In the 1980s, Lowell Skoog and his friends were sort of oddballs, attempting to traverse rugged sections of the North Cascades on telemark skis and leather climbing boots.

They pioneered several new routes while alpine touring through the backcountry before it was popular, and Skoog is a part of the history of backcountry skiing in the Pacific Northwest. So it seems fitting that he should author a book on just that subject.

A project that took more than 20 years, “Written in the Snows” is an in-depth history of the past century of Northwest skiing, from inspiring stories of wilderness exploration to the evolution of gear and technique. Skoog traces the development of skiing in Washington and Oregon from the late 1800s to today, covering the beginning of ski resorts and competitions, and the importance of remote alpine areas in the Cascades and Olympic mountains.

Skoog, 65 and a Seattle resident, weaves his own impressions and experiences into the larger history. A longtime skier, climber, writer and photographer, Skoog is the creator of the Alpenglow Gallery and founder of the Northwest Mountaineering Journal.

At 7 p.m. on Friday, Skoog will give a presentation about the book at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Oregon in west Bend. The book is available at mountaineers.org for $29.95 or at Roundabout Books in Bend.

Throughout his long skiing and mountaineering career, Skoog tackled several challenging routes through the North Cascades of Washington, including the Ptarmigan Traverse and the Picket Range Traverse. He dreamed up the American Alps Traverse with his late brother Carl Skoog, who died in a fall while skiing in the Andes in 2005. The 120-mile traverse that includes 60,000 feet of climbing was first completed in 2013 by Washington natives Kyle Miller and Jason Hummel.

“A big chunk of the book is devoted to the North Cascades, mountains that are like the Alps of Europe,” Skoog said. “I would envision a ski trip from here to there that goes through wild country for multiple days. That was the most inspiring thing that I put my energy into.”

Skoog realized he wanted to write about the history of backcountry skiing in the Northwest after reading “Wild Snow” in the late 1990s. The book is a history of American mountaineering, but Skoog felt it did not cover the Northwest well enough.

“I thought there was a need for a more comprehensive history by somebody who lives in the area,” he said. “It just took a very long time for any publishers to think that somebody would actually buy this. It took 20 years before the popularity of the sport grew enough to make it happen. And now backcountry skiing is just going gangbusters.”

Long chairlift lines, expensive lift tickets and the COVID-19 pandemic have led to a dramatic increase of skiers and snowboarders heading to the backcountry in recent years.

As Skoog found out in his research for his book, before ski resorts were built in the Northwest, skiing was ALL backcountry. And the only way to access the mountains was via railroad.

Part of his research included retracing routes by some of the ski pioneers of the early 20th century. This included the Mountaineers Patrol Race near Snoqualmie Pass in the 1930s.

“Doing that made me really appreciate it, because back then it was so much more primitive,” Skoog said. “There were no trails, and they were taking trains to get to the mountains.”

Skoog’s research led to a revival of the Mountaineers Patrol Race.

“Written in the Snows” accounts for backcountry skiing history from Mount Hood to the Canadian border. While there is not much about Central Oregon backcountry in the book, there is an account of Jack Meissner’s 300-mile ski from Mount Hood to Crater Lake in 1948. Meissner, who died in 2008, taught alpine skiing at Willamette Pass and Mt. Bachelor. He was the husband of the late Virginia Meissner, the namesake of the popular sno-park near Bend.

Much of the book focuses on skiers pursuing adventurous ascents and descents.

“Skiing up and down Mount Rainier was a goal for people in the 1920s,” Skoog said. “It took them quite a while to do it, but they finally did. Every generation finds bigger challenges to ski different routes, and start to ski things that previously were only climbing routes.”

Skoog envisions backcountry skiing and snowboarding becoming even more popular in years to come, as folks seek out a more refreshing experience high in the mountains and away from the crowds.

“Business models are changing and it’s driving huge demand and crowds,” Skoog said of ski resorts. “Things are changing and the nature of the skiing experience is changing. For someone who’s been at it a long time, it’s kind of painful. We just have to work through that.

“Ski areas are struggling to handle the demand, but human-powered skiing is taking off.”