A man who has spent his professional life measuring the flow of northern rivers, climbed Alaska’s Mount McKinley, was a member of both Yale University and Maine University’s scientific expeditions to the Antarctic, guided a film crew documenting the late Robert Kennedy’s ascent of Mount Kennedy, and crossed the St. Elias mountain range is certainly no stranger to the cold! In Winter Wise, Monty Alford shares a lifetime of experience, technique, and personal knowledge of surviving and travelling on ice and snow.

In addition to describing the scientific characteristics of winter weather and how to prepare for it with proper clothing, food, and conditioning, Winter Wise provides step-by-step instructions on building every conceivable winter survival instrument, from sleds to shelters to his own personal invention, the YuCan stove. This book is an essential resource for all northern travellers.

Montague Ewart Alford was born in 1923 in Cornwall, England. He was educated at Plymouth Technical College and apprenticed as an aeronautical tool and die designer from 1940 to 1944 taking additional night courses in surveying. Monty immigrated to Canada in 1948. His career in Canada began in 1949 as a survey party chief for Northwest Highway System (Alaska Highway and Atlin Road) and concluded in 1986 after thirty-five years of federal government service in water surveying and research including twenty-five years as Officer in Charge of the Water Survey of Canada office in Whitehorse, Yukon. By vocation a federal water surveyor, but by avocation a wilderness and mountain guide, Monty Alford has spent more than sixty years pursuing mountaineering activities. Mountaineering and expeditions: 1950: (March to December) 4,200-mile trans-continental canoe expedition from British Columbia to Gulf of Mexico. 1961: Member, American expedition to make 22nd ascent of Mount McKinley, Alaska. 1964: Member, American expedition to make first ascent of Mount Newton. 1965: Guide to National Film Board of Canada party filming first ascent of Mount Kennedy by the late Robert F. Kennedy. 1965: Member, National Geographic Society expedition mapping the Hubbard massif. 1967: Co-leader, Yukon Alpine Centennial Expedition (International Team) making ascent of the south peak of Mount Vancouver as a part of Canada's centennial celebration. 1967-68: (October to January) Member, Yale University and American Geographical Society expedition to the Antarctic. 1972: Leader, Mountain Travel Expedition to climb Mount Logan. 1972: Leader, Arctic Winter Games Expedition to make first winter ascent in St. Elias Mountains. 1977: Member, Maine University expedition to the Antarctic. 1979: Co-leader, Mountain Travel, Trans-St. Elias Expedition

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