The Log of a Snow Survey: Skiing and Working in a Mountain Winter World by Patrick Armstrong

by Patrick Armstrong

Mountain snow is the Western United States’ greatest fresh water reservoir.

The men and women measuring this resource in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California regularly ski across 12,000 foot passes and at night must dig into rock and log cabins for shelter. On these monthly survey trips they will often ski over 100 miles and climb and descend 25,000 to 30,000 feet along the spine of the Sierra Nevada Mountains.

In this actual account of a snow survey trip Armstrong covers many pertinent and practical subjects which range from safe winter travel on skis, practical avalanche assessment and avoidance, bird life and wildlife found high in the mountains in winter, cooking on and maintaining wood burning cook stoves and a short history of these surveys. It includes many humorous incidents and some deadly incidents.

The Sierra Nevada snow surveyors travel through some of the most stunning mountain terrain found anywhere in the world. Winter is indeed a wild and beautiful season high in the mountains. It has its obvious dangers and it has its sublime beauties. This account attempts to transport the reader into that remote winter world.

Genres: Outdoors

Paperback

First published December 9, 2014

Reviews

[Eugene Miya · Rating 3 out of 5]

In process, I worked on snow surveys a couple years prior to Patrick Armstrong started, but it was on the occasion of the death of a climbing buddy and PhD advisor dying that I chance to find this book. But along the way, computers (Jeff Dozier and I had this in common), the ARPAnet, and glaciologists hijacked me from that career. My survey skiing barely lasted 2 years. Ours was more research (remote sensing) than operational forecasting. But I heard names like Doug Powell and others that they would want me to meet.

I will get back to this.

[Leslie Dawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patrick Armstrong is passionate about the snow survey. This is a detailed documentation of his many years of work for the survey in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. He has excellent geographic descriptions of the survey routes, and safe ski terrain. He gives advice on cabin life from how to bake cinnamon biscuits to how to clean the ashes and soot out of a wood stove. This isn't a novel, so there isn't a plot. The chapters are organized by the different snow surveys, which after a while, all tend to sound alike with the exception of how different the snow survey cabins are. Worth reading for local audiences or fellow snow surveyors.

[Inga Aksamit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved, loved, loved this book. For anyone who likes to hike the Sierra this first hand account of being a snow surveyor is a wonderful read. Funny, irreverent and supremely at home in the deep, snowy canyons of the Southern Sierra, the stories and his philosophy are great entertainment. I hope he writes another book because I'm pretty sure he has more stories under his hat.

[Thomas Perkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always wondered about snow surveys

Fascinating read. The author tells the story very well. I could visualize the settings and wanted to read this again with a map in hand.