Chapters 1 and 2 of the book are spent discussing the equipment and carrying systems the author uses while climbing. This is the meat of the book for me. As previously mentioned, there are plenty of books on photographic technique. There are not many books on carrying a camera in the mountains and the challenges wild terrain presents while trying to capture stunning images. Mr. Buisse covers this subject quite well, touching on all the main points of what to expect and the techniques to use.

Chapter 3 covers creating powerful images. The subject demands more than a cursory overview, and unfortunately this chapter comes off mostly as filler. Seeing as this book is primarily aimed at more advanced photographers, I wonder why it was included at all. On the off chance you’re looking for a good book about creating powerful photos, take a look at Galen Rowell’s “Mountain Light”.

The remainder of the book discusses discipline specific information and advanced techniques. This is also the only place hiking is really covered in any sort of detail.  It seems like the book was written and the publisher convinced the author to add hiking to expand the target market. That is to say, this is not a book about hiking photography.

Over all, Remote Exposure is a pretty quick read. The book is split roughly in half between content and the requisite gorgeous mountain photos. However, this means there isn’t a lot of space left in a 168 page book for actual content. You could easily finish this book in a single evening should you want to. This wouldn’t be a huge problem, but $19 on Amazon is a bit much for what amounts to  less than 100 pages of reading. When it’s all said and done though, I’m glad I read Remote Exposure. The author makes quite a few good points and I’ve gotten some ideas for my own camera equipment.

With this in mind, Medicine for Mountaineering is not a book I would recommend for the novice outdoors-person. Instead, it is an extremely comprehensive manual for nearly every illness or medical problem one could run into on an expedition. While much of the subject matter is applicable to day hikers, it is primarily aimed at those traveling to the wilderness far away from medical care.

The section in dislocated joints strikes particularly close to home for me. In 2006, I was mountaineering in Peru and happened to see just such an injury occur. Another climber slipped from a rock during an approach and slid roughly 100 feet down the side of the mountain. The result was a very badly dislocated shoulder. At this point we were a 3 day hike from the nearest road and then another 1.5 hour drive in to Huaraz.

Fortunately another climber that happened to be a doctor showed up about an hour later that could help the injured person. While this was extremely fortunate, chances are you’re not going to have such luck in the wilderness. Medicine for Mountaineering shows you everything that needs to occur to minimize long term damage.

If you are planning an extended trip in the wilderness, I would highly recommend you pick up a copy of Medicine for Mountaineering before you go. This isn’t exactly light reading, but the authors go out of their way to make the procedures as accessible as possible. Diagrams are provided anywhere that they may help comprehension of a subject, and the descriptions are extremely thorough.

Medicine for Mountaineering has an MSRP of $29.95.

Product sample provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.

As one could guess by the title, Snowboarding: Learning to Ride from All-Mountain to Park and Pipe is a book aimed towards newbies hoping to pick up the sport for the first time. While I wouldn’t traditionally think of reading a book to learn how to snowboard, Liam Gallagher has partially changed that thought.

The Mountaineers Books has published quite a few books on learning an outdoors sport in the past; several of which were featured in our list of the best mountaineering books. We have been very pleased with the quality of the publisher’s previous educational books, and the latest addition to their lineup is no exception.

This book assumes you have no prior experience on a snowboard and takes you from the foundations to what could be considered a fairly proficient rider. Mr. Gallagher starts with a thorough overview of the required equipment for snowboarding and how to set everything up (including quite a few handy reference images). A brief overview of the history of snowboarding is included, and then begins the actual instruction on how to ride a snowboard.

I particularly liked the section on how to ride your first ski lift. A very common fear of first time snowboarders is getting off the lift. This book details the techniques involved and does the best a book can at relieving those fears. The book then covers the basics of how to ride a snowboard. The remainder of the book is broken into chapters based on the type of snowboarding you plan on doing. This makes it particularly easy to refer back to particular sections as you work on specific areas of snowboarding.

While no book will ever replace lessons by an actual instructor, Snowboarding: Learning to Ride from All-Mountain to Park and Pipe does a very good job at teaching a newbie how to ride. I would still take lessons, but reading this book may reduce the learning curve a bit as you’ll have a rough idea of the concepts involved ahead of time. At $21.95, it’s not an expensive addition to your snowboarding education.

Product sample provided by the manufacturer for review purposes.