Backcountry Skiing: Skills for Ski Touring and Ski Mountaineering

This is a great book. Not too basic and not too advanced for someone wanting to get into the best way to ski-the earn your turns way. I used to teach alpine touring and ski mountaineering in the army and this would have been a great book to have around as the textbook. We taught all of this and then went in depth on the important items like avalanche safety (avoidance) and rescue. This book gives a beginning or intermediate ski mountaineer a taste and encourages AIARE level one certification (I recommend level two personally...) I still have my copy of the past standard, Peter Cliff's out of print classic "Ski Mountaineering" (no, I won't be selling it on EBay) and this is an improvement on it. It is great for learning and a great review for those that think they remember everything. I got some good tips on gear that, damn, I SHOULD have known!!!

The collaborative effort of Martine Volken (IFMGA certified Swiss Mountain Guide, founder and owner of Pro Guiding Services and Pro Ski Service of North Bend, Washington); Scott Schell, and certified AMGA Ski Mountaineering Guides Scott Shell and Margaret Wheeler, "Backcountry Skiing: Skills For Ski Touring And Ski Mountaineering" is an informed and informative instructional guide and manual for skiing safely in winter mountain terrains and trails. Aspiring skiers are provided with intermediate to advanced level techniques for ski touring and mountaineering; skills for mastering uphill travel; primers on mountain weather and avalanche safety; practical advice on selecting gear, troubleshooting, and adapting to varying conditions; vital information on constructing emergency shelters and sleds; as well as a wealth of useful tips for wilderness trip planning and navigation. Comprehensive, up-to-date, and thoroughly 'user friendly', "Backcountry Skiing" is strongly recommended for anyone contemplating skiing mountain terrain in winter conditions anywhere in the U.S. and Canada.

A welcome entrant, Martin Volken has written the best how to book for modern steep skiing and ski touring. He logically progresses through the process of a ski tour giving advice and insight for every level of skier. Well worth the acquisition.

Scott Schell, Margaret Wheeler and Martin Volken have teamed together to write the definitive guidebook on backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. All three authors, who are either IFMGA or AMGA certified mountain guides, have organized the discipline of backcountry skiing into ten concise chapters that take the reader through such topics as gear selection, avalanche preparedness, ski mountaineering, and mountain rescue techniques. One highlight of the book is the clear photos and graphics to demonstrate the useful skills and ideas that are helpful in the backcountry. For example, I recently used the skin cutting guide for my new touring skis. The step-by-step instructions and accompanying photos walk you through the essentials to match your skins perfectly to your skis. Instead of just describing what specific items you need for safe travel in the backcountry, the book has clear pictures of such items and procedures as a basic ski mountaineering rack, building an emergency sled, and crevasse rescue just to name a few. Make sure you have a highlighter and sticky notes to mark important information for you'll find yourself returning to this handy guidebook time and again for further reference. "Backcountry Skiing" is designed for both the experienced backcountry skier looking to hone his/her skills and the novice seeking to strectch his/her limits outside the ski area boundary.

Nothing is left out of this comprehensive guide. I have been backcountry skiing for several years, but this book still had many new ideas for me. And a beginner would find a huge amount of practical advice - would save years worth of trial and error on your own! The steep snow and glacier travel sections are also really well done.