XC skiing books for Christmas
- 4 (Sheridan)
Date first posted on eCommunity - 9
November 2008
TALES OF A CROSS-COUNTRY SKIER
By Guy Sheridan
Oxford Illustrated Press (1987)
ISBN-10: 0946609470
ISBN-13: 978-0946609475
This book is currently out of print but you can find used copies on
www.amazon.co.uk for a couple of pounds - cheap for a hardcover book
with 186 pages and eight colour plates.
The book has nine chapters. The first three recount the author's
early experiences of cross-country skiing. Guy Sheridan joined the
Royal Marines in 1960 and learned to ski while serving in northern
From arctic warfare exercises he graduated to ski
racing,
biathlon and ski-orienteering, in all of which he competed at a high
level.
His ski races took place in Scandinavia and the Alps. But during
much of his racing career he was actually stationed in the Middle
East, in Dhofar, and a lot of his training was therefore done
on "dryland" and involved long runs and incongruous ski-ganging
sessions on the hot and dusty hills near his base.
In spite of this handicap he became a good enough skier to have
Olympic aspirations and he achieved some very good results in World
Championship events. But he failed to win selection for the 1972
Olympics in Sapporo.
His interest in racing then faded - to be
replaced by a passion for long-distance ski touring in remote
locations. The last six chapters of the book describe some of his
tours.
First, in February 1977, comes a 500 kilometre traverse of the
Zagros Mountains of Iran. On this expedition he was accompanied by a
Norwegian friend, Odd Eliassen. The Zagros peaks reach 4,000 metres
altitude and the skiers enjoyed good snow almost all the way, in
spite of their proximity to the Persian Gulf.
Encouraged by their success in Iran, Sheridan and
Eliassen then
turned their attention to the
Himalayas. In late February 1981,
together with a second Norwegian, Erik Boehlke, they set off on a
600 kilometre route through the western ranges, from Kashmir to
Zanskar. Serious avalanche risk caused them to shorten the intended
route, which would have taken about forty days. The amended route
took "just" thirty.
In the next couple of years Sheridan
undertook tours that were less
challenging, but which stayed faithful to his preference for off the
beaten track locations. In Iceland he made a circuit based on
Landmannalaugar. In the USA he toured in Nevada and California.
Then, in 1985, he embarked on a very ambitious 1500 km traverse of
the Selwyn Mountains in the Yukon.
With material like this the book should have been an international
best-seller - especially as the publisher's timing was impeccable.
The book came out in 1987 at a time when cross-country skiing was
riding a wave of popularity in English-speaking countries. Citizen
racing (as well as elite racing) in the US was at a high point. And
on both sides of the Atlantic there was huge interest in touring,
boosted by the rediscovery of the telemark turn. The new skiers
were hungry for reading material - Vic Bein's classic
volume "Mountain Skiing" was reprinted five times in seven years. So
Sheridan's book should have flown off the shelves.
But it never quite lived up to its promise. One reason for this,
perhaps the main reason, is that it is not an easy read. The early
chapters are spoiled by the inclusion of much unnecessary detail, a
problem made worse by the author's penchant for long sentences
linking one subordinate clause after another. The later chapters
contain fantastic dramatic potential. The locations are exotic. The
routes are challenging. The skiers are beset in turn by bureaucratic
delays, logistical problems, illness, injury, personal tragedy, bad
weather, avalanche danger, faulty equipment and - on one occasion -
wrongful arrest. More confident writers would have feasted on this
kind of stuff. But Sheridan usually settles for a workaday sort of
narrative that seldom does justice to the story.
To be fair, there is a lot of good material in the book and careful
readers will learn much about technique, training, clothing,
equipment and survival. And any reader with even a slight interest
in touring will come away with renewed motivation to bring the skis
down from the attic and get them ready for the mountains.
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