From the Publisher
"Steph Jagger has written a captivating book about what it means to unlock our truest selves. Brave, honest and sparkling with wit and humor, Unbound will take you on an unforgettable journey." -- Claire Bidwell Smith, author of The Rules of Inheritance
"Unbound is a case study in navigating discontent. Buy this book for everyone you know who believes there's more to life than getting a mortgage and climbing the corporate ladder." -- Chris Guillebeau, New York Times bestselling author of Born for This and The $100 Startup
"A Wild-esque memoir of adventure and reflection." -- Self
"Unbound is a brave, beautiful journey through the winter of a life. A gorgeous memoir!" -- Aspen Matis, author of Girl in the Woods
"A daring journey-complete with the unexpected twists, turns, and transformations that happen when you lean into a dream." -- Janice MacLeod, author of New York Times bestseller Paris Letters
"Steph Jagger is as bitingly funny as she is willing to expose her own vulnerabilities--the result is a refreshingly honest read. Through her own journey, she prompts us to live truthfully. deliberately, and to say yes, whether to an extra lap or a deeper look at one's self." -- Lucy Higgins, Associate Editor of Backcountry Magazine
"With snow as her compass and ski goggles as her lens, Steph Jagger embarks on an inspiring ten-month journey of self-discovery and reinvention. Not just for skiers, Unbound is a captivating read that demonstrates the value in following one's heart beyond the beaten path." -- Becky Wade, professional runner and author of Run the World: My 3,500-Mile Journey Through Running Cultures Around the Globe
"Unbound is a stunning book that is sure to bring out the inner bad-ass in each of its readers. If you've ever dreamt of standing on the dazzling mountain tops of your life, this book is for you." -- Linda Sivertsen, bestselling author and host of the Beautiful Writers Podcast
"Steph Jagger takes the reader over her skis in a daredevil world-wide run. No laterals, no time-outs, no taking ball four. It's just you and the mountain. Hold on for an adventurous read." -- Dick Enberg, Emmy Award-winning Sportscaster
"Unbound is a page turner. It's punchy, sexy, and funny, and most of all, it helped me understand my own story better." -- Shelby Stanger, adventure journalist, Outside Magazine
"Unbound begins with an epic ski trip, and ends with a completely different journey, one that is richer and deeper than the snow found on the slopes of the world. Along the way, we experience the places Jagger travels to, feel her frustrations, celebrate her triumphs and feel for the woman who allows us to see her for who she is. It is impossible not to admire such honesty." -- Stella Harvey, author of The Brink of Freedom and, and Director of the Whistler Writers Festival
"What is true courage--taking on a dangerous athletic challenge that most wouldn't dream of, or tearing apart a life that everyone, including yourself, has deemed nearly perfect? Steph Jagger's story will inspire you to discover and embrace your most authentic self, proving that a life does not have to broken to be recreated into one that's far more meaningful." -- Cea Sunrise Person, author of North of Normal
"Unbound is an exhilarating story that totally captivated me. I was enraptured by her incredible strength and will as she skied around the world, sometimes crashing through snow-capped trees, down double black-diamond runs, and even fumbling through falling in love. Steph became my hero." -- Bif Naked, musician and author of I, Bificus
Self
A Wild-esque memoir of adventure and reflection.
Lucy Higgins
Steph Jagger is as bitingly funny as she is willing to expose her own vulnerabilities—the result is a refreshingly honest read. Through her own journey, she prompts us to live truthfully. deliberately, and to say yes, whether to an extra lap or a deeper look at one’s self.
Becky Wade
With snow as her compass and ski goggles as her lens, Steph Jagger embarks on an inspiring ten-month journey of self-discovery and reinvention. Not just for skiers, Unbound is a captivating read that demonstrates the value in following one’s heart beyond the beaten path.
Aspen Matis
Unbound is a brave, beautiful journey through the winter of a life. A gorgeous memoir!
Dick Enberg
Steph Jagger takes the reader over her skis in a daredevil world-wide run. No laterals, no time-outs, no taking ball four. It’s just you and the mountain. Hold on for an adventurous read.
Chris Guillebeau
Unbound is a case study in navigating discontent. Buy this book for everyone you know who believes there’s more to life than getting a mortgage and climbing the corporate ladder.
Claire Bidwell Smith
Steph Jagger has written a captivating book about what it means to unlock our truest selves. Brave, honest and sparkling with wit and humor, Unbound will take you on an unforgettable journey.
Janice MacLeod
A daring journey-complete with the unexpected twists, turns, and transformations that happen when you lean into a dream.
Shelby Stanger
Unbound is a page turner. It’s punchy, sexy, and funny, and most of all, it helped me understand my own story better.
Linda Sivertsen
Unbound is a stunning book that is sure to bring out the inner bad-ass in each of its readers. If you’ve ever dreamt of standing on the dazzling mountain tops of your life, this book is for you.
Bif Naked
Unbound is an exhilarating story that totally captivated me. I was enraptured by her incredible strength and will as she skied around the world, sometimes crashing through snow-capped trees, down double black-diamond runs, and even fumbling through falling in love. Steph became my hero.
Stella Harvey
Unbound begins with an epic ski trip, and ends with a completely different journey, one that is richer and deeper than the snow found on the slopes of the world. Along the way, we experience the places Jagger travels to, feel her frustrations, celebrate her triumphs and feel for the woman who allows us to see her for who she is. It is impossible not to admire such honesty.
Cea Sunrise Person
What is true courage—taking on a dangerous athletic challenge that most wouldn’t dream of, or tearing apart a life that everyone, including yourself, has deemed nearly perfect? Steph Jagger’s story will inspire you to discover and embrace your most authentic self, proving that a life does not have to broken to be recreated into one that’s far more meaningful.
Self
A Wild-esque memoir of adventure and reflection.
Leah Evans
I love this book. It nails the feeling of wanting to be alive in the world…to get out there and create your own story. In Unbound Steph reminds us that we all have an adventurous bone somewhere in our bodies. Her story will inspire you to lift your restraining device, find those bones, and get them moving towards your own adventure. The only thing stopping you, is you.
Chris GuillebeauNYT bestselling author of Born for This and The $100 StartupChris GuillebeauNYT best
Unbound is a case study in navigating discontent. Buy this book for everyone you know who believes there’s more to life than getting a mortgage and climbing the corporate ladder.
Kirkus Reviews
2016-10-20
On a skiing trip around the world, the author loses herself in order to find herself and unexpectedly finds love in the process.Except for the skis and the mountains, the narrative arc of this memoir sounds very much like that of other books that have become popular accounts of transformative pilgrimages—see: Elizabeth Gilbert and Cheryl Strayed. The main difference is that there was no real crisis that impelled Jagger on her quest. "We wait until we're broken…before we examine ourselves, before we look in the mirror," writes the author. "No one ups and changes a close to perfect life." So why did she quit her solid sales-and-marketing job, go into debt, and commit to skiing some 4 million vertical feet over the course of one year? "A small amount of boredom had crept into my life of late," she writes. "I was content, happy with everything I had and everything I'd done, but it still wasn't enough." Though the scenery is spectacular—Japan, New Zealand, France—both the writer and readers discover that descriptions of skiing can also be boring, or at least repetitive, punctuated by the occasional tumble that leaves her on all fours and questioning why she was doing such a thing. Eventually, Jagger learned that sometimes a ski trip isn't just a ski trip but, "in many ways, my very own rite of passage, one about knowing and owning every sacred ounce of myself." Along the way, the author met many fellow seekers and even fell in love, but only after she'd also become involved with someone else. "I'm not gonna lie, things were really on fire for me in the titillation department," she writes. Yet after committing to the man who had initially seemed remote and indifferent to her, she discovered a relationship that went even deeper than love, a relationship that proceeded through "our first official vagina worshipping" by her "own vagina whisperer." A middling memoir of self-discovery.
