The Beach on ice: deep powder, dead poets and moral free-fall in the death-sport capital of the world. Long-dead Lord Byron started it. He was the rock star of his age, but also a poet with about as much relevance to the blood grudge struggle that marks modern life for most of humanity as he has to the practice of sliding down snowy slopes on planks of wood. And yet, it was thanks to Byron that Itchy ended up living in Chamonix Mont Blanc, the death-sport capital of the world, among the high mountains and low morals. In the intervening years, he has tried hard with alcohol and adrenaline to numb a past he can't atone for. Now a serial rapist is stalking Cham's tourist-thronged streets, haunting the same shadows as Itchy and triggering an obsession which will lead him far from Europe's zenith, to the depths of the valley and himself. This is a striking evocation of a world where the reckless violence of a callow man's life comes back to haunt him. This work is presented by the author of the John Llewellyn Rhys prize-winner "Boy A". It is exhilarating and action-packed, with all the psychological acuity of "Boy A". It provides widespread review coverage in men's magazines and national press. 'The first time Itchy came here even the road up was like a call to arms. It's raised on great soaring stone pillars, which look like they were looted from the Titans, but it feels as if it was made before even those pregods. As if it surged from the centre of the earth with the same unfathomable energy that forced up the crag-ragged ridges on either side. Chamonix is indeed a mythical place, a mystical place: where civilisation confronted the wilderness and for once they agreed to differ; undefeated; the undisputed free-ride capital; the death-sport centre of the world. All of the first mountains ever assailed were climbed from here. The history of Alpinism itself is a history of Cham. Chamonix is where it all began.'

Jonathan Trigell's writing soars when describing the sublime mountain scenery and the rushing, redemptive exhilaration of skiing... But he's equally at ease conveying the murky moral ambiguity of Itchy's life... Exposing the darkness at the heart of a white world, Trigell's second novel is tense with foreboding: a clever, contemporary cliff hanger * Metro *
Does for extreme winter sports what Alex Garland's The Beach did for backpacking * Financial Times *
The walking, stalking spirit of Chamonix: forever chasing the beautiful adrenaline rush, but also driven by a dark force * Guardian *
Impressive tale of a wayward young man looking for redemption in the shadow of Mont Blanc * Daily Mirror *
There's a chilling edge to this tale of skiing, sex and partying * Independent *
At the other end of the spectrum are those writers who have literary ideals but - almost in an act of defiance against some of their peers - still manage to entertain their readers with a story. For some reason many of the best of these - Emily Bronte, Leo Tolstoy and so on - are long gone. There are contemporary writers, however, following in their footsteps... Jonathan Trigell is one of these writers. Cham, his second novel, is serious but never worthy * Sydney Morning Herald *
Cham is being likened to Alex Garland's The Beach. It explores another youth-oriented sub-culture - think skis and snowboards rather than backpacks - and the writing has a similar crafted intensity. Sharp metaphors are cut into its pages * Independent *
A murky, romantic look at the underbelly of season life * Daily Mail Ski & Snowboard Magazine *

Jonathan Trigell was born in 1974 and has lived in Hertfordshire, Manchester, Derby and Stone. In 2002 he completed an MA in creative writing at Manchester University. He has been a TV extra, an outdoor pursuits instructor and a door to door salesman; plus has worked right across the winter sports industry, from mopping floors and washing dishes to journalism and organising major events. His first novel, Boy A, won the prestigious John Llewellyn Rhys Prize for best work by an author under 35, and also the Waverton Award, for best first novel of 2004. Jonathan now lives in Chamonix, where he is writing his third novel, Genesis.