Picabo: Nothing to Hide [Hardcover]

Picabo Street (Author), Dana White (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 18, 2001

Picabo Street is the great American champion skier of this generation, having won the silver medal at the Lillehammer Winter Olympics in '94, the World Championship and World Cup titles in '95 and '96, and the Olympic Gold in Nagano, Japan in '98. Three years after a horrific crash that shattered her leg in four places and made headlines around the world, she's coming back for the Salt Lake City Olympics. This is her story.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In her autobiography, Olympic ski racer Street gives a solid chronology of her career with her independent "I'll do what I want" attitude. Not a typical sports superstar, Street prefers to hang out with her family or old friends. She's also not been a favorite model for magazine covers, since, due to her injuries, her weight has greatly fluctuated. However, it becomes evident that Street cares most about excelling at her sport and when she doesn't perform well, she blames herself and vows to improve for the next competition. Street attributes her atypical traits to her upbringing in Triumph, Idaho a small town near the Sun Valley and Ketchum ski resorts, where she grew up a tomboy and to her parents, who were "hippies" feeding the family from homegrown vegetables and providing the bare minimum. As an adolescent, Street's speed was apparent as she beat many more experienced male skiers. She loved speed but she also loved to please her father, who coached her. Street is charming and sometimes refreshingly honest: "Unfortunately, ski racing is no way to lose weight.... Skiing is also anaerobic. Getting your heart rate up for 90 seconds isn't enough to burn much fat. Then you sit around in the lodge, trying not to eat pastries and French fries. What can I say? I like to eat." Fans of Picabo will enjoy this book but, because she hasn't been in the public eye recently, her audience may be somewhat limited.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

At age 30, world downhill champion and Olympic gold and silver medalist Picabo Street has written the story of her childhood and her racing career. Born in a half-abandoned Idaho mining town to unconventional parents, Picabo thrived on reckless, thrill-seeking juvenile adventures. After she began skiing, her living-on-the-edge style fueled her drive to the top. But it also led to tempestuous relations with teammates and a sportswriter's dream as she spouted statements like "Only the wild ones win." This book explains the differences between the types of racing, such as Super G and giant slalom, and provides an armchair understanding of how steep and treacherous the runs are. This story, told with youthful freshness and informal language, is engaging and honest. Readers will be cheering for her to succeed at the 2002 Olympics. Recommended for all public libraries, especially where skiing is popular. Kathy Ruffle, Coll. of New Caledonia Lib., Prince George, BC
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies (October 18, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071383123
• ISBN-13: 978-0071383127
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #258,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #20 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Outdoor Recreation > Skiing > Downhill

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a great story of how one person makes it happen!, November 12, 2001

By 

Liz Mckay "Adventure Coach" (Napa, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Picabo: Nothing to Hide (Hardcover)

If you are ever in need of some motivation to make your dreams come true...if you ever doubt your abilities and wonder if "little ol you" can accomplish the impossible....Read Picabo's book.

Picabo is a wonderful example of what one person can accomplish, when they put their mind to it!

We'll definitely be cheering Picabo on in the 2002 Winter Olympics! GO Picabo and GO USA!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a true good source to meet Picabo, January 3, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Picabo: Nothing to Hide (Hardcover)

I loved this book right from the biggining.
I live in Chile and love skiing. Picabo comes sometimes on her summer to train on Chile and its just the greatest to see her training.
What I love about her is that she is a very authentic person and says just what she is thinking.
It seems to me that she has had a blast in her life, gone places, met people, won medals, campaign for Nike, etc.
Also, she is my same age , and so it is always interesting to see what others girls like me can do.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Meeting Fear, March 18, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Picabo: Nothing to Hide (Hardcover)

Though I am an intermediate-level skier, I did not know much about ski racing before reading this book. If you don't know much about racing--how the races differ, what each demands, how skiers approach each type--you will learn a few things, but not many.

Of course, Street is not your typical skiers, either in ability or attitude. Simply put, even through multiple crashes (and even through blowing out a knee) and trips to the hospital, she did not "know fear" until the massive crash that occured shortly after the 1998 Olympics.

The book details her sporting, social, and family life in rural Idaho as a child, her races, rise to media stardom, and her various stints at rehabilitation. Through it all, we see a brash person looking for the next rush of adreneline, and the next victory. She accounts not only races, but conflicts with family, team members, and (eventually) employees. Her exploration of the world of being a Nike celebrity (design your own shoe) was an unexpected bonus.

I wish that she had waited to write this book until after the 2002 Olympics. After shattering one leg and tearing out the knee of the other, and the subsequent grueling rehabilitation, merely making the team was quite a feat. I would have liked to know what she thought of it all, though.

One weakness of the book is repetition--the word "ass" must have been used, on average, every other page. I don't faint at the sight of vulgarity, but a good writer finds ways around using the same word, especially a semi-vulgar one, over and over. The style, as you would expect from a "jock book," isn't always smooth or deep, but it offers just enough insight to make for an interesting read during the off-season.