I used to collect pre-1960 ski manuals—if the ski boots in the pictures had laces instead of buckles, I was interested. Eventually I bought up all the affordable used ski books in Vancouver (BC) and started in on "antiquarian" quality books. After getting a few of those at fifty to a hundred bucks a pop, I came to my senses. I still look for old ski books, but they're not around anymore. The last one I found was five years ago in Perdue, Saskatchewan, in a store set up in the old Royal Bank building by a dealer from New Brunswick who had moved his entire stock halfway across the country.

My favorite is "Invitation To Skiing" by Eislin and Spectorsky (1947). My oldest is "How To Ski And How Not To" by Vivian Caulfield (1923). Ski technique changed dramatically after the world saw Stein Erikson in action at the 1952 Olympics. The first author to teach the new technique (counter-rotation) was Canadian Ernie McCulloch in "Learn To Ski" (1955). Nowadays, with "shaped" skis, technique is not required at all.