What should guidebook topos actually communicate?

Curious to get folks takes here. Working on the 2nd edition of a guidebook and trying to figure out what exactly folks are looking for in topos beyond just directing them in generally the correct location. I recognize that this will vary by person and by character of the route, e.g. a bigwall topo should communicate different information from a 50ft sport climb.

In V1 of the guidebook, the topos communicated difficulty by the color and protection by the pattern (solid line for trad, dashed for sport) - this requires users to A) not be colorblind and B) memorize the color/pattern scheme for the guidebook for it to be useful. Is this the standard? I feel like I've seen everything from just white, solid lines (ten sleep guidebook) to something as complex as that example and, to be honest, I'm not sure it's ever really notably impacted my ability to use a guidebook. 

I just wanted to see what other folks are doing for their topos/like to see in topos they use.

lines marking the route, "trad" or "sport" in writing, length of the pitch (or pitches), what the anchor(s) situation is, How to get down, color photos of the face showing major landmark features, beta for approach and descent using cardinal directions and major landmarks not "climbers left of...." 

Guidebooks are for visiting climbers and so many authors write them like they're for the local climbers

For cragging: a photo topo that makes it easy to differentiate lines. Colors for trad/sport are great. My assumption when cragging is that a 70 will work so pitch length isn't critical imo. Where the trail meets the wall is nice to indicate. Top-down maps of areas to show crag aspect and locations are also critical imo.

For multipitch: a photo overview is nice but detailed topos should have clear standard symbols and sketches. I also want to know pitch lengths, anchor type (fixed or build your own), rap station location and lengths, and walk-off direction if relevant. I also like when topos indicate the "wrong way" when it's easy to get off route, though I've only seen this on big wall topos.

Garrett Hopkins wrote:

 color photos of the face showing major landmark features, 

This. One of the most common problems I see in guidebooks these days are photos of faces with a half dozen or more routes overlaid but no distinguishing features to anchor your perspective. You end up squinting at tiny shadows in the photo wondering if that's the bulge or corner you're looking for. With one anchoring feature and its corresponding route, it's easy to map out what else is to the left and right.

Colors and dashes are great. One of the best guide books I've had,(I think it's for Mt Arapiles) had a birds eye drawing of the cliff line and surrounding area and markers to where they took the topo photos from and the direction they were pointing, as well as approach and decent arrows. Was super easy to get your bearings.

The barest minimum to get a party to the right route, aware of the difficulty, protection style and descent options.

The older I get the more I appreciate an accurate description of how dangerous a route is, especially on multipitch.  If a route is 5.10R, I like to know if that means 5.7R for a bit, or legit 5.10R.  If there’s room on the photo overlay for a little 10R, or whatever, next to the sketchy part, that’s perfect.

Time in sun/shade.

edit: I guess maybe not “on” the topo, sorry

First and most important -- where does the line of the climb go?  With enough information to anchor that to features on the cliff.

After that, grade level can be helpful -- some ranges so I can get, at a quick glance, whether or not there's much point in visiting the cliff, and which sections.
Finally, maybe, gear style.
Often color for difficulty range and solid vs dashed for sport vs gear-protected lines.

Number of bolts for each route and a clear, obvious standard sport rack, standard trad rack, and typical rope length in bold on the first page or better yet, the inside cover. I hate having to flip through past the introduction and the area history and the where to shop and where to camp and the local ethics and important early developers to find a list of the bare minimum required climbing equipment needed for the area.

I also really appreciate the Austin guidebook which puts route beta and any story about the first ascent/name/funny thing that happened one time in footnotes at the bottom of the page. Don't make me read that shit as part of the route description. 

Bonus for European style guidebooks with pictogram route descriptions just in case you don't speak the local language. 

I don't think there's a best or ideal approach here. As you mentioned, can depend on a lot of factors. One is the author's style - Zeilman's Black Canyon and Handren's Red Rocks books both have really useful and high-quality big wall topos, but they're wildly different.

To me, between the text and the visuals (photos, drawings, overlays, etc) in a guidebook, I want information that:

• Gets me to the start of the climb.
• Tells me what I need to know to get up and down safely - e.g., essential ascent directions, descent info, rappel lengths, danger ratings, gear requirements, etc.
• Gets me excited about the climbing, and helps steer me toward routes that I'll have the most fun on.

The most critical thing to me on a topo…besides clear route starts….is descent info. Clear symbols showing rap stations vs. walk offs, exact pitch lengths, and anchor types save people way more headaches than fancy color schemes.

The most critical thing to me on a topo…besides clear route starts….is descent info. Clear symbols showing rap stations vs. walk offs, exact pitch lengths, and anchor types save people way more headaches than fancy color schemes.

I consider the latest Skaha guidebook the absolute gold standard for guidebooks. If you like DM me and I can send you some screenshots of various key features of the guide.

Thanks to trump tariffs it’s very difficult to get the guidebook in the states right now. 

Sparkington TheThird wrote:

Number of bolts for each route and a clear, obvious standard sport rack, standard trad rack, and typical rope length in bold on the first page or better yet, the inside cover. I hate having to flip through past the introduction and the area history and the where to shop and where to camp and the local ethics and important early developers to find a list of the bare minimum required climbing equipment needed for the area.

I also really appreciate the Austin guidebook which puts route beta and any story about the first ascent/name/funny thing that happened one time in footnotes at the bottom of the page. Don't make me read that shit as part of the route description. 

Bonus for European style guidebooks with pictogram route descriptions just in case you don't speak the local language. 

Do you have a picture of an example of the Austin footnotes? Curious as to how that looks.

If you expect more routes in coming years, I encourage clarity regarding the current routes sufficient to disambiguate them from future routes. 

Tal M wrote:

Do you have a picture of an example of the Austin footnotes? Curious as to how that looks.

I'm travelling at the moment. I'll post a pic in a few days.

But it's basically something like this.

Jared's Mom¹: 5.9, 8 bolts. Tricky start². Fun climb.

The Struggle³: 5.10a, 10 bolts. Finger crack and good face holds.

::Then down at the bottom of the page::

¹ Jared was a good friend of mine and his mom's name is Sandy. This route gets really sandy from runoff from the gully above.

² Beta: a high right foot and reaching for the hidden side pull at 3 o'clock makes the moves at the second bolt feel much more in line with the grade.

³ The struggle: this route was originally climbed on gear, but a large block detached in 2000 making gear placements iffy with a potential ground fall. It was retro bolted in 2002.

Completely illogical route quality symbols. (I blame Aaron Huey and the Ten Sleep guide for starting this trend)

Guns, cats, mullets, flags, foreign dictators have already been taken. 

To my knowledge, dinosaurs, NASCAR legends, and kitchenware are still up for grabs.