Living the Life
Tales from America's Mountains & Ski Towns
By David J. Rothman, instructor of writing and rhetoric
Conundrum Press
Thinking about my own romance with the alpine world over the years has led me to discover one of the places where cause and effect come together. I may not be able to see this place of fusion clearly, or all at once, but it does exist and I can certainly sense it. This book is my attempt to give that place its name. I wrote it because I wanted to help give American skiing a written language as soulful as that of fishing, surfing, mountaineering, sailing and other environment sports, a quality it seemed to lack when I was growing up.
Skiing does not create a bounded playing field, but rather accepts and transforms the places where we pursue it. These essays are windows into how I’ve lived significant parts of my own life in those places and in that way, and I offer it up in the hopes that it will resonate with yours. For if skiing is not a sport, but a way of life, it touches far more than mountains and snow—it comes into contact with friendship, love, grief, joy, sorrow, history, politics, ambition, faith, tragedy, comedy, failure, triumph, audacity, remorse, delight, and regret, which is to say: everything that matters. It is those deep emotional realities that are at the heart of life. And you have no choice but to live that life. So live it.
“Through a series of poignant and powerful personal essays, David Rothman exposes a soul skier’s raison d’etre. Anyone who rides, glides, or slides on snow will appreciate the mountain tales told in Living the Life.”
“Sometimes, while skiing with my wife, I ask her, “Why is this so much fun?” I ask it in part because no ski writer has managed to answer that question. Radically different from any ski writing I’ve read are these essays by David Rothman, who gives us the big picture. His enthusiasm for skiing and skiers, for mountains and snow, is infectious. He takes us behind the scenes, into his head and ours, for a look at what skiing really is—a way of life.”
“Riders of the snow who still appreciate words will enjoy Living the Life. Rothman’s tales, poetic in bursts, transcend the experience of skiing and connect it to the paths we stride, glide and stumble through in everyday life. It is Rothman’s take on how skiing is life, how it is not just the path, but also the mountain the path climbs.”
“David has tuned his words as well as his skis, and this collection offers the equivalent of playful jump turns, graceful arcs and high-speed cruisers. His metaphors made me laugh out loud and look around the coffee shop for someone to read them to. He can be affectionate and smart-ass, funny and philosophical. I felt like I knew these characters (okay, I DO know some of them) — kids and reprobates, mountaineers and academics. At times David’s words conjured the wind-nip on my cheeks, snow billowing over my skis or a warm campfire surrounded by friends, and I thought, ‘Wow, he nailed it.’”
By David J. Rothman, instructor of writing and rhetoric
Conundrum Press
Thinking about my own romance with the alpine world over the years has led me to discover one of the places where cause and effect come together. I may not be able to see this place of fusion clearly, or all at once, but it does exist and I can certainly sense it. This book is my attempt to give that place its name. I wrote it because I wanted to help give American skiing a written language as soulful as that of fishing, surfing, mountaineering, sailing and other environment sports, a quality it seemed to lack when I was growing up.
Skiing does not create a bounded playing field, but rather accepts and transforms the places where we pursue it. These essays are windows into how I’ve lived significant parts of my own life in those places and in that way, and I offer it up in the hopes that it will resonate with yours. For if skiing is not a sport, but a way of life, it touches far more than mountains and snow—it comes into contact with friendship, love, grief, joy, sorrow, history, politics, ambition, faith, tragedy, comedy, failure, triumph, audacity, remorse, delight, and regret, which is to say: everything that matters. It is those deep emotional realities that are at the heart of life. And you have no choice but to live that life. So live it.
“Through a series of poignant and powerful personal essays, David Rothman exposes a soul skier’s raison d’etre. Anyone who rides, glides, or slides on snow will appreciate the mountain tales told in Living the Life.”
—Lance Waring
“Sometimes, while skiing with my wife, I ask her, “Why is this so much fun?” I ask it in part because no ski writer has managed to answer that question. Radically different from any ski writing I’ve read are these essays by David Rothman, who gives us the big picture. His enthusiasm for skiing and skiers, for mountains and snow, is infectious. He takes us behind the scenes, into his head and ours, for a look at what skiing really is—a way of life.”
—Wyn Cooper, author of Chaos is the New Calm
“Riders of the snow who still appreciate words will enjoy Living the Life. Rothman’s tales, poetic in bursts, transcend the experience of skiing and connect it to the paths we stride, glide and stumble through in everyday life. It is Rothman’s take on how skiing is life, how it is not just the path, but also the mountain the path climbs.”
—Craig Dostie, Founding Publisher and Editor, Couloir
“David has tuned his words as well as his skis, and this collection offers the equivalent of playful jump turns, graceful arcs and high-speed cruisers. His metaphors made me laugh out loud and look around the coffee shop for someone to read them to. He can be affectionate and smart-ass, funny and philosophical. I felt like I knew these characters (okay, I DO know some of them) — kids and reprobates, mountaineers and academics. At times David’s words conjured the wind-nip on my cheeks, snow billowing over my skis or a warm campfire surrounded by friends, and I thought, ‘Wow, he nailed it.’”
—Sandy Fails, Editor, Crested Butte Magazine