Book Review: Deep – The Story of Skiing and the Future of Snow

As rafters, we are in tune to the water cycle, particularly the liquid portion of this cycle. As guides, we are all closely tied to this cycle and fall in synch with it. Rafters are as dependent on a consistent snowpack in the summer as the skiers are in the winter. We spend our winters watching the snow pile up and talking about how this will affect our rafting season.  We then spend our summer hoping for a big snow year providing a season of face shots.  This is probably why I was drawn to the book Deep: The Story of Skiing and the Future of Snow.  The author, Porter Fox, does an amazing job of intertwining riveting and impassioned ski stories together with the story of climate change.  He captures the heart and soul of skiing answering the question: why do people give up everything to devote their lives to it? The passion that he describes is easily translatable to the world of rafting and kayaking.

This book hit home for us here at Winding Waters and we thought it would do the same with many of you.  So if you are looking for a new winter book to help keep you awake past 8:00pm we highly recommend this one.   This book was independently published with funds raised through a Kickstarter Campaign.  They raised $28,807 from 439 backers enabling them to publish the book and go on a promotional book tour.

Check out this Video about the book:

Deep- Part 1 The West – Broadband from deepthebook on Vimeo.

More Official Book Review (from the Deepthebook.com Blog):
In his stunning first book, veteran ski writer Porter Fox captures the 8,000-year-old sport of skiing, the miracle of snow and the shocking truth of how climate change could wipe out both in the next 75 years.

The narrative follows the unlikely rise of skiing from prehistoric Norwegian hunters to nobility in the Alps in the 1800s to present-day freeriders on the vaunted slopes of the Rocky Mountains. On his global tour of the most celebrated mountains in the Northern Hemisphere—from Washington’s Cascade Range to the European Alps—Fox talks to alpinists about the allure and mysticism of the sport and to scientists about climate change and its effect on snow—ultimately finding a story that is far larger than the demise of skiing.

For the seven million skiers in America who dedicate their winters to tracking storms and waking up at dawn to catch the first chairlift, the lifestyle change will be radical. It will likely be far worse for the rest of the world. Fox uses primary interviews and evidence, mixed with groundbreaking scientific studies, to explain exactly how and when the Great Melt will play out—and the tremendous groundswell that is rising up to stop it. DEEP provides firsthand accounts from skiers and scientists, who are mapping a way to mitigate climate change, reduce human impact on our planet and repair the water cycle. As it turns out, their efforts to save snow and ice might end up saving the world.