The Unofficial Guide to Skiing in the West [Paperback]

Peter Shelton (Author), Seth Masia (Author), Bob Sehlinger (Author), Ed Chauner (Author), Claire Walter (Author), Lito Tejada-Flores (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Unofficial Guides | Publication Date: September 29, 2001

The Unofficial Guides are the "Consumer Reports" of travel guides, offering candid evaluations of their destinations' attractions, hotels, restaurants, shopping, nightlife, sports, and more, all rated and ranked by a team of unbiased inspectors so even the most compulsive planners can be sure they're spending their time and money wisely. Each guide addresses the needs of everyone from families to business travelers, with handy charts that demonstrate how each place stacks up against the competition. Plus, all the details are pulled out so they're extremely easy to scan.

Written by a team of experts, The Unofficial Guide to Skiing in the West reveals the pros and cons of each ski mountain in the northern and southern Rockies and the West Coast, with tons of insider tips on where to find the best powder, the best condos and resorts, and the most exciting runs for each skill level, plus info on how to get the best deals on hotels and lift tickets.

The Top 5 Ways The Unofficial Guide to Skiing in the West Can Help You Have the Perfect Trip:

1. Everything you need to find the best mountain for your personal skiing preferences
2. Inside information on the resorts that only a ski instructor or longtime local would know
3. All the details on the slopes: the best runs for novices, the finest trails for intermediate skiing, the best sunlit trails for late-afternoon skiing, the best-formed moguls, where to find the secret reserves of powder, and more
4. Advice on how to plan and get the most out of your ski trip--and the most for your money
5. Tips on finding the perfect hotel room, vacation home, or condo for the best price, plus info on the best restaurants in ski country

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In keeping with the Unofficial Guide philosophy, this book is written to serve the skier as the authors deliver the honest goods on more than 100 mountains and ski resorts. Want to find the best-formed moguls, make the first tracks in secret caches of powder, locate the best runs for novices, or reserve the perfect place to warm up at the end of the day?

Reading this book--which has complete coverage of the northern and southern Rockies and the West Coast--is like sitting down with a local or a ski instructor. Scattered with useful tips like "Polishing Parallel," "Stormy-Day Strategies," and "Sierra Cement," The Unofficial Guide to Skiing in the West is sure to become a well-worn reference for skiers of all abilities. --Kathryn True --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

From the publishers of The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World... "A Tourist's Best Friend!" —Chicago Sun-Times

"Indispensable" —The New York Times

The Top 10 Ways The Unofficial Guide^? to Skiing in the West Can Help You Have the Perfect Trip:

1. Everything you need to find the best mountain for your personal skiing preferences
2. Inside information on the resorts and slopes that only a ski instructor or longtime local would know
3. The best runs for novices, the finest trails for intermediate cruising, the best sunlit trails for late-afternoon skiing, the best-formed moguls, and more
4. Advice on how to plan and get the most out of your ski trip?and the most for your money
5. The inside scoop on where to find the secret reserves of powder and when to ski them
6. Proven strategies for a stormy day
7. Tips on finding the perfect hotel room, vacation home, or condo?at the best price
8. The best restaurants in ski country
9. Complete coverage of the southern Rockies, the northern Rockies, and the West Coast
10. Information that's candid, critical, and totally objective

An Unofficial Guide Great trips begin at Frommers.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 590 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 4 edition (September 29, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764562193
• ISBN-13: 978-0764562198
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,146,131 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of details, could use more, August 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Unofficial Guide to Skiing in the West (Paperback)

This is a really thorough book on just about everyplace out west in terms of ski mountain descriptions -- runs and the like. Whoever was in charge of editing the book's illustrations must not have seen the text, because although the illustrations show runs and lifts, only the lifts are labeled -- but the text usually mentions several runs in the context of a single lift, rendering the descriptions confusing and the maps somewhat useless. The descriptions of the ski areas themselves seem to be a little skimpy

The beginning of the book describes some of the "how-to" stuff in terms of getting good deals and the like, but doesn't go into enough detail about these kinds of things, specifically in reference to particular areas. Surely they must be familiar enough with major destination areas to suggest specifics.

Overall, it's a good read, especially for those unfamiliar with out-west ski options.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A detailed, informative, and sometimes opinionated guide., December 27, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: The Unofficial Guide to Skiing in the West (Unofficial Guides) (Paperback)

An excellent guide covering most major ski resorts in the Western U.S. and some in Western Canada.
The guide contains a rating section that compares resorts on almost all imaginable skiing criteria (e.g., beginner terrain, bumps, consisteny of fall lines, etc.), but it's real strength is in the detailed descriptions of the skiing. Each author writes about one region, providing a thorough overview and a sense of the style of skiing available at each resort.
There are are some minor inconsistencies. Some resorts get almost agonizingly detailed treatments, while some (e.g., Whistler / Blackcomb) get a more cursory treatment than the sheer volume of terrain would suggest. The skiing suggestions are quite specific, naming lifts and runs (good), but the trail illustrations provided for each resort lack sufficient detail (bad)- I found that the book works best with an actual trail map in hand. Finally, one might argue that some worthy areas were overlooked, including some Canadian areas and at least one US area (Mount Baker, Washington).
This guide is a must-have for any serious skier- I've used it to check out more than a dozen resorts, and Lito, et al. have yet to steer me wrong.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most skier friendly guide out there, October 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Unofficial Guide to Skiing in the West (Paperback)

Gets to the meat of the subject quickly. An easy breakdown of the mountain by ability levels and recommended places to eat and sleep. 1 drawback are the shadowy trail maps.