Democrat & Chronicle review

Reviews and comments for Jackson Hole Backcountry Skier's Guide, Select Peaks of Greater Yellowstone, Teton Skiing, Jackson Hole Ski Guide, and Teton Pass Backcountry Guide

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TomTuriano
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Democrat & Chronicle review

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This nice review by Gary Falleson appeared in the Democrat & Chronicle in Rochester, NY (my place of birth) on December 14, 2003.

Thomas Turiano started out writing a simple guidebook to the mountains
in his Jackson, Wyo., back yard. But his love for the history of
mountaineering and his passion to expound on the energy of the peaks he
climbs turned that "slim" book into a 490-page work that took the
Rochester native seven years to complete.

Select Peaks of Greater Yellowstone: A Mountaineering History and Guide
(Indomitus Books, $44.95) is the kind of incredible book that makes a
climber's mouth salivate. He chose 107 mountains in 13 ranges, including
the Wind, Gros Ventre, and Teton, in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem
of Wyoming, Idaho and Montana.

"You feel the energy when you're up there," says Turiano, who stood on
the summit of 85 of the peaks. "You can feel the history when you're up
there."

As he ascended Wind River Peak last spring, he tells of imagining what
Benjamin Bonneville must have thought when he became the first to climb
that 13,192-foot mountain in 1833.

He also tries to get inside the heads of those who failed on mountains
such as Pollux Peak, Grand Teton, and Turret Mountain. In fact, he and
his climbing partners became the first to reach the summit of
11,006-foot Turret on July 21, 2001.

"So many people attempted these peaks, but couldn't get up them. Why
couldn't they climb them?" says Turiano, a husband, father, and a guide
for the Exum Mountain Guides. "It was neat to go up and find out why
they couldn't climb it."

On Turret, it was because of an impassable overhang 100 feet below the
summit. Undeterred, Turiano and friends "circled around the mountain and
found another way up. It was really exposed and scary. Then we get to
the summit and there's not even bighorn sheep poop up there. It was
totally pristine."

Turiano made his first ascents in the Adirondacks and Colorado as a
Fairport High School student.

He went to Colorado School of the Mines in Golden, Colo., after
graduating from Fairport in 1984. After one year there, he moved to
Jackson, Wyo., and became a ski instructor and later a climbing guide.
In 1995 he wrote Teton Skiing: A History and Guide to the Teton Range,
Wyoming (Homestead Publishing, $16.95).

"My focus is being in the wilderness," says Turiano, whose father,
Angelo, lives in Greece. "I love getting to the summits because you can
see the wilderness all around you."

In Select Peaks, Turiano takes the reader along for the climb and shares
not only the view, but also the energy and history of each mountain. He
inspires you to imagine climbing in Greater Yellowstone and provides you
with more than a guidebook to do so.
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