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Yosemite valley guidebook.
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Any beta on newer Yosemite guidebooks? I've heard a lot of good and bad and straight up shit talking about the few that I've found, so I'm curios how people with a little experience in the valley using these books will weigh in. If possible, I'm looking for a book that is all encompassing for single pitch, to multi pitch to big walls. Makes sense to leave bouldering in bouldering books. |
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What's happening with the new/unpublished guide? |
Tony Lobaywrote: It's pretty much done and in the QA process right now from what the authors tell me. |
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I'm a big fan of the old Don Reid book, good way to keep the adventure alive and find old school classic routes. As for the mythical new Reid/Cummins/Hartouni/Gabel guide, I've heard they were almost done for the past ~8 years. I'll buy a copy if/when it comes out, but in the meantime I've sucked it up and bought the Sloan free-climbing guide too. |
Ben Horowitzwrote: This translates to "very little info on the climbs" in the book. Which may be fine, if that's what you want. Edit: Don Reid also authored a Tuolumne Meadows guidebook. |
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"Gear to 3 inches" isn't beta enough?!? The Roper green guide is what you want, just it's 50 years old. Still useful, though, and small and cheap... |
MattBwrote: Yeah that's mostly all you need along with route length and good topos of wall's, approaches, and vast areas. I'm also a proponent of good organization and area info. Geology is a plus too. |
abandon moderation wrote: "Hasn't changed much," how much are we talking? This book is over 30 years old. |
Black Beltwrote: hasn't changed very much- still very useful. I'd say about 90% of what people climb is in there, except a few new cliffs, mostly easy climbs or very hard climbs. Some filling in the blanks on topos, but the topos are fairly clear, and show lots of the unclimbed features, so you shouldn't get off-route. The star ratings are pretty much absent as well, but Reid's is certainly the best book, still. No bigwalls, except nose, salathe, RNWF Again, very sparse, as in almost completely lacking in beta. |
Black Beltwrote: Don Reid's Yosemite Free Climbs is quite extensive. I have the 1998 second edition. You have to remember by that date most of the cliffs had seen extensive development up to hard 5.12. Also there had even been a lot of sport development in the Valley and even the "sport" areas like Public Sanitation, Killer Piller, Chapel Wall are all included in that book. There aren't many photos, it's mostly line drawing topos, but these are very good. For "cliff" areas like the Cookie etc the book makes it quite easy to get oriented. For bigger walls, like at the base of the Cathedrals, it's a little harder. Yes, there has been route development in the Valley and those will all be in Clint, Ed and Abel's new guide, but there is enough in the Reid guide to keep you going for 10 years. The Supertopo guide has far fewer routes and I don't think is worth it unless it's a short trip and you want to get on the most trafficked routes. You can always check with Mountain Project to see if a line to your liking has been added, But MP itself only has a fraction of the routes in the Valley that are listed in the Reid guide. |
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Fuckin A, thanks Phylp. Your last name wouldn't happen to be McColon would it? |
Black Beltwrote: No Jacob, my first name is Phyllis but all my friends call me Phyl. You can call me Phyl. Here's an example of a comparison between the Supertopo Valley Free climbs book and the Reid book: GPA east - Reid lists 29 routes in this area, supertopo lists 2 (the Grack and the Cow, with variations), leaving out really good routes like Transistor Sister, Synapse Collapse, Dead Babies, . MP lists most of the stuff in this area, but there's no topo and I think it would be hard to locate all this stuff without. Chapel Wall - Reid lists 13 routes in the area, it's not covered at all in Supertopo. There are a number of 4 star sport routes in this area. MP lists 23 routes in this area - the newer sport and trad routes that aren't in Reid are covered, but again, the Reid topos will help orient you as to what's what and you can use MP from there. Not trying to diss the Supertopo book at all - it's very well done, but it's really a kind of greatest hits book. I miss the climbing in the Valley! Haven't been there since I moved from the Bay area. But I'll buy the new comprehensive book when it comes out, just because... |
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right now the comprehensive has 50 routes for GPA East, the entire GPA starts at page 708 and goes at least as far as page 737 Chapel Wall Area, 82 routes, starting on page 742 through page 756 one might appreciate the huge job it has been to collect all the information and organize it into a usable format (right now very much like Donny Reid's but much larger) I'll probably regret posting this... |
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Very excited about all the info getting collected. I think even if it was stylistically the same as the Reid guide (i.e. not particularly polished), there would be a big community very interested in it! :) |
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Nice Ed! Anything you post makes you a target to some. But the vast majority of us understand the scope of the work and the love with which it is being done. Now hurry up ;) |
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You rock, Ed. Please tell me this doorstop is going to come in smaller volumes. If the Chapel Wall only gets us through p. 756... |
Rob Dillonwrote: I wonder if it is alphabetical by area... it would rival those old encyclopedia volumes in the school library. |
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It's not alphabetical. Same order as the Reid guides - clockwise, left to right. A split into 2 or 3 print volumes seems likely. Maybe 3 like here on MP (Lower Merced Canyon, North Side, South Side). https://www.mountainproject.com/area/105833388/yosemite-valley |
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Woot Woot! Whats the timeline for the new book? Release a pdf of what you got so far this year? ...It's About Time! |
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Stoked! |
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mmmm, well they've been saying it's almost finished since 2014 so want to be stoked but not sure - pretty easy to export a pdf and share info these days, just saying |
