The Fall Line: America's Rise to Ski Racing's Summit
By Ralph Waldo Emerson & Nathaniel Vinton
- Release Date: 2015-02-02
- Genre: Winter Sports
Description
“Great sports writing. . . . [Vinton] is taking us inside a world few ever visit.”—James Hill, Washington Post
Harnessing nature’s most powerful forces, elite downhillers descend icy, rugged slopes at speeds cresting 90 miles per hour. For decades, American skiers struggled to match their European counterparts, and until this century the US Ski Team could not claim a lasting foothold on the roof of the Alps, where the sport’s legends are born.
Then came a fledgling class of American racers that disrupted the Alpine racing world order. Led by Bode Miller and Lindsey Vonn, Julia Mancuso and Ted Ligety, this band of iconoclasts made a place for their country on some of the world’s most prestigious race courses. Even as new technology amplified the sport’s inherent danger, the US Ski Team learned how to win, and they changed downhill racing forever.
The Fall Line is the story of how it all came together, a deeply reported reconstruction of ski racing’s most dramatic season. Drawing on more than a decade of research and candid interviews with some of the sport’s most elusive figures, award-winning journalist Nathaniel Vinton reveals the untold story of how skiers like Vonn and Miller, and their peers and rivals, fought for supremacy at the Olympic Winter Games.
Here is an authoritative portrait of a group of men and women taking mortal risks in a bid for sporting glory. A white-knuckled tour through skiing’s deep traditions and least-accessible locales, The Fall Line opens up the sexy, high-stakes world of downhill skiing—its career-ending crashes, million-dollar sponsorship deals, international intrigue, and showdowns with nature itself.
With views from the starting gate, the finish line, and treacherous turns in between, The Fall Line delivers the adrenaline of one of the world’s most beautiful and perilous sports alongside a panoramic view of skiing’s past, present, and future.
Reviews
Wow! Great read for old and young
5By McmancheBThis was a great read! I raced as a Jr. and now that my kids are learning to ski, I wanted to get caught up on ski racing. This book was fun to read, the author really brought out the excitement of racing. So much so, I signed up to race masters. And yes I raced my first slalom in 26 yrs the other day. Best part, my kids loved seeing there dad in the gates. Amazing how a book can get you pumped up and excited. Thanks.
