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36 of 38 found the following review helpful:
 A resource for the advanced skierDec 23, 1999
This book is great. A beginner or even an intermediate may find much of the information to be too advanced to be useful. Advanced skiers should find it to be an excellent resource.The book, among other things emphasizes the importance of steering, espescially in the important transition phase between turns. (Intermediate and even advanced skiers who learn how to edge effectively, often abandon their steering skills and simply step from the outside edge of one ski to the outside edge of the other ski.) The mechanics of effective steering are explained well as is the importance of the skill in more difficult terrain. Fundamentals are emphasized. The modifications and different blends of skills which are required on moguls, powder, crud, steeps, ice and in the trees are also explained very well.
28 of 29 found the following review helpful:
Great approach to all-terrain skiingJul 16, 1999
Highly recommended book for any skier who aspires to the Holy Grail of being able to ski in all kinds of terrain, in any condition. This book is most suitable for intermediate to advanced skiiers who are hoping to make the progression to all-terrain skier one day. It's often very difficult to pay attention to all of the different skills needed to ski well at the same time. Mr. Elling uses a "toolbox" approach to break down each skill, and recommends specific drills to strengthen one's abilities in each skill. Where this book really shines, though, is Elling's explanation of how these different skills should be combined in order to tackle different types of terrain and/or snow condition. Many ski instruction books out there are written with the goal of teaching you how to ski expertly...on perfectly groomed snow. But the skills that apply to Eastern hardpack/ice (edging, pressure on single ski, etc.) do not apply to Utah powder (even weighting on both skis) and Mr. Elling spells out the differences better than anyone else I have come across. Also a useful section on ski equipment and boot fit that correctly drives home how important good boot fit is to effective skiing. Overall an excellent book that anyone who wants to stray off the corduroy should take a look at.
27 of 28 found the following review helpful:
The definitive ski instruction bookJan 29, 2004
By dasn0wman
"dasn0wman"
This book is amazingly comprehensive for its size. It is roughly two-hundred pages, yet it breaks down the essentials of making good turns, contains an in-depth look at each ski equipment and how to maintain it, and breaks down special techniques for various snow conditions (powder, moguls, etc). If this isn't enough, there is a more technical section at the end for serious ski freaks. This is nuts. I also have the book, "Ski the Whole Mountain", and it probably has only half the information this book has. At first glance, you may not like this book because it is black and white and not as flashy as "Ski the Whole Mountain". Also, most of the pictures are hand-drawn illustrations. However, upon reading it, you will be hypnotized and the black and white illustrations seem to almost come alive. It is testimony to the fine writing by the author. If you ever want to ski moguls, this is the book. For years, I look at expert mogul skiers go down and I keep saying to myself that they must have some special paths they follow but I just don't know what. Well, this book draws the path, the moguls, the works! This is an amazing book and probably the only book you need to ski like a pro. But I read "The Skier's Edge", and that book actually contains even more technical information (if that's possible) so you may want to check that one as well.
21 of 22 found the following review helpful:
This is the best book that I have ever read on the subject.Feb 15, 1999
I read this book on my way to a ski vacation at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I tried to apply as many of the "tool kit" concepts in skiing the steep, ungroomed runs at JH, and found that the approach raised my skiing to a higher level. This book is designed to improve intermediate and advanced skiers, and based on my experience, it definitely achieves this objective. Over the past 15 years I have read a number of ski instruction books, and have purchased several, but none as effective as this one. Comparable books in another sport are Vic Braedon's tennis instruction series. Braedon's and Elling's books break their respective sports into the basic physical principles and techniques to understand the mechanics and make significant performance improvements. I highly recommend this book.
20 of 21 found the following review helpful:
 Pretty good book on skiingFeb 20, 2006
By S. Schow
I started out really liking this book, but was less impressed by the end. What I liked about the book is the writing style. Its well written, in an engaging way that makes it easy to keep turning the pages. However, I felt that much of the content was a bit disorganized, like a brain-dump of a terrific skier, but not presented in a way to nurture a skier along from one skill to the next. A good skier will be easily bored with this book in my opinion, I learned very little from it.
I offered the book to an intermediate friend of mine, thinking it would be ideal for him. He started out being enchanted by the writing style also, but after a few chapters gave up because the content was too scattered and random in the way its presented. In my opinion this is like a a brain dump from a ski instructor that has learned a lot of "tips" over the years and tried to find an engaging way to publish a bunch of those tips into a book form. I didn't entirely agree with a few points, but overall, I thought most of the tips and technique ideas were accurate and well presented with great drawings to illustrate them. Just kind of random order and so much information that an intermediate would be quickly overwhelmed and not know what to try next to apply any of this. My intermediate friend put the book down after a few chapters and just said it was "too much to think about". Each chapter did provide exercises at the end of the chapter for applying what that chapter talks about. So a committed skier could take them one chapter at a time and go work on it perhaps. However, I thought many of the exercises were just the typical exercises that every PSIA instructor uses to emphasize skills. What if the reader performs the exercises wrong? There were very few if any photos illustrating proper way to do the exercises. And the order of the chapters is not a step ladder of growth..its just random different topics.
I think the book could be useful for an intermediate that doesn't plan to read the whole book and follow it from start to end, but rather keep it as a reference. As they decide they need to work on one particular skill (Let's say after taking a lesson and finding out they are weak in an area), they could read the chapter covering that skill and try the exercises, perhaps remembering that these exercises are very similar to the ones they get in their lesson, and also read the in depth explanations about it..to help sink the ideas into their brain a little better. I see the book as more of a reference tool to come back to, little bits at a time.
I think a ski instructor could benefit from this book also because it provides a lot of examples of how to give a lesson.. It basically *IS* a series of PSIA lessons in a book. An instructor can learn verbalogy to use, exercises to a apply towards specific skills, etc. Of course all of that is also available through standard PSIA literature, but hey...another source doesn't hurt.
For me and my own skiing, there was nothing revolutionary in it. I much prefer "The Skiers Edge" by Ron LeMaster which did indeed teach me some things I didn't know. Its even more technical though...truly a book for experts.
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