Cannon, Cathedral, Humphrey's and Whitehorse, A Rock Climber’s Guide, by Paul Ross and Chris Ellms. International Mountain Climbing School, Inc., North Conway, N.H., 1978. 157 pages, 15 cliff photographs, 16 climbers-in-action photographs, and 2 sketch maps. $9.95.

Paul Ross and Chris Ellms have finally done it. New England’s best rock climbing has been captured in one complete volume. Sure they had a lot going for them. Joe Cote published in 1972 A Climber’s Guide to the Mt. Washington Valley and Howard Peterson wrote Cannon, A Climber’s Guide in 1975, but these books were not the only source from which the authors drew. Paul Ross, following a British tradition, kept a new route book in a local mountaineering store. The completeness of this guide and the authenticity of the route descriptions are owed to the thousands of entries in that “ego book.” Everyone in the White Mountain rock climbing scene felt an obligation to set it straight for all to see in that book. Soon it became the sole source for the latest new route or hot aid elimination. The book fairly bulged with entries and cried out to be published.

The authors plunged into that new route book, fanatically editing and rewriting based on their extensive experience climbing on those cliffs. The result of these efforts produced route descriptions which are clear, concise, and easy to follow. The writing is never verbose, nor is it terse. I even found it enjoyable just to read about routes I’d never done and to be inspired to do them.

The other factor which makes this guide book so significant is the historical essay by A1 Rubin. A1 is the man with his finger on the pulse of New England climbing. He knows the people and the events. Simply put, the essay is factual and well written. But more importantly, it shows an interest in “the human aspect—the companionship and the competition, the legends and the laughs …” (p. 11). I like these local histories crowded into the fronts of so many tattered guide books across this country. They form collectively a truer history of American climbing than any single volume on the subject.

With all that’s so good, what could go wrong? Well, for one, I just can’t see how anyone would organize the descriptions the way the authors did for Cathedral and Whitehorse. Neither cliff is described from one end to the other or from a landmark in the middle to either end. Cannon sensibly uses the former strategy, while Humphrey’s with its eight routes follows the latter. The descriptions of Cathedral and Whitehorse were organized, I believe, around the authors’ knowledge of the most efficient approaches to the several different sections of the cliffs. These approaches are never explained thoroughly or mapped and are primarily used by the locals who are privy to their whereabouts. Most occasional users and certainly newcomers leave their cars and walk to all climbs. Cathedral’s muddle of routes becomes comical in the retrograde progress as we read from the Prow to Refuse. What a mess! Whitehorse suffers a similar fate but it is not nearly so fragmented. Ninety-nine percent of the climbers approach from the north, yet the descriptions start with two insignificant climbs at the very south, move to the middle and work south, and then finally start at the north and work to the middle. The authors must want to promote the South Buttress routes by putting them first.

The photographs are excellent in quality and clarity, and certainly having them will help to straighten out the complicated order of the descriptions. It would be much clearer if the order of the list of routes shown on the photographs were in sync with the descriptions.

Another major criticism I would like to air is the inclusion of the photographic route guides to selected ice climbs. I suppose that when you mention winter ascents of some of the rock climbs (some of them are real classics), it is natural to throw in what you have on ice climbing in the general area. I think they are out of place and should be omitted. Let winter ascents and ice climbs be in a new book update of the excellent Shades of Blue by Peter Cole and Rick Wilcox.

I find the notes and editorial comments promoting aid in this day and age a little disturbing. However, despite their self-serving nature, I find them completely refreshing. It’s Paul Ross through and through. He’s careful to counsel restraint in using nuts and fixed pins only, and never to place additional bolts over those indicated by the first ascent. This flexible attitude is certainly preferable to the dogma of those who profess “climb free or not at all.”

All in all I find this guide book to be professionally and attractively done. The difficulty and effort that goes into producing such a book is enormous. I have nothing but awe and appreciation for those who carry it off. For Paul Ross and Chris Ellms (and A1 Rubin), your efforts show in the high quality of the result.

Sam Streibert