Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing

Roland Huntford

ISBN 10: 1847252362 / ISBN 13: 9781847252364

Published by Continuum, 2008

About this Item

Predating the wheel, the ski has played an important role in our history. This book presents a history that begins 20,000 years ago in the last ice age on the icy tundra of an unformed earth, when man is a traveling animal, and on these icy slopes skiing began as a means of survival. Num Pages: 456 pages, 1, black & white illustrations. BIC Classification: HBG; WSWK. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 239 x 167 x 32. Weight in Grams: 828. . 2008. Hardcover. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9781847252364

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing
• Publisher: Continuum
• Publication Date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1847252362
• ISBN 13: 9781847252364
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Roland Huntford's brilliant history begins 20,000 years ago in the last ice age on the icy tundra of an unformed earth. Man is a travelling animal, and on these icy slopes skiing began as a means of survival.

That it has developed into the leisure and sporting pursuit of choice by so much of the globe bears testament to its elemental appeal. In polar exploration, it has changed the course of history. Elsewhere, in war and peace, it has done so too.  The origins of skiing are bound up in with the emergence of modern man and the world we live in today.

About the Author

Roland Huntford is the world's foremost authority on the polar expeditions and their protagonists. He is the author of the award-winning Two Planks and a Passion: the Dramatic History of Skiing and Scott and Amundsen: Last Place on Earth and he is the biographer of Shackleton and Nansen. He was the Scandinavian correspondent on The Observer for many years.