Snow & Splendor: A History of France’s Legendary Ski Resorts

Snow & Splendor tells the sweeping, cinematic story of how France transformed snow-covered mountains into the world's most influential ski resorts.

From the first Winter Olympics in Chamonix to the rise of Courchevel as a global symbol of Alpine luxury, this book traces a century of ambition, innovation, rivalry, and reinvention in the French Alps. Shepherds, soldiers, architects, aristocrats, and entrepreneurs all played a role in shaping modern winter tourism — often with consequences that echo today.

Written for an international audience, Snow & Splendor blends cultural history, travel writing, and social insight to reveal how skiing became both a sport and a lifestyle. It explores Cold War megaprojects, transatlantic competition with American resorts, and the looming challenge of climate change that now threatens the future of snow itself.

Elegant, accessible, and deeply researched, this book is essential reading for skiers, travelers, Francophiles, and anyone fascinated by how landscapes shape culture — and how culture reshapes landscapes in return.