Unbound: A Story of Snow and Self-Discovery

Five continents, four million vertical feet, and one woman in search of herself“A Wild-esque memoir of adventure and reflection.”—Self

Steph Jagger had always been a force of nature. Dissatisfied with the limited roles she saw for women as she was growing up, she emulated the men in her life—chasing success, climbing the corporate ladder, playing by the rules of a masculine ideal. By all accounts, she was living “The Dream.” But it wasn’t her dream. While skiing with friends one day, the universe caught her attention with a sign: Raise Restraining Device. Steph had seen this ski-lift sign countless times, but the familiar words suddenly became a personal call to shake off the life she had built and start a search for something different—something more. Steph decided to walk away from the success and security she had worked long and hard to obtain. She quit her job, took a second mortgage on her house, sold everything except her ski equipment and her laptop, and bought a bundle of plane tickets. For the next year, she followed winter up and down the mountains of North and South America, Asia, Europe, and New Zealand on a mission to ski four million vertical feet in a year. What hiking was for Cheryl Strayed, skiing became for Steph: a crucible in which to crack open her life and get to the very center of herself. But she would have to break herself down—first physically, then emotionally—before she could start to rebuild. And it was through this journey of body and soul that she came to understand how to be a woman, how to love, and how to live authentically. Electrifying, heartfelt, and full of humor, Unbound will inspire readers to remove their own restraining devices and pursue the life they are meant to lead.