I’ve started reading the book One Move Too Many as it was recommended to me by several different climbers. I’ll be posting my full thoughts when I’ve finished the book, but I can already tell you that this is a must have for any climber, especially those dealing with specific injuries.

One idea from the book really stands out to me. The authors discuss warming up and state that:

Scientific studies have shown that bringing the pulleys and tendons up to a perfect state of “readiness” requires about four routes or 120 moves of climbing.

Think about that statement. Do you warm up that effectively? Do you climb four easy routes as a warm up? I’d wager that the vast majority of climbers do two routes maximum and call themselves warmed up.

More thoughts on this book are forthcoming, but I thought that tidbit was too interesting to not share immediately.

The post 120 Moves of Climbing first appeared on All Climbing.

Honestly, I was hoping some of the book’s most vocal detractors would show up for an open debate (hopefully more entertaining than the VP debate happening simultaneously), but there was a relatively small turnout of about 20 people and no visible outrage.

The slideshow was nicely prepared and ran about 1.5 hours consisting of photos (mostly of Bob) with some occasional video footage. Many Colorado bouldering areas were covered with an obvious heavy focus on Front Range bouldering. Included were a few areas in the slideshow that Bob said were actually not in the book (Rabbit Mountain near Lyons was one I asked about).

After the show I spoke with Bob and specifically asked him his thoughts on the issues brought up by some respected Colorado boulders like Peter Beal and Jamie Emerson. As a new resident to the area, I had no agenda other than to get some response from Bob in person as opposed to his not exactly tactful response on his Falcon blog.

He was very accommodating and made the following comments regarding the issues:

• The original draft of the manuscript was double what was actually printed for the final book.
• The manuscript was done about two years ago.
• He said that the only ones complaining were the few elite climbers that had the opportunity to comment, but never spoke to him or provided input. (This is highly debatable though as it’s unclear whether these climbers were actually aware of the project.)
• Bob said that there will always be mistakes and issues with any guidebook.
• He also stated that the vast majority of climbers will benefit from the book.

While I disagree with how this entire situation was handled, Bob appeared to be genuinely concerned about writing a high quality guidebook. He made it clear to me that he was open to correcting any mistakes for future editions, but it’s still unclear why this wasn’t done more prior to publication as opposed to after it.

In a nutshell, I think this is what bothers most critics of the book and offers a learning lesson for other guidebook authors. As much as possible, guidebook publishers and authors need to provide an open forum to discuss a new work especially one with previously unpublished areas and those with questionable access. This would go a long way to getting the support of the local climbing community which in turn is the best free marketing you can get.

While Bob mentions this was done, there’s no excuse to not distribute this information well in advance to climbing site and prominent bloggers. I know if contacted, many of us would have been happy to publish information regarding the book years ago. Reading Bob’s most recent post on the subject, I really start to wonder how much blame lies on Falcon as well. Bob discusses how interacting with blogs and Internet media is new to him. But it is most definitely not out of the question to think that Falcon understands how publishing and marketing via Internet channels works.

To me, that is the biggest surprise of this whole issue. Regardless of the possible errors and judgement calls on including certain areas, at the ending of the day they are marketing a book. And a book we can only assume that they’d like to make a profit. Word of mouth and reviews (both print and Internet) will most definitely influence the sales of a guidebook when there are alternative options. With respect to bouldering in Colorado, this is most definitely the case.

As for the book itself, I have only skimmmed it and once I obtain a copy will write a full review after having time to thoroughly examine it. The one striking feature I will mention, and likely reason for the high cost, is the number of full color pictures of problems throughout the book. No one will argue the quality production value of Bouldering Colorado.

I know this issue has been discussed elsewhere, but I invite comments on this especially ones that help us all look to the future of how a situation like this can be avoided.

The post Bouldering Colorado Slideshow with Bob Horan first appeared on All Climbing.

As I’m originally from Western PA, I’ve climbed at Coopers numerous times over the years and can tell you that this guide was sorely needed. Using beta from fellow boulderers and hand-drawn guides on the web, I managed to enjoy myself on the nice gritstone. But a guide is a must for the maze-like array of boulders at Coopers.

Make the trip and pick up a guide before you go. It’s about 3-3.5 hours from the DC area and unfortunately 4 hours for me down here in Blacksburg.

The post Coopers Rock bouldering guide first appeared on All Climbing.

The Carolina Climbers Coalition reports that a new Rumbling Bald Bouldering guidebook will be available this fall at Southeast retailers.

Features include an full color format, nearly 900 boulder problems described, topos and photos of problems, and general area-specific information.

More info can be found here (PDF).

The post New Rumbling Bald Bouldering Guidebook Available This Fall first appeared on All Climbing.

The Boys of Everest: Chris Bonington and the Tragedy of Climbing’s Greatest Generation is a story of tremendous courage, staggering achievement, and heart-breaking loss. Boningtonâ??s inner circleâ??they came to be known as Boningtonâ??s Boysâ??included a dozen of mountaineeringâ??s legendary figures and gave birth to a new brand of climbing. They took increasingly grave risks on expeditions to the worldâ??s most difficult peaks. And they paid an enormous price for their achievements. Most of them died in the mountains, leaving behind the hardest question of all: Was it worth it?

The Boys of Everest, based on extensive interviews with surviving climbers and other individuals as well as five decades of journals, films, photographs, expedition accounts, and letters, provides the closest thing to an answer that weâ??ll ever have. It offers riveting descriptions of what Bonington and his comrades found in the mountainsâ??as well as an understanding of what they lost there. 

From the sample chapter (pdf) you can download on the site, The Boys of Everest looks to be a good read. More info can be found on the book’s website.

The post The Boys of Everest first appeared on All Climbing.

Stewart Green, author of Rock Climbing Colorado and other guides, has written a new climbing guide to Europe called Rock Climbing Europe.

“Rock Climbing Europe” is an oversized, sturdily bound paperback guide that Green finished after 15 trips to Europe for research, climbing and interviews with climbers.

“When I started going to Europe in the 1990s, it was difficult to find information there,” he says. “You had to translate guides from French and Italian, and all you had were hand-drawn topo maps and no photographs.”

Green’s guide includes climbing routes with maps and photos in Great Britain, France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Germany and Norway – all places, he says, that are steeped in a great climbing tradition.

The result: a climbing book that is part routefinder, part travel guide and part travelogue, with tidbits about the weather (the best climbing in Belgium’s Freyr is between April and late October); cultural highlights (Gothic architecture abounds in Bolzano, Italy); and food (Provencal cooking in the south of France features olive oil and garlic).

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Shady Goings On has a good review of Peak Gritstone: East by RockFax. The RockFax site also has some comprehensive resources for climbing in the area including accommodations, getting around, and maps to both the Eastern and Western Peak gritstone, Peak limestone, and Peak bouldering

The post Peak Gritsone book review first appeared on All Climbing.