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The Avalanche Handbook, 3rd Editionby Peter Schaerer and David McClungTechnical yet accessible, The Avalanche Handbook, 3rd Edition, covers the formation, character, effects, and control of avalanches; rescue techniques; and research on understanding and surviving avalanches. Illustrated with nearly 200 updated illustrations, photos and examples, the revised edition offers exhaustive information on contributing weather and climate factors, snowpack analysis, the newest transceiver search techniques, and preventative and protective measures, including avalanche zoning and control. New information on the unique characteristics of alpine snow, snow slab instability, terrain variables, skier triggering of avalanches, and the nature of avalanche motion Brand-new chapters on the elements of backcountry avalanche forecasting and the decision-making process This is the text used by search and rescue professionals, ski patrol groups, and outdoor education programsProduct Code: 8092Pages: 288ISBN: 978-0-89886-809-8Binding Information: PaperbackPublisher: The Mountaineers BooksPublished: 10/12/2006
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A thorough introduction to avalanche theory.,
By Tom Wolfe (sawback@agt.net) (Canmore, Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Avalanche Handbook (Paperback)
For backcountry enthusiasts with a science background, this book provides a thorough introduction to avalanche theory. The book is divided into chapters which build a solid foundation (weather systems, snow structure) through snowpack basics (snow strength and deformation, snowpack structure) and well into more advanced concepts (snowpack analysis, avalanche prediction, search and rescue, and even control with explosives, etc.) It is an excellent, if heavy, read and I found it a valuable resource in the development of an intro avalanche course.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Too scientific for most, but the best overal resource,
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This review is from: The Avalanche Handbook (Paperback)
If you have a significant interest in Avalanche science and theory, or are going to take an avalanche course this is the book for you. If you are looking to create advanced Avy skills and/or to become an Avy professional though this is the definative resource on Avalanches. It is required reading for most courses (starting with avy 1).
I believe that for most recreational readers this book does at times get "heavy". Its easy to lose interest in this book from time to time as the science overcomes the practical. If you are a weekend backcountry traveler and are looking for a book that will keep your attention and teach you how to travel safely in Avy terrain this book is probably a little much. Staying Alive in Avalanche Terrain by Bruce Tremper is a much easier read and has all the most important information from this book. Combined with Snow Sense by Doug Fesler the two books are much more digestible for the average reader and a lot more fun as well.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Indispensible but quirky and murky,
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This review is from: The Avalanche Handbook (Paperback)
There is a lot of information in this book, and it's certainly a must have for anyone who wants to be able to make their own decisions about travel in avalanche terrain. That said I think the book fails in two important ways. It fails at explaining the current state of the science behind avalanches, and it fails at giving end users a systematic way to utilize data from snow instability tests.
We get bits and pieces of the science behind avalanches but at a very superficial level. You learn something about the sorts of things scientists think about avalanches without learning the why and wherefore of it. The authors' reluctance to inlude anything that even smells of math turns the science sections into collections of things one might say about avalanche science at a dinner party, but otherwise not very useful when it comes to applying the science to avalanches. When it comes time for the book to lay out a paradigm for making decisions in avalanche country, we find a confusing mess of very abstract decision schema. Nowhere do we find any specific guidance in using instability tests or snowpack profiles in making decisions. This lack of guidance is exacerbated by the skeptical stance the book takes towards stability tests. We are counseled to pay attention to local conditions, but we are also told that if our tests show a stable snowpack they should be discounted. It's not clear how stability tests could ever yield anything other than a no-go decision given that sort of paradigm, and the book needs to do more to explain how to navigate the grey zone if it to be useful as a handbook for making decisions. So while this is an indispensable book, it could really use more work, and anyone wanting to understand the contents should probably be ready to dig into the nuts and bolts of the underlying science a bit more using other resources. 2115|R2QCMR31C40ZMM;2115|R342UA92ODGHXM;2115|R16O20BYQZHJE3;
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