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Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing
 
 
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Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing [Paperback]

Roland Huntford (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Book Description

November 10, 2009
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.

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Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing + The Story of Modern Skiing + Instant Karma: The Heart and Soul of a Ski Bum
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Editorial Reviews

Review

'This is a deeply scholarly work ... Fortunately scholarly in this instance is not synonymous with dull ... Huntford manages to to bind a wealth of material together with a strong narrative thread.'
Simon Redfern, The Independent on Sunday


"The breadth of his scholarship, which includes an easy familiarity with Scandinavian texts, is extraordinary." Literary Review


"What elevates Huntford is his comprehensive approach ... accessible and enjoyable, even to the most armchair bound of 'schussers'." Paul Watkins, The Times


"Could the outcome of the Second World War have been decided by the humble ski? That's the bold but surprisingly convincing claim made by Roland Huntford in Two Planks and a Passion." Roger Cox, The Scotsman


Review in The Daily Telegraph.


"Huntford's book will be a perfect stocking present for piste fantasists like me", Max Hastings, Sunday Times


"This is a compelling acount, and definitive history, of an activity that has evolved over time into one of our most thriving leisure industries." Sunday Telegraph


"An engaging and insightful work" Sport Magazine


"The most in-depth study of skiing currently in the English language and it will no doubt remain the defining record for some time." The Guardian


Mention in The Daily Mail, 28 November 2008.


Mentioned in Skier and Snowboarder Magazine, 01 November 2008.


"In his early books, Huntford chronicled the race to the South Pole ("The Last Place on Earth") and wrote biographies of Ernest Shackleton and Fridtjof Nansen. "Two Planks" seems a natural progression for him ... Huntford deserves praise for bringing together a lot of rich material." New York Times Book Review.


'This will be skiing's definitive history for years to come...' Alex Wade, Times Literary Supplement


'[A] fine, erudite history of the sport', Hugh Thompson, The Independent


"Roland Huntford's book is an amazingly detailed history of skiing's Scandinavian origins." BBC History Magazine


Title mention in The Guardian.


Title mention in Skier & Snowboarder Magazine.


'Our choice - pick of the paperbacks ... Huntford tells the ski story straightforwardly and simply' - Sunday Times


'Huntford has also undertaken the monumental task of tracing and explaining the development of the sport of skiing outside Scandinavia, particularly in Alpine Europe. As such, he has provided us with a much richer and more complex picture than was previously available from Arnold Lunn's highly partial The Story of Skiing.'
(oxfordjournals.org )

'Huntford has also undertaken the monumental task of tracing and explaining the development of the sport of skiing outside Scandinavia, particularly in Alpine Europe. As such, he has provided us with a much richer and more complex picture than was previously available from Arnold Lunn’s highly partial The Story of Skiing.’
(, )

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.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 456 pages
  • Publisher: Continuum; Reprint edition (November 10, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1441134018
  • ISBN-13: 978-1441134011
  • Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #840,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars More than just a casual history of the ski, December 30, 2008
I got this for my uncle for Christmas and was halfway through reading it myself by the time we had to head back home. So now I guess I have to get a copy of my own...

If, like me, you are a fan of serious history and the meticulous research that goes into it, then this book is what you are looking for. There have been other books that provide a breezy and cursory treatment of the fascinating history of skiing, but Huntford really goes far beyond what the other books have to offer.

Highly recommended for skiers and history buffs alike.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Essential history, January 9, 2012
By 
Seth Masia (Boulder, CO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing (Paperback)
If you're serious about the early history of skiing, Huntford's book is essential reading. There are now a number of very good academic English-language studies of the history and culture of skiing in the modern era (beginning with the eighteenth century), but Huntford is the best scholarly work on the sport's prehistory -- that is, on over-snow travel by the preliterate peoples of Northern and Central Eurasia. Excellent, authoritative detail on the transfer of skills that led to the adoption of Scandinavian skiing in the Alps, on the relationship between wintersport and nineteenth century nationalism. Huntford is a polyglot and was able to do most of his research by reading sources in their original languages. The book is not flawless, but it's a gem and should serve as a starting point for any further research into the history of the sport in Europe. And it's fun to read. --Seth Masia, http://skiinghistory.org
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0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars veers way off course, August 24, 2011
By 
Brian Maitland (Vancouver, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Two Planks and a Passion: The Dramatic History of Skiing (Paperback)
You know I saw the fantastic cover and thought this would be cool to learn about Franz Klammer, Ingemar Stenmark, Rosie Mittermaier, Hermann Maier, Anne Marie Moser-Proell, etc. Sadly they are not in here.

This is a book basically about skiing and how it started, how the equipment evolved and there is only one chapter on post-WWII skiing. I'm sure it's fantastically researched but, honestly, it's like reading a book on the history of hockey and learning about the game up till the NHL starts. It's great if you're into that. I'm not so I felt the book just wasn't for me.

Now, if anyone knows of a book, profiling the greats of the World Cup ski circuits (Alpine, cross-country and ski jumping), please tell me.
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