Avalanche Diaries - by Daniel Caruso (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

DC Caruso's debut book The Avalanche Diaries: Life and Death in the Backcountry is an emotionally gripping story of brotherhood, bravery, grief, personal growth and resilience against the perils of nature.

Defying death for over thirty years on mountain ranges throughout the world, DC Caruso has been a pioneer in the extreme sport of heli-snowboarding, participating in the rescue of many individuals from dangerous avalanches. But the one person who DC could not save was his best friend and mentor--his brilliant older brother John--who taught DC how to overcome all challenges, both on and off the slopes. His death from AIDS haunted DC for years, and he found that his only path to healing was to take on every challenge on the slopes, using the "fun-to-risk" ratio they developed as a means of ensuring survival in the danger zone.

DC takes the reader on a visceral journey in the steepest mountains in Alaska and in the Alps, difficult terrains where snow stability is always unpredictable. The adrenaline-pumping adventures are balanced by DC's personal growth--a coming-of-age story--as he perseveres through life's difficulties, dealing with sorrow and loss, and finding inspiration and solace in nature.

About the Author

DC Caruso has been a heli-ski guide in Alaska's Chugach Mountains for over thirty years. From his start guiding on Thompson Pass in the early '90s, he was one of the first on the scene when extreme skiing and snowboarding conflated, and became the first snowboard-specific heli-ski guide in North America. DC's legendary status in the industry and the subculture has long been cemented by his hundreds of first descents in exploration of the most extreme terrain and by his extensive knowledge of ever-changing avalanche and crevasse hazards in massive and complex mountain ranges. For many years, DC was a professional snowboarder and sponsored athlete, paid to travel the world and ride the most exotic snow on earth, of which many segments were filmed by Warren Miller Entertainment for their annual extreme sports films. DC has been widely published in all of the significant extreme sports magazines, including Outside, Mountain, Transworld Snowboarding, Blue Adventure, and Powder. When he's not heli-guiding in Alaska, Chile, and Patagonia, DC lives in Davos, Switzerland, where he snowboards, mountain bikes, and golfs with his two college-aged sons.