Avy Book suggestions

[Jonathan S.]

At long last:
http://www.wildsnow.com/6011/snow-sense-book-review/

[Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer]

^^^ Cool thanks for posting. Interestingly, I have never read snow sense (just Tremper and The Avalanche Handbook). Now I want to go check out a copy of that when it is available.

[Ivan Oder]

Here's the pile of books I've read to enlighten myself as a ski enthusiast, I'm sure they have been mentioned.



Snow Sense
Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain
Allen & Mike's Really Cool Backcountry Ski Book
Avalanche Handbook
Backcountry Skiing
Mountaineering Freedomg of the Hills
OEC 5th Ed.

When I am traveling I usually take Snow Sense as a refresher to read on my downtime and more often then not it's in my day pack along with a smaller
first aid book.

Free Skiing is really good for the illustrations and photographs.

I think perhaps more important than books is a qualified instructor who can explain the concepts and demonstrate. It's one thing to read about a snow pack in a book and another to actually look at one.

[Hacksaw]

The other day I was given a new copy of SNOW SENSE. It has been reedited by Karl Birkeland and Doug Chabot (two of the leading snow science and avalanche forecasters). A quick look show the rescue section and "sledding smart in avalanche country have been updated.

[Ivan Oder]

Ordered a new copy of Snow Sense. I guess mine is like the first edition from 1999?

[Hugh Conway]

In the free reading list:
Snow Observational Guidelines

[Justin H]

I just read staying alive. Good book for someone who has never seen a snow pit and knows minimal amount about snow structure and behaviour. I have the avalanche handbook as well but I think I am going to read that after I have done my Avy 1 course.

I find that the accident reports CAC publishes, while a bit morbid, reinforce a lot of the best practices for being safe in the backcountry (always have your big three pieces of gear, etc). I don't really read them to develop my snow sense, as I will look to get that from on the snow experience with people who know what is up.

[stash searcher]

I've at least looked through most of these books, and thought for a while that I wanted to study avalanches, until I realized I was the only graduate school applicant in any of the North American schools that even have an avy professor/program that was trying to apply with a bachelors in art. Needless to say, I did not make it into any of their programs...
I recently enjoyed reading "In the grip of avalanches" by Jill Fredston.
there were some good things in there and it provided some perspective on maybe why, as someone previously mentioned, "snow sense" was a bit 'negative' in viewpoint.
Taking an Avy 1 course is definitely awesome, if you can. I'd love to take Level 2, but can't justify the price nor the travel costs since I live in an area where avalanches don't really occur.