The Fall Line: America's Rise to Ski Racing's Summit - Softcover

Nathaniel Vinton is a writer who covered sports for the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, and many other publications. While an investigative reporter at the New York Daily News, he coauthored American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America's Pastime. A lifelong student of ski racing, he lives in New York with his wife and their children.

“Mr. Vinton has stamped his cold feet by many a finish corral; he knows his racing history, and he quickly and deftly renders the supporting cast in this drama―the umlauted adversaries from the traditional ski kingdoms who challenge Mr. Miller and Ms. Vonn each week.”
- Christopher Solomon, Wall Street Journal

“Most of the world tunes into ski racing only every four years, and Vinton capitalizes on the opportunity to detail what happens in between, with so much more involved in the sport than just preparing for the Olympics.”
- Kurt Kragthorpe, Salt Lake Tribune

“[A] superbly crafted account.”
- Kelley McMillan, Outside Online

“[T]he finest book ever written about World Cup racing. . . . Worth reading for its portrayal of Bode Miller alone―as nuanced as Miller is complicated―it’s richly detailed and vivid throughout, informed by Vinton’s unrivaled behind-the-scenes access to the sport’s athletes, coaches, and peripheral players. His love of the sport and respect for the courage of its heroes shines through on every page. At last, American ski racing gets the book it deserves.”
- Joe Cutts, Skiing

“A classic study. . . . His turn-by-turn descriptions of the ways skiers win―or crash―in significant races are among the best you’ll find in the literature. The Fall Line is a must-read for ski racing fans..”
- Seth Masia, Skiing History

“Shines at making the sport’s finer points accessible. . . . You’re rooting for each skier that comes out of the starting gate.”
- Amanda Ruggeri, Powder Magazine

“Unfolds like an exhilarating downhill race. . . . As inside as an account can be of one of the most exciting seasons in American sports history.”
- David Epstein, author of The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance

“A ripping, compulsively readable, deeply reported journey into the sporting world’s least-known subcultures. Nathaniel Vinton delivers the danger, the surprises, and the high-octane personalities that will take readers to the edge, and then past it.”
- Daniel Coyle, New York Times best-selling author of The Secret Race and The Talent Code

“May be the best book ever about the U.S. Ski Team and the highest levels of alpine ski competition. . . . Even if you don’t care about ski racing, you find yourself rooting for these athletes. And even if you know what happened, you find your pulse racing as you read about it.”
- Skiracing.com

“Nathaniel Vinton’s reporting skill and skiing expertise underpin this thrill ride with the US Ski Team. All the politics and drama around the making of a US dynasty are delivered with new insights and details on its daring―and sometimes rebellious―stars. You don’t know Bode Miller or Lindsey Vonn until you read The Fall Line.”
- Selena Roberts, filmmaker, best-selling author, and former sports writer for the New York Times and Sports Illustrated