*a.k.a. ski writer Patrick Thorne
J2Ski has always tried to bring you ski news from around the world, as well as the main stories from famous resorts, over the past decade or so. It should be no surprise therefore that the new book from our news editor, Patrick "The Snow Hunter" Thorne, aka "J2SkiNews", should be a collection of ski runs around the planet - where each has an interesting tale for you to ponder as you ski down it.
"Around The World in 50 Slopes", published by Wildfire Books at £16.99, takes skiers on a journey between ski runs located in 30 countries across six continents and is now available to buy in book stores and online.
Patrick, whose last book "Powder, The World's 50 Greatest Ski Runs", topped Amazon's ski-books best-seller list for over six years, has taken a different approach in choosing his 50 runs for his new book.
"There are lots of lists online covering the world's steepest, most challenging runs and it's normally the usual suspects, but I'm more interested in runs that have a story to them, an added dimension beyond just being great runs. In short, I wanted to compile all the amazing stories I've been collecting over the past four decades," says Patrick.
The runs take us to the world's most northerly and southerly ski areas, to slopes skiable 365 days a year, or on the only slope for thousands of miles in southern Africa, down a volcano in the Andes or under the phenomenal northern lights.
There are slopes connected to James Bond, Franz Klammer, St Patrick, The Beatles, Santa Claus, Jesus Christ, Emperor Hadrian, Kim Jong-un, Count Dracula and even the Greek God Zeus. One run follows the line below the flight of a witch and another a route once popular with smugglers.
Although having famous runs is not a priority, the book does contain the steepest and longest runs, along with several legendary World Cup and Olympic downhill courses.
Some of the runs are important in the history of snow sports, marking key points in the evolution of many of the world's great ski areas, including Mammoth Mountain, St Moritz and the Colorado run where (arguably) the first snowboarding competition took place.
Some of the more serious subjects raised include the development of ski areas to reverse rural depopulation, the battle by indigenous tribes to keep control of their ancestral lands (Several opting to run their own ski areas), the connections between different religions and ski resorts, how former mining communities reinvented themselves thanks to 'white gold', the fight for gay rights, a ski area recovered from the Taliban, how some ski areas developed thanks to the growth of rail networks and even ski areas that developed thanks to mountain warfare training.
The climate emergency is another subject that Patrick, who also runs SaveOurSnow.com, and other skiers have witnessed first-hand. One famous run graphically illustrates the impact of melting glaciers.
But then many of the runs are just simple fun with themes like cheese, love and Christmas.
"The late great ski filmmaker Warren Miller got it spot on when he said his favourite ski run was his next ski run. It doesn't matter if it's the longest or the steepest, if you're a great skier or a novice, so long as you are loving your life in the snow," Patrick concludes.
Each of the 50 slopes includes a fact box and a hand-drawn map with the run's location marked on.
Around The World in 50 Slopes is a 246-page hardback book published by Wildfire Books priced at £16.99 and available now in bookshops and online. The Kindle edition is £8.99.
"Around The World in 50 Slopes" is published by Wildfire Books at £16.99 and is available in all good bookshops and online where there's usually a discount offered. Patrick says he is also happy to sign/dedicate books direct, send a private message to him for more details.
Around the World in 50 Slopes - Hachette website
