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Slater
Trad climber
Central Coast
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 31, 2009 - 12:37am PT
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OK, I'm the author (with Chris Summit) and this is a shameful plug for our book that just arrived (8,000 lbs of it!)...
Larger 8"x10" format, 456 pgs, over 100 crags in Northern California, over 2,000 routes (trad, sport, TR, bouldering - maps, photos, topos)
It'll get you anywhere worth climbing north of the Kern River. A Select guide! Many out of print/or hard to get info areas - KERN, NEEDLES, KINGS/SEQI, CALAVERAS, COURTRIGHT, SONORA PASS, BEAR VALLEY, TOLLHOUSE, FRESNO DOME, SHUTEYE RIDGE... etc. Keep in mind... it's a select guide - great for road trips.
You can get a copy at
http://www.maximuspress.com/
from Marty Lewis (God bless him)
$49.95 (approx. the cost of a tank of gas but it'll last the rest of your life)
free shipping
They won't be in stores for another few weeks but it could be in your hands in a few days.
additional free topos to go with the guide are at
http://www.slatervision.com/id21.html
Sample pages also there if you want to take a peek! (table of contents)
Foreword by Royal Robbins, photography by Jim Thornburg, Jerry Dodrill, Bill Serniuk, and many others out there in the climbing community (THANK YOU! many of you provided photos or edited!)
Contributing authors also include Steve Edwards and Marty Lewis.
This has taken 5 years of my life so I'm sorry for the shameful plug but I do think it is a good book (biased of course). There was such a community involvement it was so cool to hook up with legends and regular joe locals and make new friends in the process.
So there you go! Cheers and happy climbing - Tom
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Prezwoodz
Big Wall climber
Anchorage
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Aug 31, 2009 - 01:24am PT
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I finished writing a guidebook earlier this year for Alaska and now more then ever fully appreciate all the work that goes into it!
Well done! I am sure I will find myself in Northern Cali soon and will pick it up!
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Slater
Trad climber
Central Coast
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 31, 2009 - 01:45am PT
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Congrats to you too! Come down and thaw out!
My distributor just said he got 8,000 lbs. of books delivered to his house.
Where do you put 8,000 lbs. of books! Good god! Things you don't think about as an author!
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WBraun
climber
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Aug 31, 2009 - 01:50am PT
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You put them in a warehouse.
Thanks for your hard work guys.
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Rockjunky
Trad climber
METHDESTO CA
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Aug 31, 2009 - 02:03am PT
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just put in my order. how fast do they ship? going to the east side on wed.
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Slater
Trad climber
Central Coast
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 31, 2009 - 02:06am PT
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A warehouse... I gotta get me one. Ha ha, he talked me into renting a U-haul trailer and picking up 3,000 lbs worth for MY garage... my wife is gonna flip! Not sure how fast they ship, but I know that shipping is free.
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Todd Gordon
Trad climber
Joshua Tree, Cal
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Aug 31, 2009 - 02:40am PT
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Awesome;........can't wait to get my copy.....sent a batch to Nomad Ventures in Joshua Tree..........and thanks for all the hard work, research, etc....so that we can have info to go have more fun.....
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Slater
Trad climber
Central Coast
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 31, 2009 - 10:50am PT
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oh yeah, here is the cover...
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Grahm Doe
Sport climber
Oakhurst, CA
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Aug 31, 2009 - 01:13pm PT
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Congratulations Tom!
I am sure your glad to see such a huge project finished. I will always remember that snowmobile trip up to Shuteye to get the cover shot!
Real life land speeders
Tom crankin at Shuteye
Tom working on "research" for his guide
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Nate D
climber
San Francisco
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Aug 31, 2009 - 02:53pm PT
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Big props for crediting contributors, promoting local guidebooks, and including a means for online updates/corrections.
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adam d
climber
CA
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Aug 31, 2009 - 03:53pm PT
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looks sweet...just ordered one
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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Aug 31, 2009 - 11:38pm PT
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The information in the book does the incredible rocks of Nor Cal justice but it also has so many great pics that it could be a coffee table book alone and still be worth buying. Tom did a hell of a great job and Steve and Marty and I did pretty good too. Another great hit from MAXIMUS PRESS - Thank You Marty!
Priceless good times await!!
http://www.slatervision.com
http://www.maximuspress.com
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Slater
Trad climber
Central Coast
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 4, 2009 - 02:15pm PT
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And go ahead and call REI and ask them for a copy!
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socalbolter
Sport climber
Silverado, CA
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Congrats on getting it done.
Let's talk more about the next edition...I may have more free time in the year to come.
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splitclimber
climber
Sonoma County
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can't wait to get a copy.
I just bumped another thread about it, but was wondering if Raker Crags in in the book?
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pbernard
Trad climber
Chester, CA
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Slater! What's up! Long time no talk.... drop me an email. Congrats on the new guide (and the article in the rag too). Looks cool. However, I have to say that your version of "Northern California" is way too southern! What about Lassen, Trinity Alps, Castle Crags, Bald Rock, Ycatapom... blah, blah, blah... See what happens when a socal dude tries to do norcal... haha.
Hi to Emily and the SLO folk.
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bwancy1
Trad climber
Here
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Such a sweet book...it's like having 50 select guidebooks under one cover. I can't wait to try out some new areas on my next trip. Do yourself a favor and get one...the pictures alone are worth the 50 bucks!
Thanks for putting the energy and effort into the research needed to write a book of this caliber.
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MaxJ
Trad climber
Mammoth Lakes, CA
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I have to agree with PBernard: for a "NorCal" guidebook, it does leave a bit to be desired. Most of the areas included in the book, in my opinion, are not really in "northern" California. Some destination crags in northern California are not mentioned at all in this book. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as it will minimize crowding in some of the more obscure northern California crags. The locals already know where the good stuff is, and some of them might not tell you (especially if you're a guidebook author).
Also, it would be nice to see more citations of previous guidebooks, from which information was perhaps borrowed. See for example the section on climbing in Lassen, where no citations are given for other guidebooks. Steven Mackay (Rock Climbing: Northwest California, 2001) and John Bald (Lassen Volcanic National Park: A Climbers Guide, 1991) have both published detailed guidebooks for this area.
On a more positive note, it is really nice to see a guidebook that has found a good balance between extensiveness and attention to detail. Often guidebooks that try to cover huge areas are too vague, but this one manages to provide enough information to actually get some climbing done. Pretty cool. Basically, if you could only afford one guidebook and you lived in central-northern Cali, this would be the book to own.
Edit: The definition of "northern" California admittedly varies greatly from San Francisco to Yreka.
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drunkenmaster
Social climber
santa rosa
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feedback - good.
we did list most, if not all of the books that came before us. and as far as having more so cal than nor cal - im not sure you have even seen the book. the book does cover mt lassen, bald rock, trinity aretes (not t alps) and castle crags as well as most of the best nor cal rocks in its usual select type = what is close to the road or trail / what is popular and quality.
i have climbed at almost all the best areas in nor cal and helped develop a few of them over the last 20 years. the northwest california guidebook by falcon had many good qualities, steve m did a good job for the most part and im not sure why exactly it got pulled from the shelves but it is not around anymore. along with having a lot of very concise hard earned info it also did have a lot of errors. for one thing it had a lot of the best rocks in the north eastern part of the state and yet it was called northwestern cali?? dont get me started. our book has the info for shuteye pass and trinity aretes and everything in between from oregon to the pacific plus awesome pics and a foreword by the living legend; royal robbins, not to mention toms, steve, marty's and my blood sweat and tears - give it a shot!
http://www.slatervision.com
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