Powder Days -- Ski Bums Ski Towns & the Future of Chasing Snow

Part memoir of younger care free days and part history of the sport of skiing and ski bumming, Heather Hansman takes us on a tour the love of skiing all over the United States. Growing up in Massachusetts the call of skiing drew her out west and steered the rest of her life to the mountains. 

Powder Days attempts to widen the lens of ski media by both moving it away from the typical young strong, mostly male pro skiers to the untold stories of the sport. 

An electrifying adventure into the rich history of skiing and the modern heart of ski-bum culture, from one of America's most preeminent ski journalists.

The story of skiing is, in many ways, the story of America itself.  Blossoming from the Tenth Mountain Division in WWII, the sport took hold across the country, driven by adventurers seeking the rush of freedom that only cold mountain air could provide.  As skiing gained in popularity, mom-and-pop backcountry hills gave way to groomed trails and eventually the megaresorts of today. Along the way the pioneers and diehards -the ski bums- remained the beating heart if the scene.

Veteran ski journalist and former ski bum Heather Hansman takes readers on an exhilarating journey into the hidden history if American skiing, offering a glimpse into an unexplored subculture from the perspective of a true insider. Hopping from Vermont to Colorado, Montana to West Virginia, Hansman profiles the people who have built their lives around a cold-weather obsession. Along the way she reckons with skiing's problematic elements and investigates how the sport is evolving in the face of the existential threat of climate climate change.

Riveting, action-packed and beautifully written, Powder Days is a love letter to a high-stakes sport and the definitive tome for ski lovers everywhere.