A Wall of White: The True Story of Heroism and Survival in the Face of a Deadly Avalanche

Almost exactly 27 years ago, on March 31st 1982, I awoke at 4:00 am to begin a day that forever changed my life. This new book by Jennifer Woodlief chronicles the events leading up to and following that fateful day in great detail. She has managed to tell this story with amazing clarity and depth of feeling. Each person who had a part in that tragedy saw it from their own personal perspective, and it was beneficial for me to see the "big picture" as she put all the pieces together. I highly recommend this book.

Once I started, I couldn't put this book down. It reminded me how helpless we are in the face of nature, and yet that humans will perform heroically and selflessly to save those in peril. At times I found myself gasping for breath.

I also read this book in one sitting and couldn't put it down. While the book is certainly about the avalanche that affected so many lives in North Lake Tahoe in 1982, it's also an amazing historical piece about a very specific time and place, North Lake Tahoe between the 1960s and 1980s. There have been so many questions in my mind about the history of the area and I was very pleasantly surprised to have so much of it filled in from both a historical, geological and personal perspective. The author's pacing of the story, as she draws together the threads that wove the fabric of people that made up the community was compelling. Her descriptions about the history of Alpine Meadows, from its geological formation to its origination as a ski resort were fascinating. I also enjoyed learning about the people that worked the ski patrol, some of whom are still there. I've been drawn to Alpine Meadows since I began skiing at the mountain in 1983. I've had a three decade long affair with the area that I've never really fully understood myself. As much as I enjoy many mountains throughout the west and throughout the world, this little valley has always drawn me and sometimes I really have had to wonder if my obsessions bordered on crazy. Reading this book and reading about the sacrifices that men and women made to be at Alpine and keep it going and keep it safe and learning about the atmosphere there, I'm really happy to see that my obsession with the location is not unique to me, but that there is something truly special about this place. In some ways, because of my personal connection to the area, this book really completed a part of me. I congratulate the author on telling the story so well. There's no doubt that you will have tears in your eyes by the and yet be strengthened by the will to survive and a community that took so much care of its own.

Perhaps I'm a bit partial, I am in the book after all; I am thrilled with the scope, depth and heart that Ms. Woodlief has put into this amazing story. This was a remarkable time period in many people's lives; those of us that made the choice to be in the mountains were leading a very different life from our friends in the "real world". Then on one fateful day, our lives were changed in a moment. The storytelling here takes the threads of so many lives, related or not, and weaves an intricate tapestry to bring connection to all that came apart amid Mother Nature's show of her mighty force.