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Ages 6 to 12 years. Surfing is an exotic sport that fascinates and excites us. Surfers are daring athletes who challenge the mighty waves of oceans. Find out what makes a person wake up at dawn to take thrilling rides on these enormous waves! In this book, children will discover: the etiquette of surfing; the many types of surfboards and how to care for them; great places to surf around the world; the rich history of surfing, which began as an ancient Polynesian tradition. ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Margarita Marbler, Andreas Matt, Katharina Gutensohn, Thomas Zangerl, Karin Huttary, Markus Wittner, Patrick Koller. Not illustrated. Excerpt: Margarita Marbler (born July 16, 1975) is an Austrian freestyle moguls skier, originally from Russia. She's been included in three Winter Olympic Games; at Salt Lake City, Turin and Vancouver. She has competed in both the Moguls and Dual Moguls event, as well as the Acrobatics and Aerials events. Marbler uses Elan skis, Dalbello Boots and Exel ski poles. Marbler made her debut at the International Youth Championship event on March 6, 1994 in Laajavuori, Finland in both the Aerials and Moguls event. That same December, she made her first World Cup start in Tignes, France. Marbler finally broke through with a her first podium in 1999, finishing second at a Moguls event in Japan. Her best World Championships result was third in 2005 and 2007, at Rukatunturi and Madonna di Campiglio respectively. Marbler has made it to the Winter Olympics three times, all in the Moguls event. She made her Olympic debut in 2002 at the Salt Lake City Olympics. She ultimately finished in tenth place there. Marbler could not improve on her tenth place finish four years later in Turin, placing seventeenth. She was able to improve on her Salt Lake City result with her Olympic best result, finishing eighth. Marbler was born in Russia, but became an Austrian citizen following her marriage with her husband Harald in 1995. Harald is also Margarita's coach. Her hobbies include watching television, playing with her Gameboys and knitting. 7 victories (6 Moguls, 1 Dual Moguls) ... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=26340458 ... Read more

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Chapters: Olympic Alpine Skiers of Lebanon, Chirine Njeim, Ghassan Achi, Ibrahim Jaja. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 23. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Chirine Njeim (born 4 October 1984) is a Lebanese alpine skier. She represented Lebanon in the 2002, 2006 and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The daughter of a tradesman in chemical products, Njeim spent her childhood in Lebanon. She fell in love with the sport when she started skiing at age 3. In her early teens, she went to France to train for a couple of years then moved to Salt Lake City in ninth grade to attend the Rowmark Ski Academy, former home of U.S. Olympian Picabo Street. ...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=4060508 ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Bojan Kriaj (·)) (born January 3, 1957) is a Slovenian former alpine skier. Kriaj, born in Kranj, was a member of a well known Tri, Slovenia ski family so he started skiing at the age of 3. In the season 1976/77 he received the first World Cup point, qualified among the 15 best slalom runners and later during that season in Madonna di Campiglio he hit his first top 3 podium. On January 20, 1980 he achieved the first Slovenian World Cup victory in Wengen, Switzerland and later he won seven more times, thus still being Slovenia's most successful alpine skier ever. At 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, U.S., he reached the fourth place in giant slalom, missing the bronze medal by only two hundredths of second. Four years later he took the athlete's oath at the opening ceremony for Sarajevo's 1984 Winter Olympics. He caused a stir when he spoke the oath not in Croatian or Serbian but in Slovene. Despite great expectations of the Slovenian audience he finished ninth in giant slalom, much less than expected. Kriaj should also have competed at 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada, but he got injured a few days before the event. His most successful World Championship was in 1982 in Schladming, Austria where he received the silver medal in slalom. His most successful World Cup season was 1986/87 when he received the small crystal globe for the season's best slalom runner (that was the only men's crystal globe of that season not won by Pirmin Zurbriggen). Beside that he was the second in World Cup slalom standings in the 1979/80 and 1985/86 seasons and third in the 1980/81 season. His best position in overall World Cup standings was the 4th place in 1979/80. He concluded his career in 1988 at the race in Saalbach, Austria where he steppe... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=647937 ... Read more

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Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Olympic Cross-Country Skiers of Slovenia, Petra Majdič, Tone Pogačnik, Vesna Fabjan, Teja Gregorin, Nataša Lačen, Katja Višnar. Excerpt: Petra Majdi (born 22 December 1979 in Ljubljana) is a Slovenian cross-country skier. Her best results have come in classic style races. She has twenty World Cup race victories, sixteen of which have come in sprint races, but she also won a marathon (30 km race) in Trondheim in 2009. She is the first Slovenian cross-country skier to win the World Cup race, the first to get a medal at the World Championships and the first to get an Olympic medal. With 16 wins, Majdi is the second-most successful sprinter in FIS Cross-Country World Cup history, together with Bente Skari. She first appeared in World Cup on 9 January 1999 in Nové Msto, where she ended 10 km classic as 69th. In 2000 she won her first point in Falun with 30th place in 10 km freestyle. She showed talent for sprint events a year later in Asiago, where she earned her first podium for a 3rd place finish in 1.5 km freestyle sprint. But real breakthrough came late for Majdi; after achieving two more podium finishes in 2002, she struggled for four years to make a major progress. Cross-country skiing was a marginal sport in Slovenia at that time. and she was often frustrated about her training conditions and especially about her skis. As a skier from outside the World Cup elite, and from a low-ranked country, she was unable to get the same quality skis as her competitors. The only way forward was even more hard work, as only top results could provide her with a chance to get equal terms with others. Her first victory came at the end of successful 2006 season in 1 km classic sprint of Drammen. First win, 3rd place in 45 km classic marathon of Mora and 9th... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=8736333 ... Read more

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Miracle and sensation are most often the words used to describe the triumph of Janica Kostelic, one of the greatest Olympic champions in history of skiing. This book reveals it was not a miracle. It was all about the love of sports and methods of her father and coach, Ante Kostelic. From a family whom nobody understood to immortality. In this book, readers learn the details of Kostelics life and career, this is deep insight into the champion's mind ... Read more

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The story of the 1960 Olympic Winter Games is the saga of the highly improbable that became the wildly successful. Within it are compelling personal stories of underdogs that become unlikely champions, American ingenuity and heroism for team and country. The inspiring story includes a promise kept to a dying loved one, brash stars that falter in the glare of a world spotlight and risky strategies that payoff with golden results. Snowball’s Chance – The Story of the 1960 Olympic Winter Games contains the only complete account of the preparations, pageantry, ceremonies, competitions and epilogues of the historic VIII Olympic Winter Games at Squaw Valley and Lake Tahoe.

We see elaborate Olympic pageantry in the ceremonies and venue decorations instilled by the creative force of Pageantry Chairman Walt Disney. The “Miracle of Squaw Valley” astonishes spectators during the opening ceremonies. For the only time in Olympic history, the venues and athlete residence halls are located in a compact intimate setting that encourages sportsmanship and socializing among nations. The underdog American ice hockey team becomes the “Team of Destiny” by fighting to capture their country’s first gold medal. American figure skaters Carol Heiss and David Jenkins sweep gold in the individual events. Well-trained Soviet and Scandinavian athletes dominate the speed skating and cross-country events. German skiers make surprise upsets in the Nordic combined and ski jumping contests. Read “you are there” accounts of all events and official results. CBS-TV is there to capture the most exciting moments and make groundbreaking live broadcasts to American audiences.

Included are 80-plus photographs by official photographer Bill Briner and others showing historic Olympic venues and athletes in the heat of competition.

Author David C. Antonucci has a passion for winter sports and the history of the VIII Olympic Winter Games. He lives at Lake Tahoe near the site of the VIII Olympic Winter Games cross-country skiing and biathlon venue. He frequently lectures on the 1960 Winter Olympics, Mark Twain at Lake Tahoe and Lake Tahoe natural history.

Table of contents, introduction, women’s individual figure skating chapter and list of illustrations are available at www.TahoeFacts.com. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Illuminates a Forgotten Footnote
This is a nostalgic but rather rudimentary account of one of the `forgotten Games of Olympic history'--the 1960 Winter Games in Squaw Valley, California. Of the various modern era Olympics staged in North America, Squaw Valley 1960 has long since been overshadowed by Los Angeles 1984, Atlanta 1996, Salt Lake 2002 and recently, Vancouver 2010. Some fifty years later, author David Antonucci brings this little known chapter to life as a legitimate piece of sports and California history.

We view and enjoy the Olympics today as behemoth spectacles. As the title indicates, it's primarily a study of the American spirit...of how one man's (developer Alexander Cushing) dream of hosting a Winter Olympics in order to boost his almost non-existent ski resort, overcame the overwhelming odds of such a quest.Hosting the Olympics--and the Winter more so than the Summer--are considered the traditional bailiwick of the Europeans.However, in 1954-1955, Cushing dared to challenge this tradition by offering to host the Games half a world away.And that he succeeded so winningly is the crux of the book.

"Snowball's Chance" takes the reader back to what were the first televised `live' (Winter) Games shown in the United States--thus also making it one of the last `you-had-to-be-there' Olympic Games.One learns how the Organizing Committee was able to dispense with building an (unnecessary and expensive) luge and bobsled track but forgot to inform the Greek Olympic Committee that it wanted a lighting of the flame at Olympia.And one discovers that Squaw Valley '60 was also the first Olympics to employ a professional showman, Walt Disney, to spice up the whole look and feel of the Games with a Hollywood touch.

Although held in a quaint California Sierra valley at the end of the Eisenhower era, the Winter Games were apparently on the verge of becoming a gargantuan undertaking even then.Visually, it's a very threadbare tome but the detailed accounts more than make up for that.If you are truly into Olympic history, I would recommend this book as a worthy addition to your library.

Entertaining account of a hugely successful Winter Olympic Games
Many skeptics including IOC President Avery Brundage thought the small family ski area in California could not host a successful Olympic Winter Games.The skeptics were wrong, and this book tells the story of how the Organizing Committee with the cooperation of local governments, the US military, and Olympic supporters around the world caused Avery Brundage to write at the conclusion of the Games, "The Olympic Winter Games were a major success in every respect."

Technological innovations at these Games brought competition into a new phase, and enabled the athletes to perform and be judged at the highest level.

Descriptions of each event during the games brings to life the drama of the competitions, and followup stories of a number of prominent athletes helps humanize these competitors. ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Nancy Catherine Greene OC OBC OD LLD (hc) (born May 11, 1943) is a Canadian Senator for British Columbia and a champion alpine skier voted as Canada's Female Athlete of the 20th Century. She was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.At the age of three, Nancy Greene's family moved to Rossland, British Columbia, a mountainous area and the site of the first ski competition ever held in Canada in 1897. The child of avid skiers, Greene began at a young age and while in high school she competed in the Canadian Junior Championships. She would go on to become Canada's most decorated ski racer in history with the most World Cup victories, male or female. ... Read more

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A first-hand look at Olympic skiing by Sigmund and Birger Ruud, Norwegian Olympic Champions and national heroes. ... Read more