Snowball's Chance: The Story of the 1960 Olympic Winter Games Squaw Valley & Lake Tahoe [Paperback]

David C. Antonucci (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 2009

Snowball’s Chance: The Story of the 1960 Olympic Winter Games is the only book devoted solely to chronicling the historic events at Squaw Valley and Lake Tahoe. The VIII Olympic Winter Games took place in February 1960 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. From 30 countries around the world, 665 athletes gathered over 11 days to engage in five recognized Olympic winter sports contested in 27 events. These sports and events included alpine skiing, Nordic combined, cross-country skiing, biathlon, figure skating, speed skating, ice hockey and ski jumping. You-are-there accounts of all competition events with top scores and medal results for each sport are included. Readers will learn about the extensive pageantry and artistic expression of the opening and closing ceremonies produced by the legendary Walt Disney. The 200-page book includes 80-plus photographs by official photographer Bill Briner and others showing historic Olympic venues and athletes in the heat of competition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: BookSurge Publishing; Reprint edition (November 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439259046
• ISBN-13: 978-1439259047
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #546,491 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #99 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Miscellaneous > Olympic Games

More About the Author

David Clark Antonucci (1950-) was born in Youngstown, Ohio. In 1952, his family relocated to Southern California where he grew up and attended public schools in Duarte.

David received his B.S. in civil/environmental engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 1972 and M.S. in civil/environmental engineering from Oregon State University in 1973.

He has enjoyed a public career of 35+ years, including seven years as chief of regulation and enforcement for a water quality control board and 20 years as general manager and chief engineer of a multifunction special district in the Lake Tahoe area.

He has worked with and served on numerous public agency and non-profit boards as a public official and private citizen. His civic involvement includes Tahoe Resource Conservation District, Association of California Water Agencies, Tahoe Sierra State Parks Foundation, Squaw Valley Olympic Museum and the Kiwanis Club of North Lake Tahoe

Currently he is a free-lance writer, professional speaker, meeting facilitator, presentation development consultant and environmental engineering consultant.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining account of a hugely successful Winter Olympic Games, January 20, 2010

By 

Brian L. Horler "Oregonians" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Snowball's Chance: The Story of the 1960 Olympic Winter Games Squaw Valley & Lake Tahoe (Paperback)

Many skeptics including IOC President Avery Brundage thought the small family ski area in California could not host a successful Olympic Winter Games. The skeptics were wrong, and this book tells the story of how the Organizing Committee with the cooperation of local governments, the US military, and Olympic supporters around the world caused Avery Brundage to write at the conclusion of the Games, "The Olympic Winter Games were a major success in every respect."

Technological innovations at these Games brought competition into a new phase, and enabled the athletes to perform and be judged at the highest level.

Descriptions of each event during the games brings to life the drama of the competitions, and followup stories of a number of prominent athletes helps humanize these competitors.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Guide to Doing the Impossible!, December 14, 2011

By 

Nancy A. O'Connell (West of the Rockies) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Snowball's Chance: The Story of the 1960 Olympic Winter Games Squaw Valley & Lake Tahoe (Paperback)

If you have ever considered doing something impossible and have been constantly surrounded by naysayers, then read this book! Antonucci provides an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley and provides details not found in most other published sources. This is a story about bring a vision to fruition and worth reading whether you ski or not. For skiers, this book is a must read. Antonucci transports readers back to the early days of skiing, before giant corporate interests took over motivated by the bottom line. The 1960 Games represent an age of innocence in the winter sports world. An enjoyable and informative read!

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Squaw Valley, October 28, 2011

By 

Steven Earl Mader "Chisox Steve" (Bloomington, Minnesota United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Snowball's Chance: The Story of the 1960 Olympic Winter Games Squaw Valley & Lake Tahoe (Paperback)

I expected a more detalied account of waht happened at the Winter Olympics at Squaw Vally. I thought there would be a more comprehensive listing of finishes in Figure Skating for example. Laurence Owen finished 6th int he competition and this wasn't even mentioned. Nor that the U.S. had three out of the top 6 Lady figure skaters in the world. No mention of this. I guess I expected more from an accomplished writer like David Antonucci. It almost seemed to me like he threw this together in a hurry(maybe he did!). Maybe I was expecting a more personal, intimate account of the competitors and some interesting stories concerning what went on in Squaw Valley. I got more from reading Life Magazine and Sports Illustrated from that period than I did from David's book.