Ron LeMasterUltimate Skiing

Good resource

I really liked this book. The author speaks from decades of experience, competently discusses the details of the angles and forces involved in skiing, explains many common skiing faults and how to fix them, describes quite a few exercises to help you improve your technique, and includes many stunning color montages of skiers to back up his points.I read the Kindle version on my color iPad mini, and absolutely loved zooming in on the beautiful color montages to see the fine points. My guess is that reading it on a color iPad is a better experience than reading a physical book.I had a few minor quibbles about how the author presented the vector components of gravity as it acted on the center of mass of the skier, probably because of all those force diagrams that I had to draw in university physics class. But since I imagine the average reader will quickly skip over the details of such force diagrams, I don't think any real harm was done. I just think there were better, more technically accurate ways of presenting the forces in some of the diagrams.I also thought the Kindle version would have been better if hyperlinks had been provided for the various picture and figure references that referred to various places in the book. I ended up using the Kindle search facility to search for the referenced figure number in lieu of a more convenient hyperlink, which worked almost as well.Overall, I thought this was a superb piece of work, written by an author who has an obvious deep knowledge and love of the sport. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more about skiing. I think this book will become a classic in the field, if it is not already.

I purchased this book in preparation for my 4th ski trip in 25 years (read: I'm not an expert). Many reviews led me to believe that the book was better suited for experienced skiers, but it seemed there weren't many great e-books available for my target audience. I'm happy I chose this one. The book is technical and VERY detailed. I have a technical type mind/personality (tinkering/angles/technology come relatively easy to me). I was able to grasp all of the concepts in the book from a technical perspective (most of which have to do with force and angles) and was curious as to if my limited experience would allow me to use them on the mountain.Well I skied like I've never skied before. I wouldn't say it made me an expert, but it certainly increased my comfort on blue runs, allowed me to understand how the way I positioned my body altered the way the skis interacted with the snow, and gave me a good idea of how all of my (rental) equipment should fit/feel. I feel like this book absolutely made my trip at least twice as enjoyable (if not more). It made me wish I lived much closer to some snow so that I could continue to work on my skills. If I could have just let go of my fear of falling, I could have done even better.If you've been skiing a few times and you're comfortable with the difference between the force of gravity and centrifugal force and can visualize what a 45 degree angle looks like in your head, pick up the book. If all that was Greek to you, this might not be the book for you.

Ron LeMaster does it again, offering clear and concise breakdown of skiing techniques for modern-shaped skis as well as the photo montages of World Cup skiers that he is best known for. Each chapter includes exercises for developing and practicing the techniques discussed. Although the author considers this book a second edition of his earlier work, The Skier's Edge, the material has been revised significantly, including new sections on tactics and techniques for ice, moguls, powder and steeps, augmented with vibrant full-color photos. It is a perfect book to add to your collection.This book is organized into three parts. Part I covers fundamentals of skiing mechanics. LeMaster cleverly uses relatively simple language supported by sketches and photography to discuss forces, pressure and momentum, interaction of skis with the snow, and phases and types of turns. Part II, entitled Techniques reviews the movements to create effective reactions to forces while skiing. This section opens with a chapter on alignment and stance then goes on to discuss fundamental movements such as fore and aft, up and down, rotary, edging, and lateral balancing, closing with a chapter on boot fit and alignment. Part III examines real-world skiing in powder, steeps, moguls, and ice.What makes LeMaster's books unique are the size and clarity of sketches, as well as the variety of large and full-color photos of expert skiers and World Cup races. Moreover, the book not only provides crisp discussion on modern skiing techniques but offers teaching methodologies and exercises. Although, mostly supported by photographs for the advanced skiers, it is easy to apply the concepts to skiers at any level. I highly recommend this book.