50 Classic Backcountry Ski and Snowboard Summits in California: Mount Shasta to Mount Whitney Review

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(More customer reviews)If you are planning a winter/spring backcountry trip and want accurate, detailed information on routes, terrain, and level of difficulty for some of the best skiing/snowboarding terrain in California than this is the perfect book. The book is well organized, clearly written and beautifully illustrated. Everytime I pick up the book I find myself mentally planning new trips and plotting descent routes on the photographs.An added plus to the book is the wealth of information that it contains on preparing for a backcountry experience. The author covers everything from avalanche danger to equipment to bring on an extended trip. He even includes an excellent website for those who want more information.There always is a question in my mind when I read any backcountry guide about the accuracy of the information. Who wants to set out on a trip only to find out that the route maps or the descriptions don't match the terrain? The author is someone with extensive backcountry experience who has done each of the 50 trips described in the book at least once. We all sould be so lucky! Having taken two trips with the author that are detailed in the book, I can say that he did an excellent job of describing the routes and the terrain. If you are someone who is looking for backcountry ski/snowbaording adventure, this book will make your trip planning a whole lot easier. Enjoy

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50 Classic Backcountry Ski and Snowboard Summits in California offers some of the finest ski and snowboard descents in California, ranging over a 550-mile span from the Cascade Range in the north to the Sierra Nevada in the south. Grouped into nine geographical regions, these summits represent the best of the best-from well-known destinations to more remote areas to a sampling of the highest peaks. Historical anecdotes about each region round out the guide for an entertaining and informative read. Trips range from a half day to seven days, and while all can be completed on either snowboard or skis, the author makes specific recommendations for the best snowboard descents. Each trip description includes a complete narrative of the ascent and descent plus information on trip highlights, trip duration, level of difficulty, mileage, elevation gain, and access. The appendix includes a list of California's highest peaks. This is the most complete information available in one volume, featuring the widest selection of premier ski mountaineering and snowboard routes in California. With 70 b&w photos and 60 maps.

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Glaciers: The Art of Travel, the Science of Rescue Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a book on something I knew nothing about before--the art and science of travelling, climbing, and rescue on glaciers. There are six chapters that dicuss various aspects of glacier survival and climbing skills, including equipment and clothing, glacier features and hazards, rope techniques for travel and rescue (which is called "rigging" in mountaineering parlance), anchors and anchor systems, and glacier travel techniques and crevasse rescue. In addition, there are three appendices on knots for glacier travel and rescue, the self-arrest (which is about how to stop yourself or a companion from sliding or falling), and mechanical advantage, which is devoted to different pulley systems.
The book is obviously intented for serious climbers and rescue personnel since much of it is fairly technical and detailed. Just the rope rescue and pulley systems can get pretty complex, but I enjoyed reading about all of it nevertheless, and I have new appreciation of and understanding for the skill it takes to survive or perform a rescue under these conditions.
There are so many interesting topics on glacier travel and survival discussed that it's hard to summarize or pick just one as an example, but it was interesting to learn about the pros and cons of different-numbered rope teams. For example, there is always a trade-off between the number of the people in the team, safety, and speed of travel. Two-person teams can travel the fastest but are considered the least safe since if one person falls into a crevasse it's very difficult to effect a rescue. Three-person teams are considered the minimum for safe travel but are slower than two-man teams, and five-man teams are considered the safest but are the slowest. Although considered the minimum for safe travel, for a three-man team, it turns out that it's very difficult to perform a rescue if the middle person falls into a crevasse, whereas if the person on either end falls in it's not as difficult.
Each discipline has its own special terminology and mountaineering is no different. I learned a lot of new words and terms, so I'll mention just a few of these here. I learned about the Bilgeri rescue, the Canadian drop-loop systen, how to rescue the middle person (which as I said, can present special difficulties), the Prusik knot and single-strand food Prusik, the Garda and mariner's knots, belay systems for low to high force falls, mechanical ascenders and mini-ascenders, firn tubes (an anchor tube that can be driven into the snow, bollards (anchors for snow and ice), pickets (which are just like it sounds and are metal stakes), ice screws, and many others.
One final odd thing I learned is that there is a photo of a mountaineer wading almost hip deep across a slush pool. I didn't know that glaciers also contained pools of melted water. You'd think all the water would be frozen. But I read once that the glaciers and snow on Mt. Ranier are melting so much that sometimes enough flood water has run out of certain ice caves that they've occasionally knocked both people and a trail outhouse down. :-) There's an odd German word for this type of flood but unfortunately I don't remember it right now.
The text is well written and there are many illustrations, especially of the many rope, knots, and pulley systems, configurations and techniques which show their application in different situations. This is an excellent book on glaciers for mountaineering which I suspect will be mainly of interest to serious climbers and rescue team members.

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How-to guide on safe travel around and over crevasses and rescue techniques filledwith illlustrations and photos.

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