Alpine Circus

Michael Finkel has spent a dozen winters journeying across six continents in order to write about the wonders and eccentricities of the world's snowy regions. In this collection, he takes the reader from the underside of an avalanche to the summit of Kilimanjaro.

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Boldly going where few others have gone before, Michael Finkel has spent a dozen winters journeying across six continents in order to write about the wonders and eccentricities of the world's snowy regions. In this collection of his work - part seat-of-the-pants adventure, part cultural exploration, and peppered throughout with humour and insight - Finkel takes the reader from the underside of an avalanche to the summit of Kilimanjaro. He partners with a gang of Kazak herdsmen in the remote peaks of China; he launches down the slopes of Iran as he learns about the Ayatollah's Byzantine skiing rules; he goes through the torturous Marine Corps mountain warfare training; and he takes on New York City on cross-country skis. With skill and insight, Finkel vividly recreates the thrill of flying off an Olympic ski jump in Lake Placid, the excitement of gliding through virgin snows on a remote Alaskan peak, and the exhilaration of taking off into the unexplored mountains of interior Greenland. In turn, "Alpine Circus" becomes the adventurous ride of a lifetime, a tour through a unique world with a guide that is sure to thrill both armchair travellers and Arctic explorers.