By: Downdays April 03, 2023

160 pages of freeski culture to soothe your eyes, enlighten your mind and captivate your imagination: SKI STORIES, VOLUME 4 IS ON SALE NOW.

Ski Stories Volume 4 features Laurent De Martin on the cover, photographed by François Marclay.

The fourth edition of Ski Stories—Downdays’ yearly book featuring in-depth articles, captivating interviews and breathtaking photography—has just been released. With a fresh look and our well-established high production quality, Ski Stories Volume 4 guarantees hours of reading pleasure deeply rooted in the culture of skiing.

Every winter has its stories to tell. Some may be happy, some sad, some timeless, some particularly relevant in a specific moment. How these stories are told and how they are perceived will differ from skier to skier, and each perspective may change over time. Just think of it—a skier in the Alps will surely have a profoundly different perception of the 2023/2023 season than a skier in, say, California.

Ski Stories Volume 4 guarantees hours of reading pleasure deeply rooted in the culture of skiing.

All we have is what we remember.

The stories collected in the latest edition of the Downdays book trend towards the timeless side. Though some may be rooted in current events, their scope reaches far beyond the incidents that may have triggered the story-telling in the first place. For example, the opening interview with Sam Anthamatten took place just following the premiere of the film Nevia, which is arguably the first movie that places Sam at center stage. Yet it turned into a deeper discussion of risk and progress, and of the interaction between the two.

Sam Anthamatten in Ski Stories Volume 4

After years of playing second fiddle while other riders took the spotlight, Sam Anthamatten took center stage in 2022 with two different projects focused primarily on him. We took the chance to give Sam a much-deserved feature interview.

Ski Stories Volume 4 features twelve different articles, each at least 12 pages long. Four are interviews with outstanding athletes: Sam Anthamatten, Maxime Chabloz, Max Palm and Tess Ledeux. These interviews explore the individuals behind the sportive achievements, revealing aspects that may have escaped the attention of many a reader so far.

Max Palm in Ski Stories Volume 4

In 2022, Max Palm shocked the freeride world by landing the first double backflip on the Freeride World Tour. Learn more about this talented young Swede who grew up in France in his feature interview.

Four more stories focus on images: a portfolio from up-and-coming French photographer Germain Favre-Félix, a visual profile of Torin Yater-Wallace by Daniel Rönnbäck, a look at the ski art created via Völkl’s Built Together project, and a showcase of some of the best shots captured during Downdays’ Gaptastic Voyage road gap session.

Germain Favre-Felix in Ski Stories Volume 4

This edition´s signature photo portfolio goes to Germain Favre-Félix, who´s been busy capturing stunning work with freeskiers in France and beyond.

Finally, four articles provide deeper insight into the sport and its culture: How street skier Taylor Lundquist found her way to a career based largely on filming; how the Alaïa Group has built a new action-sports mecca in the Swiss Alps; how old-guard ski brand Fischer is striving to find its identity in the freeride segment; and how the acquisition of the Freeride World Tour by FIS might change the sport of freeriding for future generations.

Taylor Lundquist in Ski Stories Volume 4

Taylor Lundquist is one of skiing´s more unconventional stars. Her profile piece tracks her course from childhood through years on the contest grind, to her current status as skiing´s leading woman in the streets

Of course, Ski Stories Volume 4 was created with great attention to production quality and detail. The combination of sheet-fed offset printing and fine art paper lends brilliance to the awe-inspiring photos, and makes merely holding the book in your hands, as well as reading it, a sensory delight. A special method of bookbinding complements a design that is reduced to the essentials while remaining fresh, benefiting the quality of content you've come to expect from Downdays. To expand the reading experience, each article is complemented by background info and a QR code linking to selected videos or online content that relate to the article’s theme.

Ski Stories Volume 4

The devil´s in the details: Ski Stories Volume 4 is a labor of love.

Ski Stories Volume 4 is available now in the DOWNDAYS WEBSHOP for € 39 with free worldwide shipping included.