Rock n Road

[Thinker]

I noticed that a new and improved edition of Rock n Road has been published. The old one has been an often used reference for me when planning trips around the country.

 

Just curious....anybody else here use it much?

 

[leejams]

Never heard of that one. Is it a climber's guide?

[chris_w]

I saw it last night at REI but didn't take a look at it. Is it a lot better then the old one?

 

I also noticed there is a new\revised exit 38 guide book out. Didn't get a chance to look at that one either.

[PullinFool]

The new Exit 38 guide looks like the author was trying to make a big guide out of a little guide. It has little boxes where you can check if you "onsighted", "redpointed", "toproped", or "lead" every single route - apparently for the writing-challenged...

 

The new Frenchman's Coulee guide is also, out, with an amazing number of new sport routes. Available at Feathered Friends now.

[Peter_Puget]

I bought that 38 guide the other night instead of the new Vantage guide. Here is my quick assessment:

 

1. The usual ratings debate will be sure to follow.

 

2. It is big - many (perhaps too many) pages and large dimensions. Hard to stuff in a pack I think. Nice plastic protector sheets should help with this.

 

3. Valley View crags look stunning. I have been to the Valley View East crag and can vouch for its high quality ratings.

 

4. All the routes are shown via photos. No bolt placements are shown. Similar to Deceptioncrags.com Same guy did the paper guide.

 

5. Lots of new routes and several new areas. Smoot appearently had the name wrong on that slab route that was being hyped not too long ago. Lots of effort went into the guide and it shows.

 

6. The writer loves the area and his enthusiasm shows. It is nice to read a book and feel the writer's love of the area. In this case his enthusiasm is catchy and I can't wait to check out some of the new areas.

 

7. The notes to each route are shown in tables at the end of each section which is kind of a pain because you have to keep paging back and forth thru the book.

 

All in all I bet lots of climbers will spend Chrismas afternoon sipping coffee and paging thru this high quality guide wishing they were actually at the crags!

 

PP

 

 

[rr666]

Well I am not going to run out and buy the newest edition of Rock n Road. For the most part it told everyone about the place everyone knew about. Then it also gave everyone directions to every choss pile in the states, that are not worth climbing. If you are going out of state to climb, you know where you are going to, or you can stop by any local climbing shop and they will glad to tell you where the great spots are, or at least they will sell you the local guide books.

[Thinker]

I like it because it provides a great overview. I travel to tons of places in BFE and it's great for finding those local little gems before I go, and I don't always make it to the nearby cities to hit the climbing shops. Plus, it can make for some great adventures....the approach directions rival Beckey's for lack of clarity at just the right times.

 

Story time with uncle Dave here: I remember the time in the Sierras this gal and I were looking for these domes near her cabin, based on Tim Toula's ramblings. We hiked for hours looking for the them, were chewed by skeeters worse than I have EVER been before (even in Alaska), got a little turned around while bushwacking, and finally found them on the way back to the truck. Great granite in a pristine river valley with very little development. That alone was worth the inconvenient approach, and I'd have never known they existed without RnR.

 

It's also great for finding distractions during those endless drives through the midwest.

[Thinker]

Hey, ends up I got a copy in my stocking.

 

The format has changed somewhat. It's still divided into states, with a decent locator map at the beginning of each state section. The table format has been eliminated and most of the same info is included as text. It appears to be greatly expanded in the # of climbing areas it covers.

 

My only beef with it so far is that Tim only gave the City of Rocks 3 stars (out of 5)....on par with some of the dumpy little climbing areas in the midwest I've haunted in the past. Maybe that's not such a bad thing though, it may discourage a few people from going there when I want to......

[klar404]

For the most part it told everyone about the place everyone knew about. Then it also gave everyone directions to every choss pile in the states, that are not worth climbing

That,my friend, Is the best part of the guide! I spent 5 days lost in Northern California with a buddy checkin' out "bald mountain" and other stuff. If you are on a "road" trip, you are gonna need rest days and this book gives you that plus the nature (yes, he says, nature) that maybe got you into the sport in the first place. I Think it was Michael Kennedy that said it first when he related that you have to enjoy the WHOLE deal including the flowers, birds,trees and bettys to make it a REAL climbing experience.