"A page-turning adventure tale.and a meditation on manhood." - Los Angeles Magazine

"The memoir is as much about a father-son relationship as it is a survival story...Ollestad says his father's life philosophy about surfing and skiing - 'knowing there's always a place to go and find peace, clear your mind' - got him down the mountain and through life." - USA Today

Dad Said

Ollestad, we can do it all. . . .

Why do you make me do this?

Because it's beautiful when it all comes together.

I don't think it's ever beautiful.

One day.

Never.

We'll see, my father said. Vamanos.

From the age of three, Norman Ollestad was thrust into the world of surfing and competitive downhill skiing by the intense, charismatic father he both idolized and resented. While his friends were riding bikes, playing ball, and going to birthday parties, young Norman was whisked away in pursuit of wild and demanding adventures. Yet it were these exhilarating tests of skill that prepared "Boy Wonder," as his father called him, to become a fearless champion--and ultimately saved his life.

Flying to a ski championship ceremony in February 1979, the chartered Cessna carrying Norman, his father, his father's girlfriend, and the pilot crashed into the San Gabriel Mountains and was suspended at 8,200 feet, engulfed in a blizzard. "Dad and I were a team, and he was Superman," Ollestad writes. But now Norman's father was dead, and the devastated eleven-year-old had to descend the treacherous, icy mountain alone.

Set amid the spontaneous, uninhibited surf culture of Malibu and Mexico in the late 1970s, this riveting memoir, written in crisp Hemingwayesque prose, recalls Ollestad's childhood and the magnetic man whose determination and love infuriated and inspired him--and also taught him to overcome the indomitable. As it illuminates the complicated bond between an extraordinary father and his son, Ollestad's powerful and unforgettable true story offers remarkable insight for us all.

Browse Inside: Crazy for the Storm: A Memoir of Survival

Hardcover: 288 pages
Author: Norman Ollestad
Publisher: Ecco (June 2, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0061766720
ISBN-13: 978-0061766725

It’s almost too horrible to imagine: an 11-year-old boy is flying in a small plane with his father and his father’s girlfriend. The plane crashes—slams into a mountain—and the boy’s father is killed, along with the pilot. His father’s girlfriend is injured, and it’s up to the boy to get the two of them down the mountain before they freeze to death.

A seemingly impossible task, but the boy, author Ollestad, was no ordinary 11-year-old. A sportsman like his father, he had just won a skiing championship; also like his father, young Norman was a not easily intimidated, even when the odds were stacked against him. Ollestad tells the riveting story of his arduous trek down the mountain (the plane crashed more than 8,500 feet in the air), interspersing the story with scenes from his life with his father, allowing us to witness both the boy’s survival and his staggering loss at the same time.

It is a poignant story, suspenseful (even though we know the outcome), and written in a vivid style that makes us feel like we’re there on the mountain with him. --David Pitt

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Norman Ollestad studied creative writing at UCLA and attended the UCLA Film School. He grew up on Topanga Beach in Malibu, California, and now lives in Venice, California. He is the father of an 8-year-old son.

Comments (0)

Name

Email

Comment

smaller | bigger

Add Comment