THE DARKEST WHITE

From bestselling author Eric Blehm comes the story of the Durrand Glacier Avalanche - a 2003 tragedy set high in the Selkirk mountains that claimed the lives of seven people and was part of the deadliest fortnight in North American alpine history - and the life of snowboarding legend Craig Kelly, who died in the disaster.

The disaster was covered by all of the major broadcast and cable news outlets and made international headlines. But it did so not only for the nature of the tragedy and the controversy that would swirl around its aftermath, but because it proved particularly devastating to mountain and sporting communities. Among the dead was an icon of the snow named Craig Kelly, the world's most famous snowboarder and a man who had propelled that sport into the mainstream - before walking away from it all to return to the freedom and essence of his passion in the untamed mountain wilds of the west.

THE DARKEST WHITE is the unforgettable story of Craig Kelly's life, a tragic but undeniably inspiring odyssey of a latchkey kid whose athletic prowess and innovations would revolutionize the winter sports landscape, take him around the world, and push him into the ever more extreme environments that would ultimately take his life; it is a business and cultural history of the punk- and alternative-inspired Gen X rise of extreme sports; a globe-spanning adventure narrative that takes readers to some of the most astonishing corners of the globe; and a science story of the mountains and snow, the avalanches they unleash with unforgiving fury, the people who battle them, and the gripping fate of those overtaken by them. It is at once an ode to the sublime freedom offered by the mountains, and a meditation on the harmony we find in nature; and at the same time a cautionary reminder, a classic disaster tale that mines our efforts to reconcile nature's indifference to the ambiguities of human tragedy and the meaning we seek in it.

ERIC BLEHM is the acclaimed bestselling author of several books, including Fearless (Waterbrook/Crown, over 400,000 copies sold) and The Last Season (HarperCollins, over 100,000 print copies sold, winner of the National Outdoor Book Award, and named by Outside magazine as one of the ten "greatest adventure biographies ever written"). His last book, Legend, told the story of Medal of Honor recipient Roy Benavidez, Jr and was also published by Crown (50,000 copies sold).
Known for gaining the trust of and embedding within intensely committed and expert communities like the US Navy SEALs, US Special Operations Command, and the National Park Service Backcountry Rangers, Eric will bring the same immersive qualities to THE DARKEST WHITE. Here, it will be even more personal given the author was himself a sponsored competitive snowboarder in the 1980s and ultimately became the editor in chief of the world's biggest snowboard magazine. During his six years on staff, he traveled the world with and interviewed many of the sport's greatest athletes, including Craig Kelly. He fondly remembers riding powder with Kelly as his most cherished memory from a life filled with adventurous assignments around the world.
Having earned a Level One Avalanche Certification from the Canadian Avalanche Association, Eric is no stranger to snowboarding high peaks, sleeping in snow caves, and being chased by avalanches. He spent years on assignment in the backcountry; and he understands the nuances and details that will bring every aspect of THE DARKEST WHITE to lifethe people, places, sport, culture, lifestyle, and science.