Breakthrough on Skis: How to Get Out of the Intermediate Rut

This is the best instruction book on skiing - by far. Follow its advice and you will improve. Don't be put off by the relative lack of pictures and diagrams. Take the time to read and digest what the author is saying and you will know how to ski like an expert. This guy flat out knows how to teach.

I started to ski five years ago at the age of 46 when my wife, an avid accomplished skier, insisted. After numerous group and private lessons, I was probably a 5 on the standard 10 scale. It was discouraging. Then, I discovered Lito's books, tapes and lessons. Now, I'm a 9 on a 10 scale able to easily ski on all but difficult black diamond bumps. Everything else is a breeze and fun. Better skiing is not harder, it's just different. Lito's book takes you step by step, stage by stage, one phase at a time. It's so simple it's remarkable that no other book has come close. For example, since skiing generally requires all your weight on one foot at a time, which foot is it? Most people, even accomplished skiers, answer either the uphill or downhill ski. This answer is both right and wrong. As Lito explains, it is the outside ski which could be uphill at one point and downhill at another point. Next, he explains how and why shifting weight to the other ski must be completed early and dynamically. This is actually simple somewhat like a dance step. The book continues on with secret after secret until the cumulative result is advanced skiing. After five or six days following his advice, it really came together. I'll never forget that time down a black diamond slope using his techniques naturally and easily. At the bottom, I looked back at the formerly imposing slope and realized that it had been a breeze. Looking to the ski, I said thank you God and Lito. Since then, fear and trepidation (except for those black diamond bumps) have forever been excised from my skiing. If you're tired of stopping at the top of a tough slope trying to build up your courage, you've apparently never read Lito's book, seen his tapes and/or implemented his advice. After reading and trying almost everything else, Lito's book allowed the easy opportunity to enjoy this incredible sport. Once again, thank you Lito.

I finally got sick of taking this book out of the library every ski season and decided to buy it rather than steal the library's copy. But I did consider that. After having been an intermediate skier for 20 years (taking a 10 year hiatus), reading Lito's book and applying the principles had me comfortably skiing black diamonds within an afternoon. It is the most remarkable book for intermediates but it is not for beginners. Beginning skiers will not understand the application of the terminolgy. They are best served by lessons. But for intermediates who desire "the secret" Lito discloses it clearly, concisely and correctly. In a step by step process, Lito brings you the "Zen" of skiing, the philosophy that translates into perfect parallel's. Lito is to skiing as Colin Fletcher is to walking.

Yeah, I know -- skiing books don't teach you to ski. But this book, a slope, and a week WILL teach an intermediate skier to ski like an expert. His main point is crucial: expert skiing is a different set of skills. Many of us (me especially) reach intermediate level quickly, but we stay there forever. Refining those skills won't make an expert skier. Lito Tejada-Flores breaks the skills of skiing down into simple, straightforward technical steps. He teaches you to ski with your feet, not your head. Skiing only one week a year, I went from NASTAR bronze to NASTAR gold. My wife and I own over two dozen ski books. This one alone did more for us than all the rest. We will both read it again before and during this year's ski trip. It's a winner.