Climbing Guidebooks

Post by **squeezindlemmon** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 4:47 pm

Amidst all the rave about Ray's awesome new guide (I just finally finished making notes on mine!), I would like to raise the following questions:

1. What is your favorite climbing guide? (not including Ray's - people, let's give others a chance!)
2. What do you like about it?
3. Which features of a guidebook are most important to you?
4. Which guidebook do you "dislike" the most?
5. Rate your top 5 favorite guidebooks (you can include Ray's on this one)

I'll start....
1. Steve Cater's New River Gorge Climbing Guidebook
2. The topos are great and I don't think I will ever get lost in the NRG with this book on hand.
3. I like 3D illustrations better than wordy descriptions, the more visual, the better. I also like to read about the history of an area.
4. Any Falcon Guide books.
5. (1) Ray's RRG guidebook
(2) Steve Cater's NRG guidebook
(3) J Bronaugh's RRG Guidebook, 2nd edition
(4) Eric Ricard's Squeezing the Lemmon
(5) Sketches, bouldering guide to West Virginia

Post by **mcrib** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 4:55 pm

I love the addition of the crossword in Steve Cater's guide.

Post by **Christian** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 5:20 pm

A Better Way to Die,(it might be Tim Toula but I loaned it to Wes Tite and I haven't seen it since.) guidebook for Sedona area sandstone(it is just fucking hilarious) It convinced me to climb anywhere around Flagstaff except the Sedona area.

Post by **ynp1** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 5:31 pm

Best: Supertopo's Yosemite Bigwalls. It has history and very good route info, well maybe to much route info.

worst: Dixie Cragger Atlas. it is really hard to follow.

Post by **tomdarch** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 7:51 pm

Best: Tough to say, but I liked the Siruana guide from, uh, that English guidebook publisher (crap! I can't remember their name!)

Worst: I'd have to say that the lousy directions/times for finding climbs and the descent descriptions that almost got Merrick (and others) killed means that Swain's Red Rocks, NV guide sucks pretty bad.

Post by **Meadows** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 7:54 pm

Swain's guidebook is terrible.

Post by **Jonathan** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 8:12 pm

Luckily there is a rad new Red Rock guidebook out that Jared McMillen and Roxanna Brock co-authored. Sweet photos (both action and topo), good descriptions and a bit of history too.

http://www.tybphotography.com/guidebook ... climb.html

My favorite guide is Islands in the Sky for all the Limestone around Vegas. The absolute best for Charleston, VRG, and all the Local crags right in Vegas.

Post by **mcrib** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 12:41 am

The Gunks bouldering guide is good but is full of the cheesiest quotes I've ever read. They'e all about doing the rock dance and crap like that. Then you go bouldering in the Gunks and you meet people who actually believe that they are doing the rock dance. Drives me crazy and not in the good Fine Young Canabials way

Post by **Horatio Felacio** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 5:41 pm

i like the deep south climbers companion by rob robinson. at least the t-wall and sunset parts of it. everything r.r. writes in his route descriptions is quite entertaining. i like the jarrard and snyder rrg select climbs paper back.

Post by **Crankmas** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 8:04 pm

I concur with Ho, both selections are excellent