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

Product Description * For intermediate-to-advanced backcountry skiers * Includes trip planning, navigation, fitness, and avalanche safety information, in addition to techniques * Provides advice on how to make well-informed backcountry decisions Martin Volken and his co-authors provide skiers with all the tools and knowledge they need to safely and successfully travel in the mountain backcountry. The guide features intermediate-to-advanced techniques for ski touring and ski mountaineering, from planning backcountry 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. Review "[This book] is indeed a magnum opus. Not only is this one of the most current backcountry skiing how-tos I've ever seen, but it covers an amazing gamut of information, including Chapter 2, 'Decision Making in Avalanche Terrain,' ; and Chapter 4, 'Uphill Movement,' which gets incredibly detailed. If you're new to the game, I'd say this chapter alone makes the book worth the price. Highly recommended." (Lou Dawson, Backcountry Ski Guru) "For those skiers who want to test themselves in the snowy wilds, Backcountry Skiing is just the ticket." ( The Herald, Everett WA) "Backcountry Skiing is the skier's equivalent of Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills, and should prove a valueable resource for any skier looking to be well-informed and make good decisions in the mountains." ( Off-Piste Magazine) "[A] backcountry bible." ( Skiing Magazine) "Volken's new book Backcountry Skiing (with co-authors Scott Schell and Margaret Wheeler) is indeed a magnum opus. Not only is this one of the most current backcountry skiing how-tos I've ever seen, but it covers an amazing gamut of information…[an example is] chapter 2 "Decision-Making in Avalanche Terrain." Again, an incredibly detailed effort that could easily be used as a text book for outdoor education…[or] chapter 4, "Uphill Movement," which again gets incredibly detailed. If you're new to the game, I'd say this chapter alone makes the book worth the price…If you can't learn something from this book, you're either brain dead or terminally arrogant. Highly recommended. Good gift for a backcountry skier or alpinist of any ability level." (Lou Dawson WildSnow.com) " Backcountry Skiing is a brain-dump of some of the most dialed ski mountaineers in the U.S. Intermediate, to the most advanced ski mountaineers will find answers to their burning questions [inside]." ( Backcountry Magazine) "Impressive volume." ( AmericanTrails.org) About the Author A native of Switzerland, MARTIN VOLKEN is one of only three officially certified Swiss Guides working in the U.S. today. He is also an instructor and examiner for the American Mountain Guides Association's (AMGA) elite certification and founder of Pro Guiding Services. Coauthor SCOTT SCHELL is a certified AMGA Ski Mountaineering Guide and has led numerous single- and multi-day trips in the Cascades, the Coast Range of British Columbia, and the Alps. Coauthor MARGARET WHEELER started guiding for Pro Guiding Service in 2002, becoming a certified AMGA Ski Mountaineering Guide shortly after.