Unique book captures the thoughts of ski instructors

Since the 1930s, when Alpine skiing first hit the American slopes, ski instructors have enjoyed near celebrity status. However, like any other profession, there's a lot more to it than meets the eye.

Writer and professional ski instructor, Allen R. Smith, has put together an entertaining collection of stories from ski professionals titled "Ski Instructors Confidential: The Stories Ski Instructors Swap Back at the Lodge." The book includes more than 150 stories from some of the most experienced ski teachers across the country, including those in the Lake Tahoe region.

From Alaska to Vermont, the contributors to "Ski Instructors Confidential" share their best stories, representing hundreds of years of teaching experience. Divided into seven chapters, the book celebrates the sport of skiing from the instructor's point of view. In addition to chapters on ski school lessons and fashion, the book pokes fun at overcoming the forces of gravity, putting up with cantankerous kids and wrestling with ski equipment.

Smith lives in Vail, Colo., where he works a variety of jobs, including one as a ski instructor. The book's foreword was written by ski filmmaker Warren Miller.

"Ski Instructors Confidential: The Stories Ski Instructors Swap Back at the Lodge"

What: Skiing book

Author: Allen R. Smith

Purchasing info: The book was released last February through Classic Day/Peanut Butter Publishing based in Seattle. To purchase a copy, contact the author at www.snowwriter.com or by calling 1-800-201-7892, ext. 97. You can also buy the book at Neighbors in South Lake Tahoe or on the North Shore at the Bookshelf At The Boatworks in Tahoe City.



Those early days of cinema

Editors' note: This is the first of several excerpts from "Ski Instructors Confidential" that will be published in the Tahoe Daily Tribune over the next few months. While we look to print those stories from instructors who worked in the Lake Tahoe region, we will also print some of the other appealing stories found in the book.



Long before Alpine skiing took off for the masses, I used to film my friends' rudimentary attempts at skiing. In the evenings over beer, we would gather around the projector and kibitz each other's futile attempts at staying upright.

Soon, another unknown ski photographer named Warren Miller starting making his own 8-millimeter films with more commercial aspirations. Some of Warren's early attempts at filmmaking were primitive, at best.

It was not uncommon for his films to have overexposed frames and scenes where the camera moved around with a large thumb in the corner of the screen. So, before he went out on the road to present his films to paying customers, he would show them to his friends. This gave him the opportunity to get feedback and allowed him to practice his narration.

Film was also expensive in the 1940s, so Warren tried to use as much of the raw footage as possible, discarding little. Instead of tossing unused footage in the trash, he would work it into his presentation and gloss it over with witty dialogue. Aware that I had made some early ski films of my own, Warren came up to me after one of his screenings and asked, "Wolfgang, what did you think about the film? I only had to discard 35 feet of footage."

I looked at him and said, "Yes. That's the problem."



-- Wolfgang Lert

San Francisco, California