I Survived Myself

Peter Chrzanowski's life took a dramatic twist at the age of 14 when his dad took the family on a grueling 14-month overland voyage by Volkswagen camper from Canada to southern Argentina's Tierra Del Fuego. The trip changed his life forever. Over the next four decades, he became an extreme skier, paraglide pilot, film maker, journalist and event producer. By 1978, when he was 21, Peter had already organized his first major climbing/skiing expedition and documentary film on Peru's highest peak - Huascaran (6746 m, 22,132 ft), along with French extreme skiing legends, Patrick Vallencant and Jean Marc Boivin. Accidents began to happen. In 1979 he cartwheeled 900 vertical meters (2,700 ft) down a 55 degree face while skiing Peru's Ranrapalca (6746 m, 22132 ft). He miraculously survived while waiting three days for rescue. In Canada, he continued his notable historical first ski descents, including a solo climb and first ski off the "Monarch of the Rockies", Mount Robson (2,829 m, 12,982 ft) in August 1983. While attending SFU he continued his films and first ski descents off mountains like Mexico's Popocatepetl; BC's highest peak, Mount Waddington; Mount Serratus; Mount Currie; Siberian Express; and many more. He brought extreme skiing legend Sylvain Saudan (and the name) to Blackcomb's Saudan Couloir. At least 20 films later, with more crashes, torn knee ligaments, and several near-death experiences, he then discovered the arcane sport of paragliding, and brought it to Canada. Then came more severe accidents, including a fractured femur and cracked pelvis, controversial sporting events, and judging films at several mountain film festivals around the world. He judged the World Extreme Skiing Championships in Valdez, Alaska for nine years. Follow Peter's brutally honest autobiography in "I Survived Myself." Learn how he has led a life as a black sheep to many in the corporate world -full of controversy and mischievous politics, which he humorously and very candidly reveals in his book. Peter is credited with bringing extreme skiing and paragliding to Canada.