Solace Of Winter: A Season Backcountry Ski Touring Colorado's San Juan Mountains

by Scott Stillman

In his fifth collection of love letters to Mother Earth, Stillman guides us through Colorado’s rugged San Juan Mountains on skis during an epic winter of record-breaking snowfall. Rather than showcasing harrowing climbs and extreme descents, he focuses instead on the solace that winter offers the human soul. Following his daily backcountry excursions, we experience unparalleled solitude and every kind of weather imaginable—all described in the poetic verse we’ve come to admire from Stillman’s voice. Using winter as a backdrop to scrub our perspective clean, we examine the ever-widening gap between nature and civilization and ultimately how this will impact the future of humanity itself. Rather than gloom and doom, we uncover hidden truths and timeless wisdom from a viewpoint only wilderness can provide. Solace of Winter is a must-read for anyone wanting to rekindle their relationship with the natural world.

161 pages, Paperback

Published October 19, 2023

Reviews

[Jim Crotty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I’m not a backcountry skier, I found Scott’s descriptions of winter in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado to be a great escape in my mind to the incredible beauty of that area. Scott also did a masterful job at balancing those descriptions with his own reflections on life, nature, and the simple joys of being fully present in God’s beauty.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I so wanted to love this book as winter is my favorite season. However, he spends alot of time, I feel being judgemental of things, people's lifestyle choices or careers paths . He talks about politics and makes strange remarks about the homeless and religion. So, while I love personal reflections about skiing, overall I was disappointed in this book.