Over the years I’ve become a casual collector of classic outdoors-themed literature and guidebooks. I enjoy so many things about books like these. From the images that paint a picture of the outdoor life that transpired before modern gear and in many cases before I was born, to the word choice and literary style used to explain technical outdoor skills.

So while I don’t intend to put the books’ teachings to a ton of practical use—even though I’m sure once I dig into them I will learn a few things—I was grateful to have them. There has to be some useful tips in “How to Ski The New French Way,” 80s-era “Ski Maintenance and Repair” by Seth Masia, or “How the Racers Ski.” And there are no doubt plenty of laughs waiting on the pages of “Here Come the Skiers,” a book of ski cartoons by the late Seattle artist Bob Cram. But above all for me, the allure of books like these is the historic glimpse they offer into ski culture from another era.

Rupp learned to ski in junior high at the now defunct North-South Ski Bowl near St. Maries, Idaho. “I pretty much taught myself to ski by watching the college students that taught there and imitating what I saw them doing,” he says. By the late 60s and 70s, Rupp was a ski instructor at Breckinridge, where his mentors included the likes of ski legends Trygve Berge and Stein Erickson. Later Rupp taught at Steamboat and eventually Schweitzer.

The ski books, which he picked up at book stores or ordered through the mail from ski magazines, were primarily a resource of techniques and jargon that he used to hone his teaching skills and check himself to see if what he was doing was what the authors were describing. Back in Rupp’s ski instructor days, people who were serious about skiing either had instruction books or at least read them and were familiar with the contents, he says. “As I recall, the main thing that was happening in skiing at that time is that my earlier gear had required the use of counter rotation in a turn so that the skier was looking downhill toward the inside shoulder, which was pointed at the tip of the skis.”

Rupp bought his first pair of skis for $30 around 1965, a set of laminated wood boards with P-Tex bases and screw on sectional edges. Henke had just started making buckle boots in the 50s, says Rupp, and the era of leather lace boots was on its way out. Books like these, he says, came out to adjust to stiffer boots that allowed for more side-to-side angulation at the hips and a more square posture looking down the hill.

“Ski the New French Way” and “Teach Yourself to Ski” both emphasized “a more square-and-balanced stance on the skis.” Warren Witherell’s book, “How the Racers Ski,” was “useful when I was teaching in that it helped with diagnosing student problems and helping to correct any issues they may have had.”  Ski equipment has continued to evolve in recent decades, making the sport more accessible to anyone who wants to learn. Yet the importance of expert advice and instruction when it comes to learning to ski or improving on one’s skills, whether it’s gleaned from a book, online videos, or an in-person lesson, remains invaluable.

Derrick Knowles is co-publisher and editor-in-chief. He lives in Spokane with his wife (and co-publisher and OTO visual editor), Shallan, and their young son and dog, Fernie. He enjoys backcountry (and in-bounds) alpine skiing, camping, biking, running, backpacking, bikepacking, and pretty much all other outdoor recreation. Follow his adventures on Instagram, @van_derrick_pnw.

[Feature photo: Vintage ski books. // Photo: Shallan Knowles.]

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Sometime around 2002 I happened upon a dusty pair of wooden Nordic skis for sale at a thrift store for $5. They looked as though they’d been languishing in a corner of someone’s garage for a few decades. I wasn’t sure what it might entail to make them usable, but they looked cool and were an excellent price. I had modern ski boots that could work with the bindings already mounted on the skis, so I brought them home to make them either part of my ski quiver or else wall décor. At that point it could have gone either way.

They had a serious layer of grime, which I removed with Murphy’s Oil Soap, and I had to do a lot of research into the care of wooden skis. This will come as no surprise to anyone who took up Nordic skiing prior to 1970, but I initially didn’t realize that I would need to acquire liquid pine tar, paint it onto the bottoms of my skis, and then carefully (and briefly) light my wooden skis on fire with a plumber’s torch. It’s a delicate and potentially dangerous process, and I discovered I loved it. While I did add a couple minor scorches to my ski bases, I didn’t light my hair on fire, so I called it a success.

In February 2003, I decided to enter the annual Mount Spokane Langlauf 10K Cross Country Ski Race on my wooden skis. I had been a participant in the race for several years using my modern skis and generally placing in my age group. But Langlauf has been in existence since 1979, and it celebrates its early history each year by having a separate category for competitors on wooden skis who dress up in woolen clothing, all of which I thought might be fun to do as a lark, at least once.

That first year, and several subsequent years, I won the women’s wooden ski division. It’s only fair to mention that I was sometimes the only participant in said division, but I also generally continued to place in my age group despite skiing on equipment that was a couple age groups ahead of me. The days of wooden skis making an appearance in international competition are long-gone, but it’s still possible to make these antique skis semi-competitive at the local citizen race level.

Unfortunately, like so many other fun community events, the 2021 Mount Spokane Langlauf race has been cancelled. Event organizers will be marking the course for the month of February, and area Nordic skiers can opt to ski the 10K route on their own and even choose to make a donation to the nonprofit Spokane Nordic Ski Association to help support trail maintenance.

If you have some old wooden skis hanging decoratively on a wall, consider taking them down and lighting them briefly and carefully on fire, before taking them to Mount Spokane for a trail tour this winter.

Holly Weiler, OTO Hike of the Month columnist, can be found skiing the Langlauf course and beyond on a regular basis and plans to take the wooden skis out for several tours this winter.

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