From Rainer Burgdorfer, author of 100 Classic Backcountry Ski and Snowboard Routes in Washington and Backcountry Skiing in Washington's Cascades:
"As the author of two out-of-print ski-mountaineering guidebooks describing Cascade Mountain tours, I'm always on the lookout for new attempts at describing the backcountry skiing experience. Dynamic online communities such as Turns All Year (TAY) provide timely first-hand reports on mountain conditions while not emphasizing extensive photo coverage. The creator of the TAY community, Charles Eldridge, has done yeoman's work in filling this gap with his recent CD, "Turns All Year".
"Turns All Year" contains a website of images from selected tours in Washington and Oregon that, in this writer's view, capture the flavor of what our mountains have to offer backcountry skiers and snowboarders. Tours range in difficulty from "a good day for kids" to "hairball" routes that my publisher (Mountaineers) wouldn't allow me to list in my guidebooks and the photographs do justice to each of these. The tours are organized in a kind of relational database: You can look at tours arranged by month, by name, or by location. As a non-computer whiz I was impressed by this programming feat as well as the overall ease of navigating the CD-ROM.
Once I loaded the disk I immediately selected a map to look at tours. Mercifully, Eldridge gave us a choice of relief or topographic maps. In keeping with his disclaimer that this was not a "guide", there is little information provided regarding route details. A brief tour summary is provided and with other sources COULD serve as useful information for someone unfamiliar with a route. Furthermore the photos serve as good scouting material: One picture of a child in the snow prominently displays a steep couloir in the background. My hunch is that this was intentional.
Further exploration (I'm allergic to reading instructions) of the disk revealed numerous panoramic photo collages that expanded my understanding of the relationship between many of the peaks I've skied or climbed. The amount of work involved in correcting for exposure and alignment must have been considerable for these panoramas.
My favorite parts of the CD are the slideshows arranged by location or theme. While I may use the Disk to recruit someone to do a tour, the slideshows refresh me when I'm stuck in the city and I need a reminder about what's out there. Thank you Charles Eldridge! At twenty dollars this CD is a bargain and a unique gift as well as a great addition to my climbing library." |
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From Lowell Skoog, author of The Alpenglow Ski Mountaineering History Project at www.alpenglow.org:
"In his introduction, Charles Eldridge points out that the Turns All Year CD-ROM is not a guide book. After spending several hours browsing through it, I think what Charles has created is much better than a guide book. While the typical guide book promises to give you answers, the TAY CD-ROM gives you ideas.
The structure of the CD-ROM encourages you to go exploring, not just on the disk but out in the mountains. Charles has done a mind-boggling amount of work to slice Northwest backcountry skiing every which way you might want to look at it. You can explore trips by region, by month of the year, by historical chronology, or by keyword search. You can watch slideshows organized by themes, admire large wallpapers, wander through topographic and relief maps, or marvel at scenic panoramas. From the "best of" slideshows you can jump from any photo to an entire gallery devoted to that location. Many of the galleries have extensive written descriptions of the trips shown.
Being a linear thinker, I found myself stepping through the trip lists by location or month. After stepping through all of the photos in a gallery, I clicked on a link to return to the list and found myself right where I left it, making it easy to continue my linear walk-through. A lot of thought has been given to quick and easy navigation, no matter where you are in the labyrinthine disk. It's an amazing piece of work.
The only knock I can think of is that the photo quality varies somewhat. Many of the photos, especially the panoramas, are wonderfully sharp and clear, while others are somewhat muddy or grainy. With over 3000 photos from nearly 50 volunteer contributors, such variation is inevitable. My head aches just thinking of how much work Charles did to process all of these photos, many of them scanned from slides. I find it hard to complain.
The Turns All Year CD-ROM is above all a celebration of Northwest backcountry skiing. It's the perfect antidote for days like the one during which I'm writing this. As November drizzle falls outside my Seattle window and the mountains are soaked in rain, I dream of cold powder snow and sunny spring glaciers and a click of my mouse takes me there." |
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From Steve Barnett, author of The Best Ski Touring in America and Cross-Country Downhill and Other Nordic Mountain Skiing Techniques:
"The Turns All Year CD is a combination of ski tour guide and photo book. It was constructed by melding together a great number of trip reports and accompanying photos to provide first person descriptions of ski touring in the Northwest in both words and photos.
What it does that a guidebook doesn't do is give you a much better idea of the feel of a tour than a guidebook does. It has a greater photo content - photos are not chosen just to be pretty but to tell the story of a trip. The trip reports are not boilerplate descriptions of a route on a map but specific reports. I find them to be both more interesting and more informative. Charles, the compiler, also offers detailed topo and relief maps of the popular areas. This is very useful as the maps cover a greater area at high resolution than do ordinary paper sheets.
What it doesn't do is be all inclusive. Trips easily accessible from Seattle are well covered. Popular tours near Snoqualmie Pass, Stevens Pass, the Teanaway Valley, Mt Baker, and Mt Rainier are included but many worthy ones in the North Cascades are omitted because no one posted them to the Turns All Year website. There is for example nothing at all from the Pasayten Wilderness, from the Sawtooth Chelan Wilderness, or from the high and beautiful area around Holden near Lake Chelan. Of course, none of the available ski guidebooks go to these worthy areas either. And it's likely that the CD will be revised to include more items as trip reports roll in." |
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From Gary Vogt, National Park Service (retired), over 2000 lifetime ski days in Mount Rainier National Park:
"Those adventurers seeking more than approach directions, route descriptions, and hazard warnings will love the Turns All Year CD-ROM. It's a valuable supplement to the many fine backcountry ski/snowboard guidebooks for the Cascades. Most traditional route descriptions have only a black & white photo or two, sometimes just a summit shot or some distant ski action. This CD contains thousands of entertaining and eye-catching photographs that give an excellent feel for the range of glisse experiences available year-round in the Cascades. Even experienced skiers and climbers will find the gorgeous high resolution wallpapers and panoramas useful for locating new lines or planning traverses. The whole package is searchable, with clear categories and well-organized lists that make cyber-navigation a breeze (even for a computer rookie like myself).
My old sliding-ground of Mount Rainier is especially well covered, with over 60 ski trip photo galleries and 25 panoramas, all accessible from the clickable maps. Sequential photos in each gallery give a great feel for each trip's character and the accompanying well-written trip reports capture the seasonal flavor often otherwise lacking in traditional guides. Charles has left a few stashes secret, but it's amazing how many of the finest year-round ski trips in Mount Rainier National Park are included in this handy CD." |
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From Vincent G. Barnes, Washington:
"The Turns All Year CD is an excellent companion to Charles Eldridge's Turns All Year website, which is bookmarked on the computers of hundreds of skiers in the Northwest and around the world. The CD's many maps with hyperlinked photos and ski trips, galleries of skiers enjoying the unparalleled Northwest scenery, and detailed trip reports comprise a unique resource that no Northwest backcountry skier should be without." |
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From David K., Washington:
"I particularly enjoy the photographs, especially the ones that include skiers and riders. These motivate me to seek out a trip that is new for me. The body language of the slider also gives me a reality check about the difficulty of the terrain, or at least of the portion being shown. It is also very helpful to have the calendar date and an impression of the coverage and snow quality: while conditions change from year to year, in the big picture, a trip that is consistently in good shape at a certain time of year is likely to be so again." |
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From Larry Robinson, Washington:
"Do not buy this CD. It makes it way too easy to find the good backcountry skiing spots. Besides, they are way too crowded anyway, and you would not have any fun. Stick with the lift areas. It's much safer too, and you don't need to spend money on any silly CDs." |
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From Pete A., Washington:
"Guidebooks and maps are good for trip planning but rarely do they provide the inspiration that comes from seeing picture after picture of gorgeous mountains and great skiiing conditions. The TAY CD is a fantastic resource for quickly being able to look at many of the best backcountry ski trips in the NW...both classic day tours and off the beaten path traverses. The pictures from week-long high routes through the North Cascades, across the Olympic's Bailey Range, and Silas Wild's fantastic bonus images of skiing in Patagonia are particular favorites or mine. The TAY CD is a perfect thing to have on hand when brainstorming about your next big trip or it's a rainy weekend and you want to daydream about where to ski when the weather improves." |
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