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A history of the events that make up the skiing portion of the Winter Olympic Games since they began in 1924, highlighting great athletes and moments. ... Read more

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Ten years of research has provided a monumental record of one of the most dangerous, exhilarating and amazing sports ever undertaken!Harold "Cork" Anson has given ski jumping its first comprehensive record of over a century of the sport.Taking the reader from European and US beginnings in the 1880s through 125 years, he follows the top echelon from east to west coasts, and into Canada.The evolution of jumping hills, style and technology, charts of tournament results, and historic photographs are woven around skiers' personal moments of agony and ecstasy, triumph and tragedy, Olympic prowess and failures. The advent of women jumpers, and the prospects for the future of the sport bring the book to the brink of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, B.C. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

biography Gretchen Fraser
This is what the U.S. ski team needs-- someone like Gretchen Fraser.

Biography of an American ski racer and humanitarian
This is a book for any aspiring Olympian.It tells of the early days of skiing in thr United States up to the present time.If you love skiing, ski history, and the people who made the sport, this is a good read.It has won two awards and is the only book published on the life of Gretchen Fraser, America's first gold medalist in Olympic skiing. It's written by multi-award winning ski writer, Luanne Pfeifer of Sun Valley. ... Read more

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Tracks of Passion traces the story of Eastern Sierra skiing from its beginnings in the 1930s with early rope tows outside sleepy towns along Highway 395 to the development of Mammoth Mountain. In the 1960s Dave McCoy's vision for a family-fun ski resort expanded as his personally-trained racers competede internationally and his children raced in the Olympics. With more than a half-century of McCoy's leadership, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area eventually encompasses 27 lifts and a gondola, lodgings, and amenities for skiers. An enthusiastic staff of dedicated mavericks ran ski lifts, ski patrol, and ski school each winter and built lifts each summer. Turning over the reins in 2005 at the age of 90, Dave McCoy summed up his career saying "It wasn't a job, it was a love affair." ... Read more

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The story of the 1960 Olympic Winter Games is the saga of the highly improbable that became the wildly successful. Within it are compelling personal stories of underdogs that become unlikely champions, American ingenuity and heroism for team and country. The inspiring story includes a promise kept to a dying loved one, brash stars that falter in the glare of a world spotlight and risky strategies that payoff with golden results. Snowball’s Chance – The Story of the 1960 Olympic Winter Games contains the only complete account of the preparations, pageantry, ceremonies, competitions and epilogues of the historic VIII Olympic Winter Games at Squaw Valley and Lake Tahoe.

We see elaborate Olympic pageantry in the ceremonies and venue decorations instilled by the creative force of Pageantry Chairman Walt Disney. The “Miracle of Squaw Valley” astonishes spectators during the opening ceremonies. For the only time in Olympic history, the venues and athlete residence halls are located in a compact intimate setting that encourages sportsmanship and socializing among nations. The underdog American ice hockey team becomes the “Team of Destiny” by fighting to capture their country’s first gold medal. American figure skaters Carol Heiss and David Jenkins sweep gold in the individual events. Well-trained Soviet and Scandinavian athletes dominate the speed skating and cross-country events. German skiers make surprise upsets in the Nordic combined and ski jumping contests. Read “you are there” accounts of all events and official results. CBS-TV is there to capture the most exciting moments and make groundbreaking live broadcasts to American audiences.

Included are 80-plus photographs by official photographer Bill Briner and others showing historic Olympic venues and athletes in the heat of competition.

Author David C. Antonucci has a passion for winter sports and the history of the VIII Olympic Winter Games. He lives at Lake Tahoe near the site of the VIII Olympic Winter Games cross-country skiing and biathlon venue. He frequently lectures on the 1960 Winter Olympics, Mark Twain at Lake Tahoe and Lake Tahoe natural history.

Table of contents, introduction, women’s individual figure skating chapter and list of illustrations are available at www.TahoeFacts.com. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Illuminates a Forgotten Footnote
This is a nostalgic but rather rudimentary account of one of the `forgotten Games of Olympic history'--the 1960 Winter Games in Squaw Valley, California. Of the various modern era Olympics staged in North America, Squaw Valley 1960 has long since been overshadowed by Los Angeles 1984, Atlanta 1996, Salt Lake 2002 and recently, Vancouver 2010. Some fifty years later, author David Antonucci brings this little known chapter to life as a legitimate piece of sports and California history.

We view and enjoy the Olympics today as behemoth spectacles. As the title indicates, it's primarily a study of the American spirit...of how one man's (developer Alexander Cushing) dream of hosting a Winter Olympics in order to boost his almost non-existent ski resort, overcame the overwhelming odds of such a quest.Hosting the Olympics--and the Winter more so than the Summer--are considered the traditional bailiwick of the Europeans.However, in 1954-1955, Cushing dared to challenge this tradition by offering to host the Games half a world away.And that he succeeded so winningly is the crux of the book.

"Snowball's Chance" takes the reader back to what were the first televised `live' (Winter) Games shown in the United States--thus also making it one of the last `you-had-to-be-there' Olympic Games.One learns how the Organizing Committee was able to dispense with building an (unnecessary and expensive) luge and bobsled track but forgot to inform the Greek Olympic Committee that it wanted a lighting of the flame at Olympia.And one discovers that Squaw Valley '60 was also the first Olympics to employ a professional showman, Walt Disney, to spice up the whole look and feel of the Games with a Hollywood touch.

Although held in a quaint California Sierra valley at the end of the Eisenhower era, the Winter Games were apparently on the verge of becoming a gargantuan undertaking even then.Visually, it's a very threadbare tome but the detailed accounts more than make up for that.If you are truly into Olympic history, I would recommend this book as a worthy addition to your library.

Entertaining account of a hugely successful Winter Olympic Games
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. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Encyclopedia of Recreation and Leisure in America, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 1830 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.From rodeos to quilting bees, stickball to stock car racing, American pastimes comprise a broad range of activities. The two-volume Encyclopedia of Recreation and Leisure in America provides a comprehensive survey of these activities from the Colonial era to the present. This title examines how the pursuit of leisure has changed over time, reflecting shifting social, cultural, political and economic trends in the United States. Particular attention is paid to how leisure activities have varied by region, class, ethnicity, gender and age. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Encyclopedia of Recreation and Leisure in America, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 1694 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.From rodeos to quilting bees, stickball to stock car racing, American pastimes comprise a broad range of activities. The two-volume Encyclopedia of Recreation and Leisure in America provides a comprehensive survey of these activities from the Colonial era to the present. This title examines how the pursuit of leisure has changed over time, reflecting shifting social, cultural, political and economic trends in the United States. Particular attention is paid to how leisure activities have varied by region, class, ethnicity, gender and age. ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Margarita Marbler, Andreas Matt, Katharina Gutensohn, Thomas Zangerl, Karin Huttary, Markus Wittner, Patrick Koller. Not illustrated. Excerpt: Margarita Marbler (born July 16, 1975) is an Austrian freestyle moguls skier, originally from Russia. She's been included in three Winter Olympic Games; at Salt Lake City, Turin and Vancouver. She has competed in both the Moguls and Dual Moguls event, as well as the Acrobatics and Aerials events. Marbler uses Elan skis, Dalbello Boots and Exel ski poles. Marbler made her debut at the International Youth Championship event on March 6, 1994 in Laajavuori, Finland in both the Aerials and Moguls event. That same December, she made her first World Cup start in Tignes, France. Marbler finally broke through with a her first podium in 1999, finishing second at a Moguls event in Japan. Her best World Championships result was third in 2005 and 2007, at Rukatunturi and Madonna di Campiglio respectively. Marbler has made it to the Winter Olympics three times, all in the Moguls event. She made her Olympic debut in 2002 at the Salt Lake City Olympics. She ultimately finished in tenth place there. Marbler could not improve on her tenth place finish four years later in Turin, placing seventeenth. She was able to improve on her Salt Lake City result with her Olympic best result, finishing eighth. Marbler was born in Russia, but became an Austrian citizen following her marriage with her husband Harald in 1995. Harald is also Margarita's coach. Her hobbies include watching television, playing with her Gameboys and knitting. 7 victories (6 Moguls, 1 Dual Moguls) ... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=26340458 ... Read more