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BETA PHOTO
Description
In the opinion of many, the Book is the finest cliff on Lumpy Ridge. It certainly offers the best non-wide crack climbing (if you like them wide, head for Twin Owls!). Many long, striking crack and dihedral lines grace the complex cliff, which rises to heights of 600'. Due to the cliff's predominant less-than-vertical aspect, many of these lines check in at under 5.10, though there are plenty of test-pieces at 5.10 and 5.11 as well. A few bolt-protected 5.12s are scattered about, and true hardpersons can attempt the 5.13+ crack line of Country Boy, first freed by Tommy Caldwell.
Some recommended routes would include White Whale and Hiatus at 5.7; Pear Buttress at 5.8; Loose Ends and J-Crack at 5.9; Fat City, Cheap Date, and many others at 5.10, and any of the 5.11 routes such as Howling at the Wind that ascend in or near the Howling dihedral. The Renaissance Wall and El Camino Real are said to be good 5.12 routes. The Book also has many 1-pitch routes (including first pitches of longer lines) which are a good alternative if the weather looks iffy for a longer route. Fixed anchors seem to come and go, however...
DESCENT: From the very top of the cliff, one can walk east a ways, beyond a steep broken area, and then contour back to the base (long and easy). Many routes end just above the "Cave" on the right side of the Book. From here, scramble out on a narrow ledge east to its end, and downclimb a groove (or do a short rappel from a tree a little ways out). From the bottom of the groove, go southeast (easier but longer) to walking terrain, or head southwest down more grooves to a cairn at the top of a east-angling chimney/gully. Go down that and one more chimney to walking terrain. Like the east slabs descent in Eldorado Canyon, this shorter descent should not be attempted in the dark or when wet unless you are familiar with it. No rappel route exists that I know of and none is needed.
Getting There
The Book is a complex cliff; here is an attempt to describe it.Starting from the east, as you view the south-facing cliff from the Black Canyon trail, note a broken area of slabs and gullies (the Cave descent). Just left is the beautiful J-Crack slab, sporting the very long parallel crack lines of Femp and J-Crack, and several other excellent crack lines to their left. Above are some reddish overhangs on the right, a cavernous overhang (The Cave!), and to the left, a short, steep headwall capping the cliff.
The next major landmark is the Howling at the Wind dihedral, a massive, overhanging left-facing corner which extends about halfway up the cliff. Many superb and intimidating free lines attack this feature and the overhangs nearby. Left of it are narrow, smooth slabs, with an arching roof band about 150 feet up. The next section is obvious: an area of deep grooves which extend the entire length of the cliff, known as the Pages Wall. Left again are two massive chimneys running the entire height of the cliff (Book of the Dead Chimney and Requiem Chimney). A narrow prow between the two offers some good routes; however, left of the west-most chimney the cliff becomes broken and unappealing for a long stretch and no routes are recorded here. Below this broken area is the Bookmark, a subsidary cliff about 400 feet high, described elsewhere.
The final aspect of note is the west face, known as the Left Book (approach via the Bookmark trail, and hike up past the west face of the Bookmark). It is split in half by a diagonaling ledge. The lower half has excellent moderate slab climbing (descend via the ledge) while the upper is steep yet broken and has only a couple of routes.
This is an excellent pitch to the left of [Thindependence]. It takes an elegant thin crack next to an arete and has a fixed pin 30 feet up. A first crux (.11a) is encountered just of the ground and is a tad on the hairy side (10 feet up, bad pro). A second crux (.10+) is encountered after the pin on delicate liebacking and is well protected. Follow some 5.9 cracks after the arete peters out up to the second pitch on [Pear Buttress]. This rou...[more]
The Book
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