Customer Reviews

A Snow Walker's Companion: Winter Trail Skills from the Far North

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4 star:		(1)
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This book is first-class! It has the attention to detail that only the Conovers, both Maine Guides, could bring to it.

It covers snowshoes, bindings, moccasins, boots, toboggans, tents, stoves, food, clothes, and travel by snowmobile. There is even an excellent discussion on the psychology of winter camping.

The emphasis is on winter traveling the way Native Americans have done and are still doing it -- in a safe and comfortable way.

The sources of equipment and further information at the end of each chapter are very valuable.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in winter wilderness travel and camping or in the material culture of the Native Americans of the Sub-Arctic boreal areas.

Rich Howe

I cannot snowshoe very often in Tennessee (hah ha) but this book makes me wish I could. I had read Garrett's Beyond the Paddle and loved it so I got this book and was blown away. I would reccomend it to anyone who likes to camp-out in woodland areas in the winter. Every view in this book is perceptive, inciteful and entertaining. Do not pass this one up. It ranks up there with the works of Bill Mason, Cache Lake Country and works by Calvin Rustrum.

The newest edition of the book previously published as "A Snow Walker's Companion" and "The Winter Wilderness Companion" is hot off the presses and made it's sales debut at the 6th Annual Traditional Winter Camping Symposium near Eau Claire, WI this past weekend.

"Snow Walker's Companion" by Garrett and Alexandra Conover, published by Stone Ridge Press, will be available on Amazon and other outlets in time for Christmas/Chanukah shopping. The book now includes a color photo section and updated information on equipment sources as well as titanium stoves, GPS and sat-phone use and other improvements since the 2001 edition.

Others have rightly focused on the contents of this gem. In addition, this book is a great "read." On top of that, there are photos that will show you such stunning things as the sheer beauty of Native American designs woven into the babitch "fillings" of snowshoes. To top it off, you get patterns for making your own cotton anorak shell! Just a great book, up there with Cache Lake Country [out of print] and True North [out of print]. Get this one before this masterpiece too goes "out of print" in a country whose publishers allow such tragedies to happen.

As long term guides in N. Maine and far into Northern Canada, the Conovers have the experience to back up what they say. They walk the walk...literally and have the knowledge to talk the talk. Much of their knowledge comes from their exposure to the indigenous natives of the far north. As such they have a strong understanding of what it takes to not just make short forays into the wilderness and then get back out again, but to live and survive in the elements. It's all in this book, what to wear, what to eat, how to carry it, how to propel yourself, etc. They have even included patterns to make your own gear like a couple styles of tents or shelters, an anorak, mukluks and warm mittens. Some of the products they discuss were not readily available when this book was first published, but many of the products they suggest are now available to all. The updated version of this book gives sources on where to buy those products.

If you enjoy winter camping in extreme weather or just aspire to broaden your horizons on your outdoor skills you will thoroughly enjoy this book!

I bought this book when it was called the The Winter Wilderness Companion: Traditional and Native American Skills for the Undiscovered Season this original edition has been revised as the new Snow Walker's Companion: Winter Camping Skills for the North, with new plans for a traditional wooden toboggan and more trail-craft tips.

I've used the plans to make my own mukluks and mittens with great success and can throughly recommend this book for both beginners and experienced outdoors folks alike.

For those who are really serious about learning winter skills, it would be worth checking out the Conover's website at [...]

Although the book is evocatively written with phrases like "...frosted hair makes long haired women look like fairy-tale damsels and bearded men like hoary old walruses..." there is no lack of attention to detail, with meticulous research and dirt-time experience. The Conovers are arguably some of the most experienced winter travel guides around, and this book is testament to that.

Garrett and Alexendra Conovers' "A Snow Walker's Companion" is an interesting compilation of information about living in far northern climates. It works best as a historical record of the traditions, techniques, and lore of Inuit and Cree peoples that enable them to live simply and comfortably in harsh climes. To that end, it is a reverent and important book. The book's weakness is the implicit message that the cold-dwelling hand crafters of wooden snowshoes are morally superior to the poor urban dweller trying to live a balanced life by juggling work and children with occasional forays into the woods or up the mountains, on aluminum Sherpas, clothed in fleece and Gortex. The Conovers, who live in a walled tent in Maine and are respected wilderness guides, seem not to understand that their chosen lifestyle is possible only because most choose not to live it. For readers who are truly considering a move to or extended travel in far northern territories, "A Snowwalker's Companion" is unique and indispensible. Most winter adventurers, though, must satisfy their love of the outdoors with day mountain hikes or backpacks of several days duration. For them, a book such as "Winterwise, A Backpacker's Guide," by John M. Dunn, or any cold weather book by the Appalachian Mountain Club, New Hampshire, is apt to be more useful and far less grating.