As the British Empire spread accross the globe during the 19th century, another quieter conquest was going on much nearer to home: gardually the English were taking over the Alps. This book explores the story of the English love affair with the Alps, from its beginnings in the early Romantic movement, through the formation of the Alpine Club, to the inter-war years when the English assured the future prosperity of the alpine resorts by virtually inventing and then popularizing downhill-skiing. Part history and part biography, the volume examines the artists, scientists, gentlemen-adventurers, invalids, and the aristocrats and eccentrics who all flocked to the Alps.

An account of the ascent of the 21,000ft Siula Grande peak in the Peruvian Andes.  Joe Simpson and his climbing partner, Simon Yates, had achieved the summit before the first disaster struck.  What happened and how they dealt with the psychological traumas that resulted is the subject of this book.

Price: £8.79
Save: £2.20 (20%)

Contains information for the instructor, chalet girl, teacher, disc jockey, snow cleaner, ski technician, courier, office worker or resort representative. The book describes how to pre-arrange work with ski tour operators, including contact details, and delivers reports on over 80 resorts.

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow
Peter Hoeg

Price: £6.39
Save: £1.60 (20%)

A little boy falls off a roof in Copenhagen and is killed. Smilla, his neighbour, suspects it is not an accident: she has seen his footsteps in the snow, and, having been brought up by her mother, a Greenlander, she has a feeling for snow

Iain Martin says: 'A great thriller that's much better than the film. If you have a feeling for snow you'll relate to the instinctive and Inuit side of Smilla's thoughts.'

Price: £4.79
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The thought of hurtling down a mountainside on two pieces of fibreglass fills Flora Rose with horror. How could she let her fiance Jamie cajole her into sharing an Alpine chalet with eight of his appalling friends! So begins an extraordinary week of danger, passion, violence and unexpected romance.

This work explains the author's system for transforming intermediate skiers into advanced skiers and advanced into expert.  The goal is "extreme skiing" - speed, jumping ability and fluid grace on difficult terrain and challenging snow conditions.  It features a guide to expert performance in tough terrain including powder, ice, hardback, crud, bumps, steeps and trees.

Price: £10.94
Save: £3.01 (21%)

Skiers, snowboarders, climbers, and anyone else who travels in the mountains should be aware of the awesome destructive power of avalanches and the conditions that cause them.  The Handbook is a comprehensive guide to avoiding such a calamity of snow and ice--and how to improve your chances of survival if you're caught in one.

Master Fwap, the elderly Tibetan Buddhist monk and bringer of enlightenment, begins a new adventure with the Himalayan snowboarder.  They must solve the mystery of "the missing dimension" which must be learned and solved before the next levels of Buddhistic lessons can be understood.

While on the slopes, take advantage of your most powerful muscle.  The authors teach skiers how to relax, concentrate, banish unnecessary fears--and enjoy themselves.  This revised edition of the skiing classic will give you the self-confidence to excel on the slopes and beyond

Price: £13.56
Save: £3.39 (20%)

This multimedia learning package for the beginning, intermediate, and advanced skier includes a chairlift guide which consists of a paperback book and a pocket set of 19 weatherproof instructional cards. Topics covered include terrain, speed, conditions, balance, upper body strength, power, and agility. 50 color illustrations.

Snow Business
Simon Hudson

Price: £16.99

This book looks at the history of skiing and overviews the current spread and structure of the industry worldwide as well as taking detailed case studies of resorts, tour operators and individual skiing consumer aspirations and attitudes - perhaps the most interesting section of the book for those working in the industry or studying tourism.

Other sections include a very detailed examination business and environmental conflicts and destination planning and operations. There's also an interesting concluding chapter, drawing on the contents of the book in projecting key issues in the future of the winter sports tourism industry.