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Illustrated Guide to Exploring the Grand Circle
There's nothing quite like a good guide book to get one excited about heading off on an adventure. One area that we've nosed around over the years but never fully explored is the Four Corners area around the common – and unique! – border of Utah, Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico. Along comes Illustrated Guide to…
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How to Ice Climb, by Sean Isaac and Tim Banfield
Climbing is a technical sport where you really need to know what you're doing so you don't, well… die. Ice climbing is even more so. The medium of ice is more fickle and unforgiving than rock, and yet the act of climbing can be easier thanks to modern crampons and ice tools. This can lead…
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The Ski Guide Manual by Rob Coppolillo
Rob Coppolillo, co-author of one of our fave books, The Mountain Guide Manual, is at it again with the perfect sequel: The Ski Guide Manual: Advanced Techniques for the Backcountry. Another great title from Falcon Guides, TSGM is an up-to-date treatment of everything backcountry skiing, by an author who as one of the first 100 Americans to…
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Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills, 9th Edition
If you could only have one book on mountaineering, it's an easy choice: Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills (2017) has been the go-to reference for generations of aspiring and practicing mountaineers since 1960. It has its own Wikipedia page,and the organization that started the book is even older: the Seattle Mountaineers date their founding to…
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Hiking Lassen Volcanic National Park
Falcon publishes some great guide books, and their hiking series is fantastic. Hiking Lassen Volcanic National Park third edition by Tracy Salcedo is a perfect example, winning a 2020 National Outdoor Book Award. In addition to this very fine guide to a major Northern California attraction, Tracy also penned Best Easy Day Hikes Lake Tahoe, and…
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Toproping: Rock Climbing for the Outdoor Beginner
Full disclosure, when I was getting started rock climbing I took some beginner and intermediate classes in Joshua Tree with Bob Gaines through his company, Vertical Adventures, way back in the early 1990s. Bob was already a legend in the rock climbing community, both for his climbing exploits and for his devotion to teaching the…
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Outward Bound Map and Compass Handbook
Those of us with kids are on the lookout these days for fun outdoor activities to keep them – and us! – occupied. Outdoor skills-building is a great way for adults to brush up on skills and for kids to learn them. Outward Bound hands us a tool for doing just that with the 4th…
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The Prepper’s Medical Handbook
And speaking of timely, this title from William Forgey, M.D., certainly fits the bill. The Prepper's Medical Handbook is a very handy one-volume reference for anyone who wants to be prepared to solve their own medical emergencies, written by someone who knows what's what. Forgey is a full-time doctor of family medicine, past president of the Wilderness Medical…
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Best Easy Day Hikes Lake Tahoe
Falcon Guide are reliable companions to a lot of backcountry activities from hiking to climbing to birdwatching. Best Easy Day Hikes Lake Tahoe by Tracy Salcedo is small in size but large in utility, providing overviews of 29 hikes in the Lake Tahoe area. This is not Ms. Salcedo's first rodeo, as she's written over…
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Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance
There are a few foundational texts in each sport, like Freedom of the Hills for mountaineers, and mountain bikers have long looked to Zinn and the Art of Mountain Bike Maintenance for the first and last word on their rides. We finally got around to updating to the 2018 sixth edition, and it's better than…
