Review - Ski Skills - Top tips for expert skiing
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Review - Ski Skills - Top tips for expert skiing, by Andrzej Peszek
Ski Skills: Top tips for expert skiing is a book addressed to intermediate skiers looking for more information and to move to 'expert skiing'. It does have some information but lacks concrete instructions and is not as packed with exercises and training ideas as it says it is... in short, something of a popularization book you'd read in the airplane to the next ski vacation. If you pick a book to read at the beginning of every ski vacation, this could be one.
The book starts with a fitness section, which is quite limited, but valuable nevertheless. Indeed, too many skiers skip the fitness aspect, leading to injuries and dissatisfaction. In this day of the youtube it is hard to compete with the amount of fitness vids, especially inside a book, but the insistence on basic fitness and balance exercises is a good one.
Quite honestly, the section on "new carving style" and shaped skis is quite boring. You'd have to have lived in a cave or be half brain dead no to know about these by now. Especially for a book published in 2011...
There's a short section on equipment, but limited to skis only - forgot to mention the boots, which most experts agree are more important than the skis. Nevertheless, it does present some useful information.
The technical section contains some information, but no progression. I think the book is right to say it contains tips, because it is a collection of disparate things about good skiing.
Many (especially as a race coach) would disagree with some of the technical elements presented (such as no counter), but nothing extremely controversial is here. The guy, while out of alignment and with some easily corrected stance issues, can ski quite well - in the photos.
I do like the section at the end, on injuries. Not something you probably want to be reading during the annual ski trip, but it does try to get across very good points: don't think you're invincible just because you wear a helmet and that some basic fitness can help avoid a lot of serious injuries.
If you spend less than 5 days on snow per season, I would rate this a 4 star. The book is probably worth buying as something to read before a ski trip, if you haven't read much about skiing. However, if you buy it at the airport, it's too late for the fitness section :).
If you spend more than 5-10 days on snow and are really interested in advanced skiing, then I rate it a 2 stars: there is a ton more information in Total Skiing and for technique, in Essentials of Skiing.
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