Skiing Colorado's Backcountry: Northern Mountains, Trails and Tours

Wow. Almost ten years since someone wrote a review of this excellent book. In the 20 years since this book has been written, the Colorado backcountry in winter has become more popular for snowshoeing and AT/tele "big bowl" skiing. The simple joy of ski touring has become a lot less popular. This book is aimed at people who enjoy being out on skis all day and traversing through the winter landscape. The tours range from novice tours that let people get their ski legs to tours where a person should be knowledgeable and comfortable deep in the Colorado backcountry. Many of these tours will take you off the beaten path and into places where few skiers go (or anyone for that matter). The book is sans color photos and other pretty accouterments of more recently published books. These "features" are often better for impulse purchases than for actual information. It is a "Just the facts ma'am" approach that is effective: A brief tour description, mileage and elevation gain, directions to the TH, maps needed and a rating of the skill level of the tour. Each tour is pictured on a large scale topo map that will give you a general idea of the tour itself. The only slight downside of this book is that in a few places, access issues have changed since the book was published (e.g. Mammoth Gulch). With nearly 150 tours listed, it is indeed a book for every "serious front range backcountry skier".

This book contains easy descriptions of touring and trailheads within day-trip distance of the Denver area. While the "extreme" backcountry skier may find that most tours described lack the desired excitement, there are still quite a few gems, and for the more classic cross country skier this book cannot be beat. Check out Dawson's guide to 14ers for the death-defying routes, but this book has everything to keep most skiers entertained. Most of the expert terrain described requires long approach routes, but every serious front range backcountry skier should buy this book without question.