How Sheffield's Kimberley Kay's love of skiing led to a major book deal

IT was as a small child that Kimberley Kay fell in love with skiing.

It is a sport that has been a burning passion of hers throughout her life, having enjoyed skiing as a youngster alongside her brother and having successfully converted her husband and stepchildren into the ways of the slope.

Now, as athletes across the world strap on their skis in Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics, Kimberley is on a mission to bring a far larger audience into the sport.

Her debut book, Ski A to Z, is on bookshop shelves around the world.

Very much a passion project, Sheffield-based Kimberley said she wanted to dispel some of the myths around the sport and spell out its accessibility, both for newcomers and for those who have been unable to hit the slopes for two years due to pandemic restrictions.

“The book is intended to be an introduction to the sport,” she told The Yorkshire Post.

“It demystifies the world of skiing, making it more accessible for people to try.”

An artist and illustrator by trade, having previously worked in public relations, she has her own firm, Inspire by Kim.

Included in the book is information, advice and images to help inform and prepare people for their first foray into skiing, with Kimberley having written and illustrated all the content herself.

The idea for the book came when she was searching for a project to get her teeth into.

Kimberley had wanted to develop her illustration skills for some time and, one day after skiing in France, she sat down and started painting ski equipment.

She began to post her drawings on social media and quickly people began showing an interest.

Enthused by the process, she began applying her knowledge of skiing to her posts, adding information to the pictures.

It was at this point she started to think it could be helpful to people as a book.

After gaining some advice she began pitching the concept of her A to Z guide to publishers. Kimberley had always been interested in writing a book and had enrolled in a book course out of general interest.

She says she had always liked the idea of her name on the spine of a book, but didn’t know what about – until it hit her.

Having designed a cover, produced some sample spreads of how the pages would be laid out and who it could be marketed to, she sent it off to Meyer and Meyer Sports in February of last year.

So impressed was the publisher that someone called her back within an hour. Since last February, she has been working to get text and illustrations done ready for this year’s ski season

“It’s been a total dream come true – with a lot of work,” she said. “The Design and Visual Arts courses at Sheffield College were the foundation for my career shift to art and illustration.

“The college’s wonderful tutors and studio facilities made for a great foundation for my business.

“All I have learned has been put into the Ski A to Z book. When the lockdowns hit, and skiing was not possible, I used the time to focus on ski tips and illustrations and felt that they would make a great book.”

One of the biggest misconceptions Kimberley is keen to dispel is that skiing is an elitist sport that only a few people can access, and for only a couple of months a year. With her book and the inspiration of the Winter Olympics, she hopes to change this mindset.

“I think people sometimes see skiing as something that’s not accessible,” she said

“But with artificial slopes and indoor snow slopes, people can go along, hire equipment and try it.

“And you can do that during the day, in the evening and whether it is rainy or sunny.

“It’s a great sport and you don’t necessarily have to be thinking about going to the mountains

to be able to do it and enjoy it.”

A huge part of the audience she wants to reach with the book are those who were skiers previously and are now apprehensive about getting back into it after a two-year absence.

She hopes the book can convince people that it is not time to give up on skiing.

Kimberley also is frustrated about the lack of venues across the North of England for people to give the sport a go.

As a resident of Sheffield she has an understandable resentment of the distances she has to travel to ski.

The destruction of Sheffield Ski Village in 2012 means that she needs to venture further afield than before, a situation many others understand.

“Unfortunately it’s not possible to ski or snowboard in the city at present,” she said.

“Sheffield Ski Village was a place where local people could try the sport and was the foundation for Olympians including James Woods and Katie Summerhayes who are both competing at their third Olympics in Beijing this month.

“I skied at Sheffield Village the weekend that it opened, and have great memories of skiing there, most recently with my husband and stepchildren in the years before it closed.

“Other than taking advantage of local snowfall and skiing at Plumbley in Mosborough, and on the hill at Rother Valley Country Park, we and other Sheffield skiers presently have to travel to Leeds, Manchester or Swadlincote to ski.

“So I really hope that it’s not too long before the people of the city can enjoy skiing again at a local venue.”

Kimberley grew up in Rossendale in Lancashire near an artificial ski slope and has fond memories of getting into skiing alongside her family.

“Me and my brother spent most of our childhood on the ski slope and then we’d also travel around the country doing races,” she said.

“We’d often go on holiday abroad and ski in the mountains and we started doing races there. It’s always been our family sport.”

When she moved to Sheffield in 2008 to join her now husband Tim, she got him and her stepchildren into skiing.

“Some of the questions they asked, having an understanding of what they wanted to know, helped form some of the content for the book.”

Ski A to Z is available through all good book stores and online retailers.