Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
Slater
Trad climber
Central Coast
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - May 24, 2011 - 10:42pm PT
|
I know for me John Harlin III was the man. I burned a lot of pre-sleep hours reading his guidebooks and just dreaming of the road... His North America series were classics (although probably stark compared to today's Supertopo-style guides). I grew up with Vogel, Vernon, and Reid too.
Who were the big ones in other states/regions?
I liked the books that had a lot of history in them... not just lists of routes. And the pictures... oh man I would drive hundreds of miles just to climb something I saw in a book. Hell I went all the way to the Swiss Matterhorn just 'cause I saw it in a calendar.
If there are other classics out there I'd love to hear about them.
|
|
donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
|
|
|
May 24, 2011 - 10:56pm PT
|
Some guidebooks are adequate, some almost good, most are mediocre, none are legendary.
|
|
atchafalaya
Boulder climber
|
|
|
May 24, 2011 - 11:00pm PT
|
High Alaska by Waterman
Hueco Tanks by Sherman
|
|
Norman Claude
climber
|
|
|
May 24, 2011 - 11:06pm PT
|
Chuck Pratt's binder in Camp 4. Could be argued that it was only a register,can't be argued that it wasn't legendary.
Norman Claude
|
|
this just in
climber
north fork
|
|
|
May 24, 2011 - 11:09pm PT
|
Slater is da man. Not a legend but still cool.
Dmt, Spencer's is my favorite even though some of the Topo drawings are off.
|
|
johntp
Trad climber
socal
|
|
|
May 24, 2011 - 11:11pm PT
|
Fred Beckey, Cascade Alpine Guides
|
|
schwortz
Social climber
"close to everything = not at anything", ca
|
|
|
May 24, 2011 - 11:38pm PT
|
dick williams' gunks guides
ed webster's white mountains guide
don mellor's dacks guide
gaston rebuffat's 100 finest mont blanc guide/history/picture book
|
|
Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
|
|
|
May 24, 2011 - 11:41pm PT
|
Jill Neate High Asia
|
|
Chief
climber
The NW edge of The Hudson Bay
|
|
|
May 24, 2011 - 11:58pm PT
|
Gordie Smaill's Squamish Guide
Route description;
"If you smile on tipped off blades in prying horror stories and 40 foot lead out free off cliffhangers on prayers, you'll be laughing when you pull onto the summit"
"This climb turns into a veritable bag of liver in the rain"
Gear lists;
"The usual shoulder bruising wall rack"
"Knife blades to three inches"
Subjective opinion;
"Recommended if you like cream with your manure"
|
|
Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
|
|
|
May 25, 2011 - 12:26am PT
|
Bjornstad Desert Rock
Watts Smith Guide
Reid Yo guide
Vogel Josh guide
sherman Heuco Guide
Roach Arch Bagger
bartlett Josh series
50 classics
Harlin series
Wilts Tahquitz guide
EC Joe Needles
Jorge/Joanna Red Rocks
Those are the guides that made it happen for me.
Some of the new Eldo and Red rocks guides are way cool.....the new all color guides are so beautiful.......
|
|
tom woods
Gym climber
Bishop, CA
|
|
|
May 25, 2011 - 12:42am PT
|
Jensen's original Bay Area rocks was a mystery wrapped in an enigma when I was a kid.
People would tell us about it, and hint at possible places to check out, but I never saw one.
|
|
mike m
Trad climber
black hills
|
|
|
May 25, 2011 - 12:46am PT
|
The Needles books were written and progressively built upon by Kamps, the Conns, and then Piana all very major tasks for their laberynth like nature. Also Dingus McGee for his poor person guides to the Needles and Devil's Tower.
|
|
Captain...or Skully
climber
or some such
|
|
|
May 25, 2011 - 12:46am PT
|
My first guidebook was the greenish Meyers/Reid guide.
Still the go-to. There's a lot more notes in it, now, though.(helpful).
Right on George & Don. Legendary. Oh, yeah.
|
|
Mighty Hiker
climber
Vancouver, B.C.
|
|
|
May 25, 2011 - 12:46am PT
|
Dick Culbert's "A Climber's Guide to the Coastal Ranges of British Columbia" (1965). In which Tricouni had a big hand. Including poetry, even.
Tricouni's "A Climber's Guide to the Squamish Chief" (1967) is also very good, although I have only a photocopy. The pen and ink drawings are great, as are the atmospheric route descriptions.
|
|
klk
Trad climber
cali
|
|
|
May 25, 2011 - 12:51am PT
|
I suppose OG Jones's Rockclimbing in the English Lake District is one of the most classic, along with Ball's early guides to the Alps.
Beckey's Cascades series for me set the standard for a particular type of alpine guide:
Antiquarian research on first ascent information; detailed, prose descriptions of the nightmare labyrinth of trails, logging roads, brush, slash and water crossings that make up the approaches; and an encyclopedic list of peaks.
I was never a sentimental fan of omnibus style guides (i.e., Harlin), although I found them useful on road trips.
I enjoyed Ament's original High Over Boulder even though I hadn't so much as seen the place.
I have someplace a three or four page guide to Tucson bouldering by Bob Murray. That one was one of the first I'd seen that had no graphic representation in it of any sort: just mathematically reduced prose descriptions of highly esoteric and brutally difficult routes on tiny chunks of desert.
|
|
tiki-jer
Trad climber
fresno/clovis
|
|
|
May 25, 2011 - 10:37am PT
|
The old "Hunk" guide of the O.C.
|
|
drljefe
climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
|
|
|
May 25, 2011 - 10:45am PT
|
Sherman/Hueco
Vogel/Josh
Kerry/Backcountry AZ
Lovejoy/Granite Mtn
Toula/NAZ
|
|
Off White
climber
Tenino, WA
|
|
|
May 25, 2011 - 10:57am PT
|
Alan Watt's Smith guides, both the old one and the recent, are pretty damned meticulous.
I've a deep fondness for John Steiger's Mt Lemmon guidebook, though that may be as much for the time and people I associate with it.
Eric Beck's Mission Gorge guide, as well as Werner Landry's later guide are treasured relics for a minor area that played a central role in my learning to climb.
Vogel's got to get a nod, not just for his prodigious output but also for his love of the guidebook genre.
|
|
anees
climber
temporary exile from the land of enchantment
|
|
|
May 25, 2011 - 11:06am PT
|
Bjornstad's Desert Rock series.... particularly the original Desert Rock! I think that it deserves "legendary" status for 3 reasons:
(A) Contains tons of history snuck into the descriptions, much of which is unavailable elsewhere, or has been until recently. "The Home of Truth" religious cult compound outside of Indian Creek? Read about it there first.
(B) Covers the (dare-I-say-it) "legendary" climbs on the Navajo Nation; Shiprock, Spider Rock, Totem Pole, etc etc. The last guidebook to do so. These routes and formations are the forbidden fruit of American climbing. How can one not want to read about them?
(C) The clincher: it's long out of print, yet still highly desirable. The prices it sometimes goes for can seem pretty "legendary."
I'd be very interested to know which guidebooks the AAC library lends out most frequently. That might be a good metric.
|
|
drljefe
climber
El Presidio San Augustin del Tucson
|
|
|
May 25, 2011 - 11:11am PT
|
Off White, the geology section of the Steiger guide...
Rocks!
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!