extreme skiing

Having just skimmed “The Edge of Never” by Bill Kerig, a quick note of recomendation is in order.  The story explains how Kerig took Kye Peterson to ski the Chamonix run where his big-mountain ski-legend father Trevor Peterson died in an avalanche.

Trevor was a real extreme skiing idol – many aspirant big-mountain skiers emulated his jump turning style as they progressively explored the steeps in the ’90s – watching him in ski films, like Into the Snow Zone and Carving the White, ski big Alaskan shower curtains before it was de rigueur. Trevor died in an avalanche while skiing the Exit Couloir near Chamonix in 1996, when Kye was five.

In part the story of a (so far failed) attempt to make his documentary, Kerig’s book does an excellent job of recounting his own quest to make this documentary about the soul of big mountain skiing.  The idea builds around taking 15-year old Kye to Chamonix, getting him the best training from legendary skiers, his father’s accomplices and professional mountain guides and then climaxes with the ski down the Exit Couloir in less than ideal conditions.  The story and action is gripping and Kerig’s prose heightens the tension. In the end it’s a story of why skiers will risk their lives to ski, but it’s also about why anyone would want to push their boundaries and the freedom they find when they do.

If it does get the funding to be finished… and that’s by no means certain, I’m guessing the movie will play kind of like the Laird Hamilton quest/movie, only the water is frozen?

This is what they say on the website:

The Edge of Never is a nonfiction book that follows the story of a young man, Kye Petersen, who travels to Chamonix, France, to ski the route that killed his famous, big-mountain skiing father, Trevor Petersen. It’s told by a has-been pro skier who joins forces with the late ABC News anchorman, Peter Jennings, to make a documentary film about the event. I set out to write a book that would stay true to mountain culture while offering non-skiers a timeless, human tale.

Here’s what a few reviewers have said about the book:

Transcending the boundaries of sport, the book tells a deeply interpersonal and moving human story. Yet Kerig stays true to the roots and core values that define the culture of skiing.