Devils Tower Guidebook

Hey guys,

does anybody have a guidebook for the Devils Tower as a pdf-file.
I plan a rock climbing trip to DT in september or so and need some information about that. Yes i know mountainproject...

Thx and greetings from germany
Maik

I can understand if you wanted a .pdf of an old or out of print guide, but a copy of a current guide is just kinda stealing.

I was just looking yesterday and could not find any guidebooks in print. Are there any available?

There are used copies available for crazy prices, the most reasonable being the questionable Extreme Angles book.

I would like to get a printed book in addition to the internet resources, ala Mountain Project.

This is the one that I have.

$35 on amazon

amazon.com/Devils-Tower-Cli…

And holy cow is it bad!
Wrong grades, wrong length, wildly inaccurate descriptions. My old office-xerox-press copy of dingus' book has better and more correct info.

I am not aware of an e-guide outside of mp.com

Jfriday1 wrote:This is the one that I have. $35 on amazon amazon.com/Devils-Tower-Cli…

That is absolutely wrong about this book being inaccurate. It was written by individuals who have spent plenty of time there and some priceless input from some of the most experienced climbers to put their hands on the Tower. This is the ONLY guide book that you would want in your pack. Trust it enjoy it and cherish the Power of the Tower.

i just want a legal copy. like pdf's from Supertopo or something like that.

Two things:

1) As seen above, this book continues to get mixed reviews. Makes me uncertain about it. But as one comment said, it is still worth it just for the photos.

2) The book is out of print. It seems to be the most recently available book, but it is still gone. The "new" copies on Amazon are remainder back stock.

I will still probably get one of the remaining copies.

I am just surprised there are no current guidebooks on the tower. Seems like there is room for a good one to be published or re-published.

I know there has to be some around some of our local climbing stores. Try granite sports in Custer sd, there's also stores in Sheridan wy and also Casper wy. Maybe they would send you one. Please trust me I've carried this book for years you want it. Ive guided/ climbed on the Tower for years and when I first started I used it all the time and I was never disappointed. Maybe someone claims the grades are wrong but keep in mind the Tower is sandbagged pretty bad for today. Most of these routes were done when 5.10 was the hardest in the country. Good luck and climb on

I just have a bad taste in my mouth from the fact that his pitch lengths were so consistently wrong or absent on the classics, his gear beta so consistently wrong on the classics, his grades so consistently wrong on the classics.

Yes, it's a pretty book. But if you can't be arsed to include the distance from bolts to ground on Tulgey Wood (which gets the full "classic" treatment, complete with beta about where to belay *if* you have double ropes) then all that *pretty* is just lipstick on a pig.
Granted, there are entire swaths of tower space where he fails to give rap lengths. But it's pretty weird to me that the classic of the area is the only one whose rap and pitch lengths are not expressed, even as it gets the total detail treatment.

Elsewhere, he lectures about "knowing your rap length" or he can't be responsible about the epic that ensues. I felt damn lucky that we had a pair of 60m ropes on Klondike. If we'd brought 50s, or even slightly trimmed 60s, we would've been in a world of hurt. And that stuff is constant. Plenty of time to name drop and call out his own photo credits in ADVERTISMENTS, couldn't be bothered to actually climb the routes he claims are classic.

He pulled similar crap on his Vedauwoo books, where I rapidly learned that "good hands" meant "pack the 6 or solo it" and that he'd rather insert dumb jokes about weed and claim other people's first ascents than even attempt to write a good book.

Literally the only thing that I like about the book is the tear out rappel guides on the front and back cover, but be sure to laminate - they're only coated on one side.

Don't buy any of those goofy ass guidebooks. They are all junk. I think the only one that is decent, that I have, is for Vedauwoo (old wide angles). The guy is in the business of making money and trying to be funny. All the Needles (SD) books he's put out have incredibly inaccurate descriptions of routes - ex. Finding yourself on the wrong side of a road or on a completely different formation. It's junk and I'm not sure why the local shops are still selling this BS. I strongly feel that if you aren't from an area or haven't put in due diligence researching routes, climbing routes, etc - you shouldn't be pooping out guidebooks. On top of all that, where does he credit other guidebook authors for using some of their descriptions verbatim?

To the original poster - give the bookstore/climbing ranger station a call. I got a guidebook there years ago that is great to climb with - not just a toilet reader.

I'm making a trip to the tower in mid-July. Has anyone used this book for the Tower classics?

I suppose I'm interested in climbing Durrance...although it sounds like that might be a shit show. I'm more interested in El Cracko or Soler. Does anyone have any specific suggestions about what gear to bring for those routes? Like...how many #1s, #2s and #3s would you bring up those routes?

Soler is long, sustained and eats gear. If 5.9 is your limit - expect to place tons of pro. Hexes and nuts work really well on the Tower.

Great climb ~ do it!!

I would also try summit post. Bigwally has good descriptions on most routes