You don’t have to know the name Craig Kelly to enjoy The Darkest White: A Mountain Legend and the Avalanche that Took Him (HarperCollins Publishers, 2024).

It was the author who drew me to the book. I have enjoyed the books I’ve read of Eric Blehm’s—The Last Season: Randy Morgenson was legendary for finding people missing in the High Sierra. … Then one day he went missing himself (HarperCollins, 2006)  and Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown (WaterBrook Press, 2012)

After listening to a talk Blehm gave in Truckee in spring 2024 about his latest book I knew I wanted to read it.

The Darkest White is bound to be a page turner for anyone who ever skied or snowboarded—be it recreationally, professionally, at a resort or in the back country.

Kelly died in 2003 in an avalanche in British Columbia at the age of 36. Six others died that day, including Kathleen Kessler of Truckee. Others from Truckee survived the avalanche.

I didn’t know Kelly, not even sure I had ever heard of him until this book came out. He was someone living life on his own terms. That seems like such a rare things these days.

Blehm does an excellent job of weaving together Kelly’s past, his family, his competitiveness, his progression through the snowboarding world, how his engineering mind helped him design Burton boards, his plans post-competition, and his final days.

I felt Kelly’s loss through Blehm’s words. I was left wondering what more he would have contributed to this world had he lived. Craig Kelly is a name worth knowing.