Best Guidebook?

Hello fellow climbers,

So having bought a guidebook recently that is only marginally better than TP, I would like to ask the community what is, in your opinion, the best guidebooks out there? I want to get a list that can set a "standard" of sorts for all guidebooks out there.

I'll start - I personally love "Red Rocks, A Climbers Guide". I like the background stories, the crag pictures with the route overlay instead of sketches, and the descriptions I found a pretty spot on for the stuff I've climbed.

Both editions of Alan Watts' Smith Rock guide are amazing.

smith guide by watts is the high water mark in such things

Selected Sandbags of the Canadian Rockies.

Colorado Ice by Jack Roberts (RIP).

Vince Anderson's Ouray guidebook because it's gorgeous and because Vince is the f'n man (and will personally sign your book for you if you order it from him).

Southern Fried Ice by Michael Crowder - it's not the most detailed, picture-filled, or accurate, but I've got to rep for the local climbing and especially for Crowder taking the time to actually write up a Southeastern ice guidebook.

The best guidebooks were the Rock Fax series from the 80s. They had good topos, plus topos overlayed on aerial photos. I think the new Rumney book adopted that format.

Dick Williams books for the Gunks will always have a special place in my heart though. For the route descriptions, a foreword about the history of climbing in the Gunks and good quotes.

The latest Adirondack (Lawyer and Haas) guide is up there on my list. Good photo topos, routes indexed by name and grade, plus the website has all manner of route additions and corrections available for free, plus some of the selected topos (minus the descriptions). The Williams guides for the Gunks are def better than the Swain guide, however both Gunks guides come up a little short on the Topo aspect (the perspectives of the photos are weird and hard to reconcile on the ground).

Here's how I would sum up this thread "The guidebook from my local area is the best".

+1 for the Watts Guide to Smith Rawks.

Aaron Huey's Ten Sleep Guidebook.

Cole Phinney wrote:Aaron Huey's Ten Sleep Guidebook.

+1

I'm pretty stoked over this new one:

Utah's West Desert

Ryan Palo wrote:+1 for the Watts Guide to Smith Rawks.

Just 'cause you're on the cover doesn't mean you need to vote for it. Way to shill dude!

dolgio wrote:The best guidebooks were the Rock Fax series from the 80s. They had good topos, plus topos overlayed on aerial photos. I think the new Rumney book adopted that format. Dick Williams books for the Gunks will always have a special place in my heart though. For the route descriptions, a foreword about the history of climbing in the Gunks and good quotes.

Ha! Ed Webster White Mountain Guidebook kicks the Rock Fax guidebooks in the ass!
Tons of info along with the history. One of the few guide books that you actually want to read.

Hands down Best Colorado Guide book is Steve Levin's Eldorado Canyon Guide. Published by Sharp End Books. 100's of routes, excellent descriptions/pictures, historical events and stories as well as first person accounts from prolific First Ascentionists and developers. The author climbed about 90% of the routes in the book and gives personal opinions on if they are worth climbing. A must have in any climbers colletion.

Handren's Red Rocks guide and Levin's Eldorado Canyon Guide
- both are worthy of coffee table books with the glossy color photos, have great historical sections, and contain enough routes to keep me busy for a very long time

Adding Bishop Bouldering (Young and Ryan) for similar reasons, not just b/c Wills & Lisa gave me a copy for my b-day ;)

Sam lightner's guide to Thailand blows the rest for that country out of the water. It would even be a good read for non-climbers traveling in se Asia.

Mikey Williams did an excellent job on the New Riger Gorge guide, published by wolverine.

I'm a pretty big fan of Peter Croft's "The Good, the Great, and the Awesome."

BackCountry wrote: +1 I'm pretty stoked over this new one:

Wow what is that crack on the back cover?

Not only is this a great guidebook, but it also has a great name!

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BTW I am now scarred for life after doing a google image search for 'long dong' lol.

Other great ones are both of the new J-Tree select guides, and anything NOT published by Falcon Guides. For a fun older-type book I like the old Sedona guide A Better Way To Die by Tim Toula. Also a +1 for The Good, The Great, & The Awesome by Peter Croft.

Blooms guide to IC, Winter Dance and the guide to the Red all came out around the same time around '03. They seemed to raise the bar across the board. Then Handrens Red Rock guide raised the bar some more (what a labor of love). My favorite series is the Desert Rock set -mostly because I use the ones I own. And My favorite single guide is Burns Select Climbs of the Desert Southwest.

First Book that came to mind was Levin's Eldo Guide. Hardon's Red Rocks guide was no surprise to see here.
The thing that you have to consider is what the author started with too. In many cases the best books are the ones starting out standing on the best pile of good material, Levin and Harden made the best of good material and turned out excellent books.
You can't expect the first of any place to be an excellent piece. It usually takes some time. So sometimes there is acknowledgement due to authors who made a huge step up from nothing or from something that was crap.
Any such nominations out there for that sort of effort?
I'd say that Gillett did pretty well with re-doing the St Vrain, and having seen sections of the upcoming Splatte Book, I've got to say, I think that may be a front runner this come spring. (It will be a huge step up if it can even locate the Bucksnort in the same place twice.)

I'll agree with Alan Watts' Smith Climbing guide,
but I like Rock Climbing Arkansas by Cole Fennel a LOT more. It was published by Fixed Pin and sums up what a great guidebook is IMO.
fixedpin.com/Rock_Climbing_…
check out the sample pages there.

also cool with that one is that the color headings at the top of the page (blue, brown, green, etc) show on the side of the book when its closed so you can open right up to an area

Ryan Palo wrote:Here's how I would sum up this thread "The guidebook from my local area is the best".

That's not true at all. Devil's Lake desperately needs a new guidebook. My favorite guidebook Poudre Canyon By Craig Luebben, Bennett Scott, and Cameron Cross. Found everything we were after with ease, the descriptions were fantastic, and the history of the developers were awesome.