Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Ski Potato?

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Author Margaret Fuller wants to open eyes to how much skiing there is in the state known nationally for spuds. Fuller just released “Ski the Great Potato,” which she co-authored with her son Doug, a former ski coach, and Jerry Painter, who writes an outdoor column for the Post Register newspaper in Idaho Falls. Fuller has written five hiking books including “Trails of the Sawtooth and White Cloud Mountains,” which provides insider information on the central Idaho backcountry. In “Ski the Great Potato,” which includes a forward by Olympic medalist skier Picabo Street, Fuller mines the histories of all the 21 ski areas operating today and provides the history of the 72 “lost ones.” The book gives basic facts about each area and how it started, and includes a story of its skiers. Stories are about stolen snow plows, an exploding stove, a moose that napped on a ski run, a lunch-stealing dog and the fate of a young woman who froze to the seat of an outdoor toilet. Little-known factoids abound—for instance, did you know that Sun Valley had the first chairlift in the world, but it was not the first ski area in Idaho? There was also a ski jump used for competitions in the 1930s in which jumpers started in Eastport, Idaho, and landed in Kingsgate, British Columbia. Where was Homeland Security? The book is available at local ski shops and sporting goods stores for $22.95. To learn more, go to www.trailguidebooks.com.