Winter Playgrounds

by Eric Hanson

A celebration of skiing's great resorts in Europe and America. Chapters devoted to Norway, New England, Aspen, Taos, Sun Valley, Alta, Mürren, St. Moritz, Gstaad, St. Anton, and other destinations. Each classic resort described in the era that made it famous. Other chapters devoted to great runs, fashion, aprés ski, the mogul, the ski instructor and other icons.

Unknown Binding

About the author

At age seven, ERIC HANSON read a biography of Kit Carson and has been interested in famous lives ever since. He grew up to be a writer and illustrator whose artwork has appeared in The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Harper’s, the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Travel & Leisure, and Gourmet, among other publications. His fiction and satire have been published in McSweeney’s, the Atlantic, Smithsonian and elsewhere.

Reviews

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote this ten years ago, after twenty years spent traveling and writing for Skiing magazine, but it remains pretty good reading, I think.

Unlike most books written about the sport today, this doesn't tell you how to ski or what equipment to buy or where to eat or where to stay. It's about why we do it. A history of the culture that's grown up around the sport.

The sensation of new powder at Alta, of the first chair ride up Ajax. The mystique of Taos. The rivalry between Gstaad and St. Moritz. The definition of "gemutlicheit." The evolution of the mogul. The invention of the ski instructor as a social type. The special aroma of ski towns (a mixture of woodsmoke, ski wax and suntan lotion.) The glamour attached to runs with dangerous names.