Top Books to Prepare You for That Ski Holiday

For most winter sports aficionados renting chalets in Morzine (or any other snow resort), their holiday will be more about hands-on practice on the slopes than an indoor activity such as reading. Still, on those days when sore muscles, a raging blizzard or some other factor curtail indulgence in their preferred activity, holidaymakers may want to be equipped with something to kill time. And in this respect, few things are better than a good book.

Even if the weather is fair all throughout their holiday, few skiers will deny that the idea of curling up by the fire inside their cosy chalets in Morzine and reading a good yarn is an appealing one. And since you have decided to devote the entirety of your holiday to skiing and/or snowboarding, why not go all the way and make your choice of book centre around those sports as well?

Top reading for snow enthusiasts

Fortunately for winter sport buffs wanting to take books about their hobby with them to their chalets in Morzine, there is plenty of variety in this field to choose from. Those wishing to read a more technical book – on how to improve their skill, for instance – can pick up something like Harold Harb’s Essentials Of Skiing: The Fastest Way To Master The Slopes, which is written by the eponymous Harb, a skiing instructor who came up with his own system, which he shares in the book. In this category, Ron LeMaster’s Ultimate Skiing is also a good choice.

Those, on the other hand, who are more interested in ski culture than in anything having to do with technique will also find that the offer of books in the snow sports section of the library or bookstore also caters to their tastes. There are numerous books, for instance, on the culture of ‘ski bums’ (the skiing world’s version of hippies), such as Jeremy Evans’ In Search Of Powder: A Story Of America’s Disappearing Ski Bum, or Wayne Sheldrake’s Instant Karma: The Heart And Soul Of A Ski Bum. White Planet: A Mad Dash Through Modern Global Ski Culture, by Leslie Anthony, gives a more global overview of ski culture, while Two Planks And A Passion: The Dramatic Story Of Skiing is exactly what it says on the cover – an anthropological approach to the sport, starting 20.000 years before the present day and encompassing everything in between!

Winter holidaymakers seeking something not specifically ski-related but still within the domain of snow and mountains, to read in their chalets in Morzine, will not go wrong with any of Joe Simpson or Aron Ralston’s books, although they should be careful not to let the mountaineers’ harrowing experiences dampen their spirit.

There is plenty of winter-sport-related material to choose from; just pop by your local library, bookstore or even charity shop, and you will most likely find something to suit you.

Liz Olkowicz is the Business Development Manager for Ski and Summer Morzine, a tour operator, based in Surrey, offering tailor-made holidays in chalets in Morzine. Morzine is the perfect location from which to explore the French Alps, so for a great-value Alpine holiday, call us.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.