Winter Sports

Mind Gym : An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence

Drawing on his work with some of the top teams in professional sports, noted sport psychology consultant Gary Mack shares with you the same techniques and exercises he uses to help elite athletes build mental "muscle." These 40 accessible lessons and inspirational anecdotes will help you gain the "head edge" over the competition.

Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills

This sixth revised edition of the mountaineering classic is an essential reference for novices and experts alike. Chapters are devoted to in-depth discussions of outdoors fundamentals; climbing techniques for rock, snow, and ice; safety procedures and emergency response; geology and weather; and appendices for climb ratings and supplementary reading, among other topics. Detailed sections on navigation, ropes, knots, and protection include drawings, diagrams, and maps. Enjoy the freedom of the hills to the fullest with this thorough guide.

The "climber's bible"--now updated in a new 7th edition

From choosing equipment to how to tie a particular knot; from basic rappelling technique to planning an expedition; it's all here in this essential mountaineering reference.

· More than 500,000 copies sold in previous editions
· Written by a team of more than 40 experts
· Fully revised to reflect evolution in mountaineering equipment and technique
· Expanded Ten Essentials list
· All 415 illustrations updated and redrawn
· New chapters on: waterfall ice climbing and mixed climbing, physical conditioning, access and land stewardship, and much more
· Now includes a glossary of climbing terms

Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod

Fueled by a passion for running dogs, Gary Paulsen entered the Iditarod--the 1150-mile winter sled-dog race between Anchorage and Nome-- in dangerous ignorance and with a fierce determination. Winterdance is his account of this seventeen-day battle against Nature's worst elements and his own frailty.

Paulsen and his team of dogs endured snowstorms, frostbite, dogfights, moose attacks, sleeplessness, and hallucinations in the relentless push to go on. Map and color photographs.

Complete Krav Maga: The Ultimate Guide to Over 230 Self-Defense and Combative Techniques

Developed for the Israel military forces and battle tested in real-life combat, Krav Maga has gained an international reputation as an easy-to-learn yet highly effective art of self-defense. Clearly written and extensively illustrated, Complete Krav Maga details every aspect of the system including dozens of hand-to-hand combat moves, over 20 weapons defense techniques and a complete physical conditioning workout program.

All the moves are described in depth from beginning Yellow Belt to advanced Black Belt, yet they are easy to learn because one of Krav Maga's strengths is its simplicity. Based on the principle that it is best to move from defense to attack as quickly as possible, Complete Krav Maga offers fast-escape maneuvers from attacks and holds. It then follows them up with specific counterattacks, including punches, kicks and throws.

The authors show how anyone (big or small, man or woman) can practice self defense by using Krav Maga to protect weak spots, exploit an assailant's vulnerabilities and turn the attacker s force against him. Complete Krav Maga teaches the reader how to get in shape, gain confidence and feel safer and more secure every day.

Curling For Dummies

With the Winter 2006 Olympics bringing Canada our first gold medal in curling, the sport's popularity is at an all-time high in this country, and its international presence is growing. In the five years since the publication of the first edition of Curling For Dummies, Canadian attendance at curling tournaments and viewership of televised curling has skyrocketed. Twenty new nations have joined the World Curling Federation.

Curling’s profile isn't the only thing that's changed since the first edition was published — so too have the game's rules, equipment, and technique. Profiles of players, listings of television coverage and events, and memorable curling shots also need to be updated for the second edition. As the most comprehensive and up-to-date book available, Curling For Dummies will remain the ultimate curling book, for fans, players, and coaches.

Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain

114060 Features: Equip yourself with the knowledge of what to do in case of a backcountry avalanche with this handy and helpful resource Put your trust in Bruce Tremper's knowledge; Tremper is the director of the Forest Service Utah Avalanche Center; all chapters have been edited by peer experts Specifications: Pages: 304 Edition: 2nd Jacket: paperback ISBN-13: 9781594850844 Publisher: The Mountaineers Books

Arctic Labyrinth: The Quest for the Northwest Passage

The elusive dream of locating the Northwest Passage--an ocean route over the top of North America that promised a shortcut to the fabulous wealth of Asia--obsessed explorers for centuries. While global warming has brought several such routes into existence, until recently these channels were hopelessly choked by impassible ice. Voyagers faced unimaginable horrors--entire ships crushed, mass starvation, disabling frostbite, even cannibalism--in pursuit of a futile goal. In Arctic Labyrinth, Glyn Williams charts the entire sweep of this extraordinary history, from the tiny, woefully equipped vessels of the first Tudor expeditions to the twentieth-century ventures that finally opened the Passage. Williams's thrilling narrative delves into private letters and journals to expose the gritty reality behind the often self-serving accounts of those in charge. An important work of maritime history and exploration--and as exciting a tale of heroism and fortitude as readers will find--Arctic Labyrinth is also a remarkable study in human delusion.

The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition

Melding superb research and the extraordinary expedition photography of Frank Hurley, The Endurance by Caroline Alexander is a stunning work of history, adventure, and art which chronicles "one of the greatest epics of survival in the annals of exploration." Setting sail as World War I broke out in Europe, the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, led by renowned polar explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton, hoped to become the first to cross the Antarctic continent. But their ship, Endurance, was trapped in the drifting pack ice, eventually to splinter, leaving the expedition stranded on floes--a situation that seemed "not merely desperate but impossible."

Most skillfully Alexander constructs the expedition's character through its personalities--the cast of veteran explorers, scientists, and crew--with aid from many previously unavailable journals and documents. We learn, for instance, that carpenter and shipwright Henry McNish, or "Chippy," was "neither sweet-tempered nor tolerant," and that Mrs. Chippy, his cat, was "full of character." Such firsthand descriptions, paired with 170 of Frank Hurley's intimate photographs, which are comprehensively assembled here for the first time, penetrate the hulls of the Endurance and these tough men. The account successfully reveals the seldom-seen domestic world of expedition life--the singsongs, feasts, lectures, camaraderie--so that when the hardships set in, we know these people beyond the stereotypical guise of mere explorers and long for their safety.

Alexander reveals Shackleton as an inspiring optimist, "a leader who put his men first." Throughout the grueling ordeal, Shackleton and his men show what endurance and greatness are all about. The Endurance is a most intimate portrait of an expedition and of survival. Readers will possess a newfound respect for these daring souls, know better their unthinkable toil and half-forgotten realm of glory. --Byron Ricks

In August 1914, days before the outbreak of the First World War, the renowned explorer Ernest Shackleton and a crew of twenty-seven set sail for the South Atlantic in pursuit of the last unclaimed prize in the history of exploration: the first crossing on foot of the Antarctic continent. Weaving a treacherous path through the freezing Weddell Sea, they had come within eighty-five miles of their destination when their ship, Endurance, was trapped fast in the ice pack. Soon the ship was crushed like matchwood, leaving the crew stranded on the floes. Their ordeal would last for twenty months, and they would make two near-fatal attempts to escape by open boat before their final rescue.

Drawing upon previously unavailable sources, Caroline Alexander gives us a riveting account of Shackleton's expedition--one of history's greatest epics of survival. And she presents the astonishing work of Frank Hurley, the Australian photographer whose visual record of the adventure has never before been published comprehensively. Together, text and image re-create the terrible beauty of Antarctica, the awful destruction of the ship, and the crew's heroic daily struggle to stay alive, a miracle achieved largely through Shackleton's inspiring leadership.

The survival of Hurley's remarkable images is scarcely less miraculous: The original glass plate negatives, from which most of the book's illustrations are superbly reproduced, were stored in hermetically sealed cannisters that survived months on the ice floes, a week in an open boat on the polar seas, and several more months buried in the snows of a rocky outcrop called Elephant Island. Finally Hurley was forced to abandon his professional equipment; he captured some of the most unforgettable images of the struggle with a pocket camera and three rolls of Kodak film.

Published in conjunction with the American Museum of Natural History's landmark exhibition on Shackleton's journey, The Endurance thrillingly recounts one of the last great adventures in the Heroic Age of exploration--perhaps the greatest of them all.

Gabby: Confessions of a Hockey Lifer

Bruce Boudreau is living a hockey Cinderella story. After more than three decades in the minor leagues as a player and coach, he was promoted to head coach of the Washington Capitals in 2007. Boudreau revived the Caps, written off as dead, to a division championship and received the Jack Adams award as the National Hockey League’s Coach of the Year in June 2008.

His story is an entertaining odyssey of triumph, disappointment, and perseverance, stretching from Toronto to Washington. As a pro rookie, Boudreau had a cameo appearance in Slap Shot with star Paul Newman. Today Boudreau coaches superstar Alexander Ovechkin and a young Washington club poised to become an elite NHL team vying for the Stanley Cup.

Boudreau stole the limelight at the 2008 NHL Awards Show with his self-deprecating and folksy manner, which has made him a popular personality at every stop he’s made. Hockey fans know there’s only one Boudreau.

The Boys of Winter: The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team

The Story of the Greatest Sports Moment of the Twentieth Century

Once upon a time, they taught us to believe. They were the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, a blue-collar bunch led by an unconventional coach, and they engineered what Sports Illustrated called the greatest sports moment of the twentieth century. Their “Miracle on Ice” has become a national fairy tale, but the real Cinderella story is even more remarkable.

Wayne Coffey casts a fresh eye on this seminal sports event, giving readers an ice-level view of the amateurs who took on a Russian hockey juggernaut at the height of the Cold War. He details the unusual chemistry of the Americans—formulated by their fiercely determined coach, Herb Brooks—and seamlessly weaves portraits of the boys with the fluid action of the game itself. Coffey also traces the paths of the players and coaches since their stunning victory, examining how the Olympic events affected their lives.

Told with warmth and an uncanny eye for detail, The Boys of Winter is an intimate, perceptive portrayal of one Friday night in Lake Placid and the enduring power of the extraordinary.


Also available as an eBook