This Land of Snow: A Journey Across the North in Winter

Morley weaves together human and natural history with skill, and his philosophy on winter and its purpose --'to reveal weaknesses in living things'--captures the season’s beauty. Those with a taste for adventure and an appreciation for nature’s gifts will enjoy this moving expedition. -- Publishers Weekly

National Outdoor Book Award Winner

A passionate skier since he was a child, Anders Morley dreamed of going on a significant adventure, something bold and of his own design. And so one year in his early thirties, he decided to strap on cross-country skis to travel across Canada in the winter alone.

This Land of Snow is about that journey and a man who must come to terms with what he has left behind, as well as how he wants to continue living after his trip is over. It is an honest, thoughtful, and humorous reckoning of an adventure filled with adrenalin and exuberance, as well as mistakes and danger. Along the way readers gain insight, both charming and fascinating, into Northern outdoor culture and modern-day wilderness living, the history of northern exploration and Nordic skiing, the right to roam movement, winter ecology, and more.

Throughout, Morley’s clear, subtle, and self-deprecating voice speaks to a backwoods-genteel aesthetic that explores the dichotomy between wildness and refinement, language and personal story, journey and home.