Yosemite Climbs. George Meyers. Chockstone Press, Denver, 1982. 260 pages, black and white photographs, route diagrams, maps. $16.95.

Friends of Yosemite Valley relax! No longer do you have to guard your worn and tom topos against thieves or grudgingly lend your copy to a desperate soul who then pleads to use the Park Service’s Xerox machine. George Meyers has published a concise, artistic and, indeed, beautiful update of Yosemite Climbs, which has been tragically out of print for yea these many years.

As with the previous version, it is sparse and lean—what little language there is comes in an introduction by the usually laconic Jim Bridwell. It does have a few things that the earlier volume lacked: like a bouldering guide, a list of recommended classics and better information on descent routes. Its dayglow yellow cover is a dubious improvement on the old green one but the material is more resistant to wear and tear.

What would a review of a guidebook be without a little cavil or two? So, for the sake of form, I offer that the Mountaineers route on the northwest face of Half Dome is mixed up with Arcturus in one picture caption and that Australia is misspelled once. But these are nothing compared with the book’s comprehensiveness and thoroughness.

I expect it will sell fast and that all too soon it will go out of print. The climbing public will then be back to its old mooching and scrounging, wheedling and pilfering of these indispensable maps to Valley pleasure.

R.D. Caughron