Avalanche Essentials: A Step-by-Step System for Safety and Survival

by Bruce Tremper

Winter athletes don’t necessarily want to be snow scientists, but playing in avalanche country does require basic knowledge of the risks in order to stay safe. This new guide by renowned avalanche expert Bruce Tremper is simple, accessible, and offers just the basics — an Everyman’s guide to avalanche safety that won’t overtax your average ski bums, but will keep them safe when they’re going for 12 consecutive months of powder. Avalanche Essentials is for everyone who wants to learn the fundamentals of avalanche awareness, focusing on systems and checklists, step-by-step procedures, decision-making aids, visual terrain and weather cues, rescue techniques, gear, and more.

Avalanche Essentials is intended for broader use by skiers, snowboarders, snowmobilers, hikers, climbers, and snowshoers. Because it steers clear of more complex topics (e.g., snow metamorphism), it’s perfect for generalists as well as anyone who has studied avalanche safety and likes to keep a pocket reference while in potentially dangerous terrain.

Genres: Nonfiction, Adventure

176 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2013

About the author

Bruce grew up skiing in the mountains of western Montana where his father taught him the basics of avalanches at the age of 10. After a successful ski racing career, he did avalanche control at Bridger Bowl Ski Area in Montana, earned a Masters Degree in Geology from Montana State University, studying under the well-known avalanche scientists Dr. John Montagne and Dr. Bob Brown. He then took over as the Director of Avalanche Control at Big Sky Ski Area in Montana, worked as a backcountry avalanche forecaster for the Alaska Avalanche Center and he has been the Director of the Utah Avalanche Center since 1986. Bruce has been featured in numerous national and international television documentaries about avalanches including those produced by National Geographic, Discovery Channel, History Channel, Weather Channel and PBS and he regularly appears on national network news programs. Bruce wrote the books "Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain," and "Avalanche Essentials" both published by Mountaineers Books.

Reviews

[Michał · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must-read for everyone that's doing things in mountains during winter

[Dorian Hodorogea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well detailed and full of examples, I believe a great book to read and carry every time you are out in the backcountry skiing or snowboarding. I rated it 4 stars as I also have read the "Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain" by the same author which is more detailed. The content is very similar so choose one of the two, don't do the same mistake I did to think that this is a continuation of the first book.

[D]

I skimmed this book only to see how it relates to the author's other book 'Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain'. This appears to be a more condensed version of the same book. If I knew someone was pretty serious about being self-taught, I'd recommend the longer book, as there are a lot of good teachings in there.

[Anthony Wildenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

over all this book was really good It really helped me learn so much more about avalanches. I did think it was a little bit boring on for the fact that has a lot of facts about avalanches and how they are formed. But some of the facts were actually really cool like there are these things called terrain traps and if there happens to be an avalanche in that area you would not want to be there because your chances of survival are really low.
I really like how the author used real life stories that actually happened because it gives the information that he is saying backing because usually people just say that these events could happen and in here he is actually showing you how it happened. The book also talks about how avalanches can start and what the conditions are like for them to start
A slab break is when the snow underneath is really icy so it makes a weak layer of snow which allows for the snow on top to break off and slide down the hill on the icy snow. I also like how at the end of the book it talked about how like the northern part of mountains are usually more dangerous because they can have a steeper decline and don't get as sun to soften up the snow like the south side of the mountain does.

[earthshattering · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent overview of avalanche safety, with many tips and exercises for you to do at home or in the backcountry. The book was made better by the author's extensive experience, firsthand stories, vivid descriptive writing, and the addition of great photos of avalanches. This book is an introduction, but it is easy to follow and provides a solid basis on which to develop your knowledge on avalanches further.

[Nick Gerritsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great reference for surviving and playing safely in avalanche terrain. It's essentially a distilled down version of Bruce's other book "Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain". It keeps all of the most important insights and information. Because of this, it is a quick read and is easily digestible. I will try to read it every season to keep the knowledge fresh. Thanks Bruce for all of the invaluable insight into this topic!

[Adam Freedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is definitely a great book to educate yourself on operations in avalanche terrain. This is not a comprehensive guide and really just a start but not a difficult read and super helpful in prep for the upcoming winter

[James Claussen · Rating 5 out of 5]

outstanding resource!!

A must read for anyone interesting in or considering off-resort skiing and boarding as part of the learning journey resources. Tremendous deeply experienced insights here.

[L.C. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative AND humorous!

[Gaëlle Batot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and useful.

[Jon Malmgren · Rating 4 out of 5]

The more you learn, the less you know

[Susan McCreary]

A classic. Re-read.

[Bart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clear and easy to follow for someone with a ton of inbound but very little out of bounds experience. Feels like a great introduction.

[JP · Rating 4 out of 5]

That time of year, good refresher. Quick, easy,

[Erika Panaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It is a bit complex since I love mountains but I have no idea about geology and terrain. I generally get lost in my tiny flat so I couldn't understand mostly of the techniques explained by the author. In any case, I enjoyed the reading and I liked the different ideas behind each chapter. The part I loved most was about technology and what it is available on the marked for safety during avalanches.

[Steph · Rating 2 out of 5]

decent avalanche primer, but the author is big on name dropping, cheesy jokes, and the content is organized in a strange way

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

Concise overview of avalanche safety techniques. Excellent companion book to Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain.