good guide books?

This is a good topic and I would love to hear about more guide books. I picked up an old copy of Northwest Ski Trails after hearing about it in a trip report here; I would recommend it just for the old photos alone.

There are certainly better experts on the Sierras than me here, but I found the Book Backcountry Skiing the High Sierra to be a great resource on a trip to the Bishop area a couple seasons back. Also, to expand the discussion to maps, there is a great recreational map of Mt Shasta sold in the gear shop down there that is helpful for that area.

I would have to agree with you, Lowell, Northwest Ski Trails is definitely a classic.
That happens to be the book where we read about what Darryl jokingly referred to as the "NorthEast Passage" into Bullion Basin.

Another great classic that I don't believe has been mentioned is Rainer Burgdorfer's original Backcountry Skiing in Washington's Cascades. Published in 1986, I think Gary Brill did a lot of the photos for the book including the cover shots.

I also have Steve Barnett's book and agree with ronco as to it's utility and classic status.
Steve has also shared his vast knowledge of the Cascades generously on this board along with a lot of the others that have been around a while. Thanks, Steve. And thanks to all the rest of you for your generous contribution to our passion.

And hey, we even have Burgdorfer as a registered poster here.

Great resources, eh?

I have and love both of Steve's books. His _Best Ski Touring in North America_ was the first book that got me interested in backcountry skiing.

Steve's Best Ski Touring in America played a big part in motivating me to ski the Cascade Crest from the Canadian border to Glacier Peak in the 1980s and 90s. I never completed the route the way I originally intended to, but my recent completion of the journey from Mt Baker to Mt Rainier finally brought closure to that dream.

Dream big and dare to fail, eh Lowell. Nice work on that trip BTW. I like how you set your site up to tell about it.

Whenever I plan a trip I do a search on the net for old trip reports, then if it looks cool I pull out the becky and if I think I am going to go there, I buy a map (and forget it in the car in classic hummel style ). To me it feels like I am going on an adventure and I like that...not knowing much about where I am going or how I will get there. That's why I've always felt a torn about another guidebook in washington. I like discovery and the lack of people I see out there, especially in the North Cascades.  In a selfish way, I think that a detailed guidebook would change this, but maybe it wouldn't? Heck there are already more people skiing in the backcountry than I've ever seen! If there were a guidebook, something like becky did but for skiing would be the most interesting. Hundreds of trips in one book, and not just a select few. That would spread everyone out.

That's why I've always felt a torn about another guidebook in washington. I like discovery and the lack of people I see out there, especially in the North Cascades.  In a selfish way, I think that a detailed guidebook would change this, but maybe it wouldn't?

I think more guidebooks to the Cascades are probably inevitable. But I decided some time ago that I wouldn't be the one to write them, for the reasons you describe. That's why I'm writing a history instead.

For me, writing guidebooks is an extractive industry. You extract treasures and package them for sale. Writing history, on the other hand, is like plowing riches back into the mountains. Filling the mountains with stories. At least that's how I justify it.

I don't think all guidebooks are bad. Some of the guidebooks published by the Mountaineers have helped create a consituency for the Cascades--"Green Bonding" as Ira Spring used to call it. Also, I agree that I'd rather see a comprehensive guidebook like Beckey's that spreads people out instead of a selective guidebook that concentrates people.