Lessons From The Edge. - Review - book review

American Fitness, March, 2000

They do what cannot be done. They endure a longer, tougher course. They have the guts, the skills, the heart and the perseverance to live on the edge and keep on living. They are extreme athletes like Olympic Gold Medalist Picabo Street (downhill skier), K2-expedition leader Heidi Howkins (mountaineer), Olympic Gold Medalist Brian Boitano (skater), Jon Krakauer (climber), World Champion Jamie Simon (rodeo kayaker) and many others. Regardless of their sport, these athletes have two things in common: extraordinary physical conditioning and astounding mental sharpness. In Lessons From the Edge: Extreme Athletes Show You How to Take on High Risk and Win (Fireside, $14.00) by Maryann Karinch with photography by David Brooks, the athletes offer insight through firsthand accounts of why they choose to live on the edge and the physical, emotional and spiritual rewards their accomplishments bring. They focus on the qualities that spell success in any high-risk activity, including mental toughness, trusting intuition, channeling emotional energy and developing personal tenacity.

Five of the dozens of extreme sports that receive attention in this book are:

Adventure Racing: Multi-sport endurance athletes race in teams through remote and wild areas, often involving extreme temperature and elevation. They must be excellent navigators and have skills for all types of terrain and water.

Ice Climbing: In the wilderness, climbers ascend frozen waterfalls and ice on mountains. In competition, they often climb man-made ice towers.

In-line Skating: The extreme version is sometimes called "aggressive in-line," which involves tricks and jumps on halfpipes or street courses.

Free Skiing: Extreme skiing takes place in the back country and means skiing whatever the terrain has to offer--steep descents, ledges, etc. Freestyle involves events with the aim of "catching big air" and doing tricks like rotations and grabs. Skiercross (skier x) is a freestyle racing event with multiple racers on a course containing jumps and sharp turns.

Freeriding: This is competitive snowboarding event with the aim of "catching big air" and doing tricks like rotations and grabs. In the wilderness, freeriding is analogous to extreme skiing.

The book will be available in all major stores on April 1, 2000. For more information or to order Lessons From the Edge, call (800) 223-2336.