Pretty Good for a Girl: The Autobiography of a Snowboarding Pioneer » (First Edition)

Tina Basich is an artist, musician, and professional snowboarder who was born and raised in Sacramento, California. When she's not following snowstorms and riding mountains around the world, she's hosting her own girls' action-sports TV show or organizing fund-raisers for her nonprofit foundation, Boarding for Breast Cancer. She lives in Northern California.

When Tina Basich grabbed her rented snowboard and headed to the mountains in Lake Tahoe, snowboarding wasn't even considered a sport ... yet. It was the beginning, and could have easily gone the way of many other sports and become dominated by male-driven competition.

But not with Tina on the scene ...

Comments like "You're pretty good ... for a girl" only pushed her harder to be the best and to prove she was more than just a token player on the slopes. Representing for women everywhere, she became a snowboarding all-star, started her own signature board and clothing lines for women, founded Boarding for Breast Cancer, and followed her heart, which led her on the adventure of a lifetime.

This is her story.

Library Journal

A pioneer in the upstart sport of snowboarding, Basich had the skill, drive, and nerve to compete as a professional, getting endorsements, media attention, and the ultimate accolade: becoming a character in a snowboarding video game. Born in Sacramento to unconventional parents, she went to an alternative school where creativity ruled and was soon drawn to skateboarding and later snowboarding for their "outlaw" standing. Her career spans the time from when boarders weren't even allowed on slopes to its final acceptance as an Olympic sport in 1998. She describes the adrenaline rush of helisnowboarding in Alaska and how she practiced a difficult new trick for the Winter X Games. Many photos enliven the book, from breathtaking action pictures to party shots with rock stars such as the Beastie Boys and Foo Fighters to photos of the boards painted by Basich herself. Sprinkled throughout is practical advice, e.g., on choosing a snowboard or how to get sponsored. Young women, especially, would enjoy this well-written book. Recommended for public libraries where winter sports are popular.-Kathy Ruffle, Coll. of New Caledonia Lib., Prince George, B.C. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.