The ABCs of Avalanche Safety: Review
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
This is the first book of its kind that I've bought and read. Most people would agree that when it comes to avalanche safety, a book alone is no substitute for regular practice with avalanche equipment, guidance from an expert or real life experience of travelling in the backcountry. I was looking for an introduction, some background knowledge, things to think about. The ABCs of Avalanche Safety covers exactly what the title suggests - it's a good place to start.
The book is pocket size, say 4" by 6", with around 130 pages. The content is split up into 4 chapters - Snow and Avalanche Basics, Practical Guidelines for Stability Evaluation, Safety Rules and Rescue and Case Histories - each filled with concise information.
Concise should not be confused with simple, however. The book is written with technical and scientific language, especially so with the descriptions of how the snow cover forms. Photos and diagrams are used in places to suppliment the text, and to good effect.
I think the size of the book itself is a plus. Being handy, with a small number of direct chapters, makes reading encouraging; it's easy to dip into any of the sections for a quick read. Its size also makes it portable; weighing you down isn't a concern, so it's easy to take away.
In contrast, I occassionally found the vocabulary a little slow to digest. At this stage, some of the snow science seemed quite heavy, given my lack or practical experience.
So what about the scope of information? This is where the book really scores. Starting with an explanation of avalanche terms, it then provides foundation knowledge about different types of snow and how avalanches form. There are guidelines for assessing the risk, how to avoid avalanches and how to perform a search. It's a good mix of theory and practical advice. Simply put, it's the ABCs of avalanche safety.
Written on the back cover: A respected authority since 1961. I can see why. This is a good book. What's more, at around £6 it's very accessible. At the time of writing, Amazon has it listed with the Search Inside feature - so go take a slightly closer look!
Labels: books, off-piste and backcountry, review
Snowboarding The World Travel Guide: Review
Sunday, September 09, 2007
I like the Snowboarding the World travel guide. It feels good. It's got that high quality glossy finish that makes you happy when you pick it up. It's a nice book.
But luckily that's not all it is. StW is also a very good travel guide. Here's an excerpt from the introduction, which lays out nicely what the book is trying to achieve:
Snowboarders are, by definition, travellers. Unless you're lucky enough to live at the foot of a mountain, the typical snowboarding trip means planning an overseas journey - and making some important decisions.
So how do you narrow down the options? Unlike surfing, with its rich culture, sophisticated market and detailed guidebooks, snowboarding travel literature lags behind. Such guides as do exist are often poorly researched, badly written and - unforgivably - guilty of propogating the same hackneyed opinions that have been current since the first pioneers decided to decend a hill while standing sideways.
Apart from the aesthetics of the book, there are 3 main things that appeal to me with this guide:
- It's different to the other guides I've read. It has a slightly different format, which works nicely, and it's not repeating previous information
- It's interesting. As well as the resort guides themselves, there are Riders' Tales and Lift Chat sections scattered throughout the pages - and they really add to the book
- It's up to date. The destinations covered and the content reflect what's going on now with snowboarding
Layout of the guide
The guide starts with some essentials. A brief introduction looking at different aspects of planning a snowboarding trip: packages, do it yourself, airlines, are you looking for powder, park or partying... that type of thing. There's also a cool section covering 6 of the best and 6 of the worst, in categories such as underground classics and must do runs.
The rest of the book is concerned with the resort-by-resort guide, covering Austria, Canada, Eastern Europe & Middle East, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Scandinavia, South America, Spain & Andorra, Switzerland and the USA. All in all, one hundred top resorts.
And here's one of the bits I really like. Each destination opens up with 8 pages or so of general information. What are the overall pros and cons of that country? How to get there. Traditions, eating, price guide and when's good to go. What's the off-piste policy and what's the scene like? Top tips and star resorts... these sections within the guide do an excellent job of giving you a feel for what it will be like to go there.
Then there are the individual resorts, 2 pages dedicated to each. At first glance it might feel like there isn't that much information here - not a lot is written about any individual aspect. If you're after in-depth descriptions this probably won't appeal to you.
But I think the format used works really well. There's a wide range of small snippets presented that give a good impression of the resort. Little things like Internet access, what to do on flat light days and if you like this resort... try.... My favourite bit, which I read first, is the side-bar summary. It covers: Locals Do, Locals Don't, Pros, Cons, Not To Miss, Remember To Avoid, Snow Depth and Relive A Famous Moment.
Added interest
If you're buying a travel guide, chances are you're interested in the subject. But I think that StW scores particularly high here. There's a long list of Riders' Tales and Lift Chat spread throughout the book; topics such as Cliff drops in Canada, Making movies and The genesis of Tignes. It's all good. I hope that this is the type of content that they can change and update with future revisions of the book.
It's new
One of the key aims of the authors was to produce fresh and up to date information. I think they succeeded here. Looking at the acknowledgements, they used sources from far and wide, and it shows. The information in the guide feels current, and the range of resorts reflects some of the newer thinking in snowboarding.
Overall
I think it's an excellent guide book. Wonderfully produced, loads of great photos, interesting and most importantly it's successful in helping you decide where you'd like to go. Perhaps it's not the cheapest guid book around, but I think it's worth it. Brilliant.
P3: Pipes, Park, and Powder - Review
Friday, June 15, 2007
I've read this book twice now, and enjoyed it just as much the second time through. Todd Richards is a champion snowboarder who's played a role in how the sport has developed. With Todd having been in snowboarding since just about the beginning, this book gives you a kind of hands-on history of snowboarding, as well as a great insight his life. The book has an easy style, it's funny, enjoyable; it's great.
P3 shows us a good view of the early snowboarding scene: the first brands, what the boards were like, the early riders, the (crappy) half-pipes, those who brought the skateboarding influence to snowboarding and how sponsorship worked when the sport was young. All through the eyes of an aspiring and influenceable teenager.
Todd Richards develops as snowboarding develops - and there are lots of fun and interesting stories along the way, as well as some great pictures. There's a really funny snippet telling how Todd helped one of his friends (who couldn't really ride) to blag a sponsorship deal, and then how long it took the sponsor to figure the joke out.
Todd discusses the jibb movement and the progression to shorter, freestyle boards, better for spinning. Enter snowboard parks. Enter slopestyle contests. Adapting from pipe to park. How much can a rider make from a pro-model?
Then there's the arrival of the XGames and the impact it had on snowboarding. Followed by the first Olympics including snowboarding as an event. Each time, Todd talks about his involvement, his views and how it effected him.
It's all there.
But what makes it a good book is finding out what it all meant to Todd Richards. How he got into snowboarding. His dedication to progession. How he both struggled and excelled with the pressure of competition. His matching up against Terje. His life outside of snowboarding. His personality.
If you don't know who Todd Richards is, you should read this book just to find out: snowboarding's really important to him, and he's been important for snowboarding. There is of course the chance that you'll bump into him on a hill someday and you might say hello; but you'd still need to have read the book to know why that would be funny!
Read it on your next snowboard trip, you'll enjoy it.
World Snowboard Guide: Review
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
The World Snowboard Guide: a trusty companion for any snowboarder, I'd recommend it.
The wsg is a really good book. It's got excellent resort coverage and the information, written by snowboarders, is tailored for snowboarders. The guide caters for riders of all levels, from beginners taking their first steps, to more advanced riders, looking for a good park, or searching for serious backcountry action. Not only that, there's consideration given to all interests: freestyle, freeriding and carving. It's a complete guide.
So what's in the guide?
The wsg has some general rider tips at the start, primarily aimed at beginners I'd say. Travel options, what to wear, lift passes and insurance, that kind of thing. There's a brief look at summer glaciers and there's also a guide to backcountry. This section doesn't aim to be comprehensive, but the information there is useful. For example, if you're interested in riding off-piste and in the backcountry, the guide points out a lot of the things that you need to be aware of; it's a good starting point from which to look further.
Similarly, at the back of the book there's a mini language guide. Again, it's just a page or two of vocabulary for some of the main destinations, but it's targetted at the travelling snowboarder. It might be just what you need to help you get to resort, buy you pass or ask a question on the hill... it's handy.
Those things aside, the bulk of the guide is of course concerned with the details of a large number of world-wide resorts: Austria, Canada, France, Japan, New Zealand... they're all there (that wasn't the complete list).
Each resort is rated out of 10 and reviewed from the beginner's, the freestyler's, the freerider's and the carver's point of view. You get some resort background, how to get there, the amount of terrain, the number of lifts, anual snowfall and which bars are good. Just enough about everything you need to know, with more space dedicated to the bigger, more popular resorts.
You might not always agree with everything they say about a resort as some of the information comes across as personal preference/opinion. But it's hard to argue with the overall descriptions for the resorts, which are accurate.
This makes it an excellent starting point for considering where to go next: how busy is it likely to be, are there loads of t-bars, what's the park like, is it easy to get to and what about the night-life? If you're in the know, the guide can provide you with options to help tailor your next trip. If you're clueless, you could do much worse than following the advice within these pages.
So whether you're planning your first trip or researching your next powder hunt, it's a good, snowboard-specific guide. It's even good for just flicking through the different resorts. You'll want to keep it close.
Still hungry for more? Check out the archives.
