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A Guide to Outdoor Literature
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(Extensive Outdoor Book Reviews, Award Winners, Lots of Reading Lists, Best Book Lists, and More)


Stories & Articles Index Page
(Outdoor adventure stories, profiles of old-timers, and reflections of days spent in the outdoors.)


Software:
(Shareware & Freeware)
   AnyOrder.
  AnyCard
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  Raceaid
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  AnyBook.

Outdoor Resources

(Informational Articles, Equipment Lists, etc.)


Outdoor Education Papers

(Professional Papers for the Outdoor Education Field)


Courses



Contact



Books:
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Guide to Idaho Paddling | Winter Tales & Trails | Never Turn Back | Ski Camping | Outdoor Programming Handbook | Out-of-Print Books
| Whitewater River Book | Ski Trails & Old-timers' Tales

Guide to Idaho Paddling
Flatwater & Easy Whitewater Trips

GIP
"Time and again, this guidebook shines!"

            --Times-News


More Information
Winter Tales and Trails
Skiing, Snowshoeing and Snowboarding
in Idaho, the Grand Tetons 

and Yellowstone National Park

WTT"The standard by which other winter guidebooks are judged"

    --Cross-country Skier  Magazine


More Information





Never Turn Back
The Life of Whitewater Pioneer Walt Blackadar

NTB"Magnificent . . . told with sparkling clarity . . . truly inspirational."
            --Eclectic Reviews

More Information
Ski Camping
A Guide to the Delights of Backcountry Skiing

Ski Camping Cover

"One of the most expansively and graphically exquisite winter travel books ever put together." 
               --Ski X-C

More Information


Outdoor Scenes


Ski Camping
A Guide to the Delights of Backcountry Skiing
Winter's Beauty Close-up . . .
I admit. I'm a bit odd. I really enjoy camping in winter.  A number of years ago, I wanted to write a book about it, and, at the same time, somehow capture the beauty and simplicity of it all.  In that regard, I was helped by Phil Schofield.  Phil was at the time, and still is, a National Geographic photographer.  He was willing to spend long days photographing the backcountry in the winter and even accompanied me and eight others on a 10-day journey across Central Idaho's Gospel-Hump Wilderness during some the worst conditions imaginable. 
    I have much to thank Phil for.  His dramatic and innovative black and white photos made Ski Camping much more than a run-of-the-mill instructional text, but rather a book of art and beauty.

More Information and Reviews . . .

Topics covered in the book include planning, equipment, clothing, food, trail techniques, skiing techniques, snow camping, winter shelters, route finding and winter hazards.
   It has become a classic outdoor instructional book and is one of the most well received skiing books ever published.  Here's what the reviewers have to say:

"This enticing book is for you who crave to ski where you make the first track, and stay out overnight as well.  There are other books on this subject, but none so well done and so easily understood.  Nordic skiing has been one of my favorite enterprises for 25 years, and this is the nicest introduction to that delight I've seen." - J. Baldwin, Next Whole Earth Catalog

   "A splendid book with dramatic layout and striking photographs.  A treasury of tips."  - Lito Tejada Flores, Backcountry Skiing

  "A delightful book.  I kept looking for faults but came up empty handed. The array of information is vast." - Eric Evans, Nordic Skiing

"One of the most expansively and graphically exquisite winter travel books ever put together." - Ski X-C

Purchasing the Book...

There are only 6 copies left!  The cost is $35.00.

You can get a signed copy from me (email: wattron@isu.edu or call toll free 1-800-585-6857). It's not available elsewhere.

Ski Camping Cover

154 pages
8.5" x 11"
Paper
1-877625-00-0

Read the Camping Chapter
 

Purchasing the Book:

There are only 7 copies left!  The cost is $35.00.

You can get a signed copy from me (email: wattron@isu.edu or call toll free 1-800-585-6857). It's not available elsewhere.



The Outdoor Programming Handbook 
OP Handbook Cover

141 pages
Spiral Binding
ISBN 0-937834-12-2

If you'd like a copy of the handbook, it's available directly from the Idaho State Outdoor Program.  The cost is $25 (plus $2 postage).  Drop the Outdoor Program an e-mail and they'll send you a copy.

From the Programming End of Things . . .
I'll be honest about this book.  It's getting a bit dated, but some folks may find it useful, particularly those who are setting up new programs. Largely designed for nonprofit outdoor recreation programs, it covers: liability, outdoor programming history, facilities and resources, funding and budgeting, promotion and advertising, disabled programming, goal formulation, personnel, outdoor trips, rental centers, evaluation of programs and military recreation. 
    I'm trying to get most of this book on-line.  Three chapters of the book are currently found on the ISU Outdoor Program website: History, Approaches, Liability.)
"It does cover the basics, but with depth, conciseness and clarity one rarely sees in books covering such critical topics as outdoor liability and funding."
--Rod Neubert, Calpoly, San Luis Obispo, The Bulletin of the Association of

College Unions--International.
"The Outdoor Program Handbook is a valuable resource for coordinators of outdoor programming centers."

--Valerie Wetzel, Campus Activities Programming



Out-of-Print Books
  • The White-Water Book
  • Ski Trails and Old-timers' Tales
  • The White-Water River Book: A Guide to Techniques, Equipment, Camping, and Safety
    TheWhite-Water River Book was published in 1982 by Pacific Search Press, a press made famous by their national best seller The Zucchini Cookbook.  Pacific Search went out of business about two years after my association with them.  I'm not sure if it was my book that sent them over the edge--or people were just getting sick of zucchini. 
      White-Water, a large format book with great photographs by Robert Winslow, was one of the early instructional books which covered both rafting and kayaking.  The book also contained some terrific illustrations by Ron Lewis.  I don't think the quality and usefulness of Ron's illustrations has been equaled in any whitewater instructional text published since.  The Northwest Rafters Association has even used one of the illustrations for a logo on t-shirts and hats. 
        Contents include: Getting Started; Rafts; Kayaks and Other White-water Craft; Day and Overnight Equipment; Down the River; Reading White-Water; Kayak Technique; Raft Technique; Safety, Hazards Rescue and Emergency Repairs; Planning Multi-day Trips; River Cuisine; Camping and Lessening Environmental Impact;  and Checklists
       Since it is out-of-print, I'm trying to get all of the book and its illustrations on-line.  Some of the text is available now on the ISU Outdoor Program website and more is on its way.

    Ski Trails and Old-timers' Tales in Idaho and Montana.
    Ski Trails, published in 1978, was my first book and the first by Solstice Press, a publisher from Moscow, Idaho.  From the beginning, Solstice lived a hand-to-mouth existence.  Not long after they published Ski Camping, my second book, the company went belly-up. Taking a dive along with Solstice were two years of royalties which I have to admit weren't much, but nevertheless, would have kept my Volkswagen Bug in good repair and on the road.  During Solstice's waning days, I managed to obtain the rights to both books.  Over the years since, I had Ski Camping reprinted twice.  And I recently revised Ski Trails and re-published it as Winter Tales and Trails.

    What's Happened  to the Books Since . . .
    Both of the original books are now out-of-print, but used copies can occasionally be found in stores specializing in used books. If you're interested, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and other websites can do a search for you, but as I mentioned before, I hope to have a free, on-line version of White-Water on the Outdoor Program website.  And, I don't recommend trying to purchase a used copy of Ski Trails.  It's been extensively updated and revised as Winter Tales and Trails.  The only parts from Ski Trails that I didn't include in Winter Tales were the chapters on western Montana. (A guidebook has since been written about Montana trails.)
     

     

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