit his job, moved back to Tahoe, and threw himself into snowboarding. But while he had been away, the culture had changed. This book is Evans’s paean to the disappearing culture of the ski bum. A fascinating look at a world far removed from the larger culture, it is also a curious account of a passion for powder and what its disappearance means. Evans looks at several prominent ski towns in the West (including Crested Butte, Jackson Hole, Telluride, Lake Tahoe, Park City, and Mammoth) and the ski bums who either flourished or fled. He chronicles the American West transformed by rising real estate costs, an immigrant workforce, misguided values, and corporate-owned resorts. The story he tells is that of quintessentially American characters—rejecting materialism, taking risks, following their own path—and of the glories and pitfalls their lifestyle presents.

About this title

About the Author

Jeremy Evans is a former daily newspaper reporter whose eight-year journalism career garnered numerous writing awards for his outdoor and sports writing. He is currently a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Powder and Skiing magazines. Glen Plake is an iconic figure in American freestyle skiing and extreme sports.

Review

"If you're an ex-ski bum, this is required reading. If you remember those days, ditto. Or if you just like tales of men and women on the edge, give it a read." -- Nevada Appeal

"It's a terrific book in almost all respects - we wish it had an index, but that's a quibble. Most of all, we liked his long chapter profiling Keith Erickson. We didn't know him the way we know him now." -- Mammoth Times

"Evans captures the gritty details of this esoteric lifestyle to a degree not accomplished elsewhere." -- Sports Literature Association

"A story about the new American West and those crazy, courageous cowboy souls who strap on skis and live for powder days as a means to find their true essence of peace and happiness. ... A ballsy piece of journalism." --Tahoe Mountain News

"Like surfing, skiing first went from sport to lifestyle during the 1960s and thus came of age with the baby boomers. They made skiing sexy and rebellious, and then they made it a big business." -- Wall Street Journal

About this edition

• Publisher: Bison Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0803228392
• ISBN 13: 9780803228399
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256