Backcountry Books Good Place To Start
People with a yen for heading into the backcountry with skis or snowboards have some great material to explore before they hit the slopes.
Following are choice new backcountry books.
“Allen & Mike’s Really Cool Telemark Tips,” by Allen O’Bannon and Mike Clelland (Falcon Press, 800-582-2665, $12.95).
This could be the most effective instructional guide ever compiled for mastering the telemark turn.
First, it’s entertaining. The profusion of cartoons illustrating the 109 amazing tips to improve your tele-skiing help you smile while you learn.
Second, the points are clearly stated by an author/instructor who has studied the technique and formulated a teaching progression.
Upfront, however, O’Bannon levels with his readers. The only way to master the tele turn is to spend a lot of time on skis.
“Winter Tales and Trails,” by Ron Watters (Great Rift Press, 800-585-6857, $14.95).
This book would have been worth the money if the author had simply pinpointed many of the best backcountry skiing, snowshoeing and alpine skiing spots in Idaho, The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Park.
But he added another element that transforms the guidebook into a journey through time.
Every region covered in the book includes tales and photos of winter backcountry travelers from years past. Poachers, lawmakers, postal carriers and all resorted to snowshoes or skis to ply their trades in the rugged Idaho wilderness of yesteryear.
Profiles in the North Idaho region include Russ Keene, a Sandpoint native who served in the Tenth Mountain Division during World War II. Keene left his mark in the Schweitzer area for his snow-cave making skills.
This book is a completely updated and expanded version of “Ski Trails and Old-Timers’ Tales,” which Watters published in 1978.
“Backcountry Snowboarding,” by Christopher Van Tilburg (The Mountaineers, 800-553-4453, $18.95) Here’s the bad news for parents. Those teenagers who have revitalized the ski industry are not content to simply test the limits of alpine resorts.
They lure of independence and untracked snow is sucking into the backcountry, where some of them don’t have a clue.
This book is a good basic guide to what a person of any age or ability needs to know before truckin’ a board into the outback.
Don’t mention the word responsible, or they’ll never read this. But the chapters on avalanche, mountain safety and backcountry travel are the kinds of information boarders need to have under belt of their baggy pants before they trudge away from managed areas.
“Backcountry Ski! Washington,” by Seabury Blair, (Sasquatch, 800-775-0817, $15.95).
Blair, an outdoor columnist for the Bremerton Sun brings a unique combination to snowsport guidebooks. He can ski, and he can write.
The text and excellent maps lead to some of the best trails and descents for free-heelers and snowboarders. The book concentrates on trips that don’t require expeditional effort to reach.
The book’s title, however, is a misnomer. The book basically covers backcountry sking in Western Washington and the east slope of the Casacades. It does not cover far-eastern Washington venues such as the Kettle Range, or Blue Mountains.
Blair aspires to find slopes that are certain to bring you the kind of pleasure most Baptist churches would declare sinful. Amen.