A Climber’s Guide to the Rocky Mountains of Canada, by J. Monroe Thorington. Sixth edition, with the collaboration of William Lowell Putnam, xx + 381 pages, one route diagram and a four-page key map of the 1:50,000 quadrangles. New York: American Alpine Club (113 E. 90th St.) 1966. Price $6.00.

From a small beginning 45 years ago this book has grown and now includes 1,000 peaks, 850 routes and 100 passes. Its existence spans a period of glacial retreat, the disappearance of the pack-train and the arrival of helicopters. It is in a sense a social register of who did what and when. It also points out some of the things left to be done. There are surprises. Several 11,000' peaks appear for the first time, due to discovery or to re-measurement. The careful reader will find that there are at least 60 unclimbed peaks exceeding 10,000' in elevation, some of which, of course, are in remote locations. This guidebook is not intended to describe each and every handhold, but rather to direct the climber up the right valley, to the correct ridge or face, omitting detail that will be out of date when the snow has melted back another year. Most of the Rockies can be climbed by many routes and variants, and one is told in general terms how the first parties gained the summits. The peaks have been integrated with the new and excellent 1:50,000 maps of the Department of Mines and Technical Surveys, superseding the Interprovincial Boundary Survey sheets, which will no longer be reprinted. The time has also arrived when it is desirable to introduce a grading system which can be applied to the more difficult climbs now being undertaken. For this purpose the National Climbing Classification System (NCCS) has been selected. It is explained in detail and applied to a limited number of ascents.

Arthur Gran