Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. Powder Days by Heather Hansman is a long good bye letter to the skibum lifestyle. It's not just about the skiing. Hansman tackles climate change, racism, mental health and addiction throughout her book, as well as many other factors that are contributing the sports decline. Parts of it made me miss the sport, parts of it made me very grateful for my warm house. It's not all shiny people, no lift lines and untracked snow.

Great primer on ski culture in the West. I wish it would have been published (so I could have read it) when I first moved to Gunnison in 2013. I think it’s an honest look at ski bumming and it doesn’t try to romanticize seasonal life - often spent in poverty, crappy housing and fueled with alcohol or other substances. Don’t get me wrong, she waxes poetically about skiing too, especially finding deep powder, but I’m glad it addressed some of the issues facing the industry: income inequality, poor treatment in the workplace, lack of affordable housing / general stability, mental health and others. She visited and discussed: Aspen, Alta, Beaver Creek, Jackson Hole, Vail, Silverton and briefly alluded to Crested Butte. I enjoyed this title more than Downriver because that one was denser and this one was more accessible, maybe because I’m a skier and not a rafter. Worth picking up regardless.

This memoir about a "ski bum" was okay at best. At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old "get off my lawn" kind of person, I felt that this book is best suited for readers under the age of 30 who prefer the adventure of getting out and doing whatever feels right. Even with the author's occasional regrets, it is easy to tell that this is the lifestyle for her and while it wasn't the type of book or memoir that I prefer, I give her props for two reasons: one, her chapter on the history of skiing was excellent - the best part of the book for me. Two, it is clear that she is writing from the heart as well as the head and that she has accumulated a wealth of knowledge and experience with many aspects of the sport. I do recommend this for those who live the "ski bum" life or enjoy visits to ski resorts.

Pros:

The descriptions are very well-written, both of the natural landscape and the vibe of the ski towns described. Places you right into the context and conjures the snowy hills beautifully.

I particularly enjoyed the sections on environmental impacts on skiing, and the psychology of skiing and skiers. While not necessarily researched in a traditional manner, the first-hand experiences of so many across a geographically vast community was brought together into a very engaging and cohesive book. It is not a topic I would have sought out in books but I am glad to have read it, for the insight into the past and future of skiing and for the inspiration to find purpose and drive in unexpected places. And I don't believe it's a topic many would initially seek out but I think it's well worth a read.


Cons:

It took until about 1/4 of the way in to really get into this book, the first sections felt drier & less exciting than the latter. A lot of repetition at first - 'this book is about ski bums, there is snow, here are 5 slightly different descriptions of skiing, ski towns, and ski bums'. But a few chapters in the book finds a more solid rhythm, and a more stable balance of information vs memoir.

At times a little overwhelming. There are a LOT of names (people and places). This becomes less daunting as the book goes on and you get used to it - I appreciate that when earlier people are brought back there is a descriptor to remind you who they are. Perhaps someone more familiar with skiing names, and skiing towns in the US, will be a bit less overwhelmed.

Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for access to the eBook ARC.

This book was written very well but it wasn’t my type of book. Very factual on skiing but not a story line that interested me.

I enjoyed this book from afar for most of it but the last two sections spoke to my soul. I am not a ski bum but have been a seasonal worker who was drawn west and am now an elder millennial. The author perfectly encapsulated the shaky nostalgia of looking back and the even more uncertain looking forward. For the first half of the book it seemed the author just wrote this book as an excuse to ski and drink but it ended up becoming a profound reflection about how to be ok with not having an answer