Freeriding in Lombardy, not exactly an everyday pleasure for residents of the northern Alps. 50 freeride variants in bilingual versions are presented here.
For many freeriders, even the question of where Lombardy actually is can only be answered with a Google search or an atlas. The fact that a freeride guide has been published for this little-known region probably comes as a surprise to most freeriders in the Northern Alps. However, the freeride terrain is very varied, appealing and well worth a (somewhat longer) trip.
Giuliano Bordoni and Paolo Marazzi present the main freeride variants of six ski resorts: Livigno, Isolaccia, Bormio, Santa Caterina, Madesimo and Passo Tonale. The authors present variants that do not require a long hike or difficult ascent.
The layout and presentation of the book are very reminiscent of "Freeride in Dolomiti", which can be explained by the fact that the publisher (Versante Sud) is the same. However, the overview maps based on Open-Streetmap or Garmin are only useful as an overview: Lifts, some mountain names and roads are marked on the roughly shaded maps, but nothing more. The marked routes are easy to recognize, but their course remains a mystery to anyone unfamiliar with the area.
The pictures with which the routes are illustrated, on the other hand, provide a good overview and you can see what the presented descent offers. It's a shame that most of the freeride pictures are great for a personal family album, but not for much more.
The categorization and classification of the tours is familiar from the Dolomites Guide, based on the French Toponeige scale and is quick and easy to understand.
The route descriptions are extremely compact and most readers will probably want a little more information. However, as most of the tours are not difficult and are easy to find in the terrain, this is not a major problem.
The English translation is kept very simple and therefore easy to understand.
Conclusion
The authors emphasize in the foreword and the summary that this book is the first step towards understanding the region for freeriders. And that's exactly how you should see this book. A good overview and certainly a nice Christmas present for travel enthusiasts. If you are good with maps and have an eye for the terrain, you will probably be able to find most of the marked routes yourself. Unfortunately, the authors make no reference to the freeride problem in Italy or the region. According to our information, this can still be described as tense and as a foreign freerider you don't know whether you will be welcomed with open arms or handcuffs in the valley.