Cirque guidebook

Planning on a trip to Cirque of the Towers in August. What is the recommended guidebook? Do people prefer Bechtel's book or 'hiking and climbing in the wind River range?'

Both are good.

Bechtel's is smaller and not nearly as comprehensive as it is focused on the Cirque and Deep Lake areas only. If you plan on carrying it in, that is the one I'd take.

Kelsey's is an excellent book to have if you are interested in the greater Winds.

Have fun.

I disagree with half of the above. Kelseys book, the green one with all the words, is next to useless. It's 20% more useful than just hiking in there and trying to find routes on your own.

I am not sure the Bectel book is available though.

I had the green book when I was there and basically spent the entire trip on Mountain Project. If I had to do it again, I'd just print the important pages off of here and skip the green book entirely.

I'll be there in August too! 13th-20th. Trying to do the classics and also gunning for the Cirque Traverse.

I was just going to print Mountain Project pages because I've also used the Kelsey book and not only is he a pathological sandbagger (I think a "5.8" A3+ route was labelled "fun day outing"), it's also really confusing.

We only did a few routes in the cirque, but found Bechtel hybridized with mountainproject.com worked well. For example, if you're like us and mildly clueless in the mountains, I think you might be glad of the beta on this site for wolf's head regular route (East Ridge, right?), especially the descent which is quite involved. Some of it will come down to how much adventure you're looking for. Kelsey will give you plenty. Even Bechtel I'd say offers some room for improvisation, although it's been a few years since I looked at it.

I have the 3rd edition Kelsey guide (published by Falcon) so I'm not sure how it compares to the green one. I will say it is much more than just a hiking guide.

There is a newer (2013) edition of Kelsey's book that supersedes the green one . I haven't had a chance to check it out yet. The green one is definitely old school style.

Bechtel's book has nice color topos/photos, but it is also expensive considering how thin it is. For the Cirque Traverse I ended up using a combo of Bechtel, Kelsey (1 topo), and Mt Project for climbing and a Beartooth map for trails. Their maps are great, btw. Not having seen the 2013 Kelsey guide, if I were only going to the Cirque or Deep Lake I would get Bechtel.

Kelsey's states in the beginning of his book that he wants to keep the adventure in climbing. He gives you the start of the route, sometimes the descent route (for more popular climbs) and many times just the grade so to keep with the spirit of climbing in the Winds. Kelsey's book also includes walk-up routes (of which there are dozens, if not hundreds) and scrambles.

If you want someone to hold your hand through your entire ascent of the Northeast Face of Pingora, then by all means use Bechtels guide. I would only buy Kelsey's book of you plan on going to places other than the Cirque, or if you would like to learn more about the range itself. The price is also $40 for Kelsey's book as compared to $19.95 for Bechtels book. We stock both at the Great Outdoor Shop and can even ship them if need be.

But no, Kelsey's book is not useless. You have to realize that there are so many routes in the range that it would be nearly impossible to collect good beta for all of them. It covers the history of the Winds, how they were formed geologically, trailhead information, backcountry ethics, etc. and is much more comprehensive in that respect than Bechtels guide will ever be.

Different strokes for different folks.

DavisMeschke wrote:The price is also $40 for Kelsey's book as compared to $19.95 for Bechtels book.

I stand corrected. I was quoting my price.

Update:
I just checked out the new version of Kelsey. It's pretty nice, color pics and updated topos. As far as detail goes, it has more beta than something like Secor's Sierra guide, but for the most part spends effort on breadth. The Cirque, however, is covered in quite a bit detail.

I was at Rock and Snow at the Gunks yesterday and noticed they have a couple Bechtel books. 3 seconds on google for their phone number if you want an order