freeskiing.nu

Daily Mail Ski & Snowboard


March 2006
Verdict: Essential bible for big mountain riders.
Subtitled “How to Adapt to the Mountain”, Swedish author and accomplished mountain guide Jimmy Odén shares his vast knowledge of big mountain riding in this comprehensive, beautifully designed tome. Each chapter, which has headings such as weather, first aid and snow and avalanches, begins with an engaging personal tale relating to the topic. The advice is clearly explained and laid out and the simple diagrams are easy to understand. There’s also a glossy section of awesome pictures from some of Europe’s best snappers, accompanied by interesting, if somewhat random, facts.


Review by Urmas Franosch, Telemark Tips

October, 2006

When I was a teenager, I got hold of a copy of the Boy Scout Manual. It became my bible. As I was learning to get around in the mountains, my bible informed me that I should suck on a stone to relieve thirst, and always rest with my legs higher than my heart to prevent cramping. If only I had this book instead!

The title could be misunderstood; this book is not about ski technique, it’s about how to free yourself from the lift served ski areas. When you leave the groomed piste you enter the mountain environment. This book is a comprehensive yet concise guide to the skills, techniques, and equipment needed to travel safely and enjoyably in that environment. While the primary focus is off piste skiing in the big mountains, rock and ice climbing, orienteering, and first aid are covered as well. The chapters on avalanche hazard evaluation and companion rescue are particularly detailed.

It seems the author thought long and hard about what could , and what could not be communicated by a book on ski mountaineering. The result is a book that combines the most important technical information on the subject, with an understanding of the psychological factors that underlie critical decisions in the mountains. Even the initial decision to go out in the mountains is addressed. The first 80 pages are taken up by great action photos, that will definitely stoke you into wanting to go out.

Rather than just list all the things that one should do, the text attempts to teach you how to think like a guide. To this end, each chapter begins with an instructive anecdote from the author’s extensive guiding experience. These sections shed light on the art of being competent mountain leader – evaluating human as well as environmental variables to arrive at sound decisions. Unlike other books on the subject, this one offers few hard and fast rules. Rarely are the words “always” and “never” used. Just as in domestic relationships were these words cause trouble, they are out of place in a book that promises to teach us to adapt to an infinite number of potential situations. For example, regarding risk management we read: ”we strive to keep risk at an acceptable level in the mountains. There is no right or wrong only your personal level of acceptance, and the consequences of your actions. Know yourself and know the risks you are willing to take. Make sure the risk stay at that level in the mountains. If you expose yourself to a higher level of risk, this should be a deliberate decision and not due to ignorance.”

The advice given is clearly distilled from the author’s experience – it I spractical. We don’t read what should ideally be done, we read what skilled guides do in the real workld; for example the advice on snow pits: “… a snow pit doesn’t tell you anything other than the condition of the snow pack where you are digging.” And “it’s common sense that if you’re worried about a slope then you don’t ski down to the most critical point on the slope, take off your skis and start to dig a snow pit to decide whether to ski or not. If you are so uncertain about the stability of the slope that you feel the need to dig a snow pit, then you already have the answer – don’t’ ski!

Naturally, it takes years of experience, including lessons learned from exercising bad judgement, to learn good judgement. The point being that, as the author admits, “[the book is] filled with things that you cannot really learn from a book.”

But as an outline of all the things you really need to go out and learn, it is outstanding!


Fall Line, UK


At first we thought it would be little more than a beautiful book about freeskiing, but how wrong we were. Jimmy Oden, a Swedish mountain guide based in Verbier has packed this book with information vital to those who like to get the most out of the mountains – you, in other words. He says: “If you lack the experience and knowledge when it comes to discovering, analysing and minimising the hazards of freeskiing, you will need both guidance and a large amount of understanding.”