Rob Coppolillo, co-author of one of our fave books, The Mountain Guide Manual, is at it again with the perfect sequel: The Ski Guide Manual: Advanced Techniques for the Backcountry. Another great title from Falcon Guides, TSGM is an up-to-date treatment of everything backcountry skiing, by an author who as one of the first 100 Americans to earn the prestigious American Mountain Guides Association international certification in mountain guiding.
TSGM is crazy full of good information. Even the trivia - you do know about smotli, right? (we didn't, page 57) - is instructional. Everything from planning to up to down to debrief is covered, with great photographs and illustrations, and lots of sidebars that call out important points. Rob's real-life experience makes frequent appearances to drive home points, and he's humble enough to give space to guest authors to write about their specialities such as split-boarding, teamwork and checklists. There is literally too much to cover, so we won't even try, we'll just leave you with our highest recommendation: buy this book! Read this book! Do it now!
The value here is just ridiculous. If you backcountry ski at all, you're at least dimly (hopefully more so) aware of the risks of traveling in avalanche terrain and on steep icy slopes. Reading this book is an investment in saving your life and the lives of your teammates, and the price of entry is almost negligible compared to what we spend on all the shiny sexy gear. So if you want to learn about smotli and everything else you need to know to be a safe and efficient backcountry skier, here are your answers.
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