Backcountry Skiing: Skills for Ski Touring and Ski Mountaineering (Mountaineers Outdoor Expert Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)It's bizarrre: For as huge as backcountry skiing has grown, the definitive "how-to" manual hasn't been written. Until now.
I own everything from Lito Tejado-Flores' ancient book "Backcountry Skiing" to the slim "Allen & Mike's Really Cool Backcountry Ski Book" and about three avvie and ski-guidebooks. None of those has everything that today's newbie Alpine ski-tourer needs to know.
But this book by Schell, Wheeler and Volken has it all. And while experienced backcountry skiers might be able to skip parts of chapters, and skim others, this longtime backcountry skier was surprised (and a little embarrassed) how much he learned -- the mountain-guide authors cover in detail things like seated belays, various shelters, placing protection on ice, and building several kinds of anchors. Pair this book with an even more detailed avalanche-awareness book (or better, a class) and you'll be ready for the mountains this winter.

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Martin Volken and his co-authors provide skiers with all the tools and knowledge they need to safely and successfully travel in the mountains. The guide features intermediate-to-advanced techniques for ski touring and ski mountaineering, from planning wilderness trips to perfecting turns in rolling terrain and mastering uphill climbing. For those skiers ready for a more technical, high alpine environment, they draw on traditional mountaineering skills, including roped climbing, setting protection anchors, using ice axes, climbing on bare rock, and more. In addition to mastering techniques, Backcountry Skiing also features information on recent evolutions in ski equipment; avalanche safety tips; a primer on mountain weather and glaciers, trip planning tools, a discussion of emergency situations, nutrition and fitness advice, and winter camping basics. Throughout this guide, a special emphasis is put on being well-informed and making good decisions-whenever you strap on your skis and skins and head out into the backcountry.

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