The Climber’s Guide to North America. Volume I: West Coast Rock Climbs. John Harlin III. Chockstone Press, Denver, 1984. 358 pages, black and white photographs, drawings, route diagrams, maps, bibliography. $22.00.

John Harlin has embarked on an ambitious project: a guide to the major rock climbing areas of North America. This first volume covers the West Coast, from Mount Woodson in the south to Squamish Chief in the north. The aim of this guide is to convey enough information about each area to enable a visitor to get to the rock and climb some of the better routes without the reconnaissance and uncertainty usually involved in visiting a new area. The owner of the guide will no longer be at the mercy of sometimes reticent locals in obtaining information about some of the best areas in the continent. Each area is described by photos with line drawings of some climbs, camping information, a summary of weather patterns and a brief climbing history.

The guide is an unqualified success and will be obligatory for strangers to these regions or those who simply want to browse through it to enliven a winter’s evening with thoughts of warm rock. While there will be the inevitable grumbling about popularizing some of the areas described, such as Red Rocks and the Needles, I believe the guide should be beneficial in spreading some of the climbing population to lesser-known areas instead of only Joshua Tree and Yosemite. Foreign climbers, especially, will benefit as the guide will enable them to appreciate North America in a different light—most return to their homelands with only the stereotypical Yosemite experience of big walls, noise and crowds.

A bonus is the small section covering bouldering areas. For climbers who must travel on business or have only a short time in an urban area such as Los Angeles or San Francisco, the guide points the way to the boulders for a quick workout. Previously, information about local bouldering areas was difficult to obtain. The guide thus fills a large information gap.

Besides the omission of some obvious areas, such as Mexico’s Gran Trono Blanco, my only criticism of the book is the quality of a few photos. The Tahquitz-Suicide area suffers especially as many of the photos are out of focus. However, most of the other photos are striking enough to make the fingertips itch with eagerness to sample some of the delightful climbs of the West Coast. I look forward to Volumes II and III.

Rick Acomazzo