The Essential Yosemite Library

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duncan

climber

London, UK

Topic Author's Original Post - Mar 30, 2016 - 02:20am PT

I've just finished the excellent "Yosemite in the 1950s", strongly recommended to anyone with half an interest in this sort of thing. It is a lovely production, a credit to all involved. It's now sitting proudly alongside its companion Yosemite in the 1960s, Meyers' Yosemite Climber (a major reason for going there in the first place), John Muir The Yosemite, and Batso's Downward Bound.

What else would you have in your essential Yosemite climbing library?

mouse from merced

Trad climber

The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.

Mar 30, 2016 - 04:17am PT

My Life by Royal Robbins, in three volumes.

mouse from merced

Trad climber

The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.

Mar 30, 2016 - 05:47am PT

eKat brings up a very good point about what's important to a person.

Their libraries are like their lives on display for some. What's the more important version of the Yosemite guidebooks for your library?

It would be the one YOU AND YOUR PARTNERS used. The essence, in other words, of YOUR personal experience will be in that particular volume.

Mine happens to be the Green; and though I used the red, I never owned one because the Green was due out soon when I began climbing in Yosemite and I needed to save the bucks for one of those.

Melissa

Gym climber

berkeley, ca

Mar 30, 2016 - 08:23am PT

What DMT said.

The Making of Yosemite. The popular notion of Muir and Hutchings (or lack thereof as the case may be) is pretty far off from the facts of the time. This book digs into some of it.

Early Sierra Club Bulletins...With the climbers of the 50's and moreso the 60's came a lore that sort of wiped out everything and everyone that came before them, but the early folks wrote more in the SCB about their adventures than our generation probably has committed to Supertopo.

Anything by Shirley Sargent.

The picture books, of course...Yosemite Climber and Heinz Zak's Yosemite book.

Lynn Hill's autobiography and Bev Johnson's biography add color for their respective eras.

The contemporary library is probably more video and online media.

Reilly

Mountain climber

The Other Monrovia- CA

Mar 30, 2016 - 08:29am PT

Are you kidding me? Eleven posts and not one vote four Roper's Camp 4? Very sad.

Bullwinkle

Boulder climber

Mar 30, 2016 - 08:35am PT

The Stone Masters, California Climbing in the 70's, John Long and Dean Fidelman.

NutAgain!

Trad climber

South Pasadena, CA

Mar 30, 2016 - 09:17am PT

Red Roper has great line drawings of presently less visited formations.
Green Roper is the bible for text descriptions of many now obscure routes
Meyers/Reid (mine is turquoise) is good for the standard repertoire beyond supertopo
Supertopo of course is great to focus on the climbing and not getting lost or running out of gear

k-man

Gym climber

SCruz

Mar 30, 2016 - 09:52am PT

hamie

Social climber

Thekoots

Mar 30, 2016 - 10:09am PT

Not mentioned so far:

The Valley Climbers. Stonemaster Press. Editor D. Fidelman [?]

Going Up. Joe Fitschen.

Ordeal by Piton. S. Roper

Wings of Steel. Jensen. One of my faves

Rock Jocks, Hangdogs etc J. Long

Night on the Ground etc etc. D. Robinson. More about the high country, so not really an essential.

Already mentioned:

A Red Roper. Essential to any "classy" collection of valley writing. :) :)

Gregory Crouch

Social climber

Walnut Creek, California

Mar 30, 2016 - 10:20am PT

Camp 4 and Ordeal by Piton, in a runaway.

Da-Veed

Big Wall climber

Bigfork

Mar 30, 2016 - 10:20am PT

Ordeal by Piton -Steve Roper
Camp 4 -Steve Roper
Vertical World of Yosemite
and Dharma Bums (not Yosemite but some High Sierra and just a damn good book)

cragnshag

Social climber

san joser

Mar 30, 2016 - 10:32am PT

What else would you have in your essential Yosemite climbing library?

Clint's brain in a jar. All those guidebooks and more are right there. Now if we could just figure out how to hook up a USB cable to it...

JEleazarian

Trad climber

Fresno CA

Mar 30, 2016 - 10:32am PT

Since I started in the "red Roper guide" era, and have a particular love for climbing history, I would include the following, at least:

A Climber's Guide to the High Sierra (Pre-1963, with the section on Yosemite Valley)

Red Roper guide

Green Roper guide

The Vertical World of Yosemite

Yosemite Climber

Yosemite in the 1950's

Camp 4

Orderal by Piton

My Life (Robbins)

Yosemite in the 1960s (I'm not sure if that's the title, but it's Glen Denny's superb photographic essay).

Any guidebook that includes John Dill's discussion of how to stay alive.

The most up-to-date guidebooks available. This includes not only all the Super Topo guides, but the Reid/Meyers guide and the more recent Big Walls guide.

Clint Cummins' list of Yosemite climbs.

As much as is available from the Stonemasters (I'm thinking particularly of Largo's and Bullwinkle's books).

The introductions to the two Roper guides give an excellent view of the state of Valley climbing in 1964 and 1970. The former hs a golden age flavor, the latter more of a silver age look. The other two Roper books include personal correspondence in Camp 4 and a compilation of articles in Ordeal by Piton. Denny's book and the 1950's book make you feel like you're getting to know the people and atmosphere.

Early guidebooks show the development of routes and standards. More modern ones show the evolution of what is possible, and how the definition of "moderate" changes over time. Clint's list (assuming it's still posted online) allows you to track the history of climbs on any formation in the Valley.

My collection is weak on later books only because I haven't read enough of them. Sorry.

John

Tricouni

Mountain climber

Vancouver

Mar 30, 2016 - 11:10am PT

Clarence King: Mountaineering in the Sierra Nevada has to be on any list.

Brian in SLC

Social climber

Salt Lake City, UT

Mar 30, 2016 - 01:15pm PT

Oldie but a goodie:

Brian in SLC

Social climber

Salt Lake City, UT

Mar 30, 2016 - 01:19pm PT

And another:

Toker Villain

Big Wall climber

Toquerville, Utah

Mar 30, 2016 - 01:26pm PT

Absolutely shameful!

More than 2 dozen posts and no Downward Bound?
It even rates Yosemite climbers.

Brian in SLC

Social climber

Salt Lake City, UT

Mar 30, 2016 - 01:34pm PT

^^^OP mentioned "batso's downward bound"...

But, no further mention. Indeed shameful.

Galen Rowell's first edition of High and Wild has a nice shot of a snowy Half Dome...

Defying Gravity - High Adventure on Yosemite's Walls by Gary Arce.