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New Smith Guide printed!


kurthicks

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Got to sit down with Alan last week and pick up my copy of the book and all I've gotta say is WOW, this book is the shit. Alan spent so much time making sure not to miss a thing. The topos and pictures are top notch as well as the descriptions. So if you have any interest in Smith climbing go grab a copy and see for your self. So heres to Alan, because with out his dedication we'd still be reading crappy print outs and not climbing routes that now finally deserve some traffic.

 

 

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I bought Alan's first guide as I was just getting into climbing. Coming from Texas Smith seemed like heaven and the Watts guide became the definitive guidebook which I still rate all others. I have yet to find a guide that provides interesting commentary and beta on routes without spewing every last detail about the routes. I will probably never peruse a guide as much as I did that one. I hope that the new one is even just as good as the previous guide was. Thanks for the dedication ACW. -KRD

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BRAVO!

 

Picked up my copy early last week and am thus far impressed!

I think the new book will be very easy for new folks to use. I really enjoyed the new material in terms of history and section introductions. I was a little disappointed to see a few of my fav descriptions changed or gone, most notably "Only blockheads with enough experience to know better should try." But, there are many new descriptions as well. The new material can add to some of our shorthand lexicons of "grovelling up chimneys" and "being careful to not tear your lycra."

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Thanks for the comments. I really appreciate hearing from everyone about the book. Whether positive or negative, every comment will only make future editions better.

 

Whether right or wrong, I decided to completely rewrite the book. Apart from a short section on Smith geology, I used almost nothing from my first guide. Every picture, map, and topo was redone as well. There was much I liked about the old guide, but a lot I never liked at all (for instance, the maps, many of the topos, and literally hundreds of mistakes that made me cringe every time I saw them).

 

I, too, had some favorite descriptions from the old guide, but they've been out there for 17 years. It seemed stale to just repeat the same jokes. Perhaps I forgot that the new edition would expose an entirely new generation to Smith climbing who would be reading these comments for the first time. But I figured that anyone with an insatiable appetite for Smith trivia could always just buy the old book as well - I suspect it will continue to be available online at Amazon for decades to come. I'm hoping that anyone who appreciated the humor in the old book will, after reading the entire new edition, find that it's only been shifted around in describing some of the newer routes.

 

There was a tremendous challenge in getting the most out of 499 pages. In a perfect world the book would have been 650 pages and I could have had free rein, but the price would have shot into the stratosphere. I always lived in fear of the phone call I'd get from the editor saying the book was too long and that I'd have to make massive cuts. But to my great surprise, that phone call never came.

 

Anyone wanting much more information on Smith Rock might appreciate my website, www.smithclimbing.com. When it goes live next month, I'll be able to say more about the routes without having to count every single word.

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What an awesome guidebook. Here's my two cents after a first glance:

 

1. The FFA of the first pitch of Bubbas is Chris Van Leuven, not Leuren, as the guidebook has typed.

2. Bubbas second pitch is not A3+ by any stretch of the wildest imagination. C2 most likely.

3. The fish is .13c now? Not that I've climbed it, but those who try usually seem to talk about how it's hard even for .13d !

 

In general, it's the best guidebook I've ever seen. Comprehensive w/ descriptions!!!

 

Alex

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I got one too. Absolutely brilliant guide.

 

My only disappointment was the routes by grade section seems to be absent from my copy...of course you can only cram so much shit into one guidebook. Would be cool if you had that list on your website though!

 

Thanks for all the hard work you put into this book AW. It's worth every penny.

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It was nice to be able to go directly to the 5.4 routes without having to read all the scary 5.12 route descriptions.

 

I didn't know you had the old blue book or that you knew how to read? :poke:

 

Guess you're just a hardman waiting to happen. :ass:

 

 

 

Glad u picked one up Kirk now I don't have to ;)

 

Anytime Justin...ready to check out some of those forgotten aid routes?

 

We can take Joe with and he can be our rope gun on those 5.easy X's that Smith is full of. He skipped over actually learning how to climb and went straight to being a 5.12 hardman I guess. Should work out well for us.

 

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