Are you ready for an exhilarating adventure through the Italian Alps with four furry companions by your side?
Pups on Piste is a funny, heartwarming true story about persistence, survival – and following your dreams.

Jackie and Mark share a passion for planks. When they married, just 37 weeks after they first met, they had ambitious plans: to spend a full ski season in the Italian Alps. This memoir follows their first three months in Monte Rosa, a little-known resort tucked beneath the second-highest peak in Western Europe – which also happens to be one of the world’s finest off-piste freeride destinations.

They arrive with four Cavapoos* – Kai, Rosie, Ruby and Lani – and a healthy dose of optimism.

What follows is glorious chaos. They get lost, stranded and conduct experiments on the edge of control. Then, they take a back-country ski course where the instructor’s advice is simple: “Don’t miss the turn or you’ll go over a cliff.”

Threaded through the narrative is the author’s own skiing journey – from tearful struggles on the nursery slopes to fully-fledged off-piste powder hound – proving that you don’t have to be a natural sportswoman to embrace adventure.

Warm, witty, and sharply observed, Pups on Piste is a love letter to Italy in winter, a celebration of persistence over perfection, and a reminder that the best adventures are rarely tidy.

Whether you’re a seasoned skier, a devoted dog lover, or a dedicated armchair adventurer keen to enjoy the action from the comfort of your own sofa, this memoir is a fun, invigorating ride through Alpine highs, powdery lows, and everything in between.

*Cavalier/Poodle cross

Like all my books, this is a true story, written by a human!