Rock Climbing Colorado, 2nd Edition

Many years ago now, I came out to Colorado for a summer of fun in Estes Park. Not knowing where I’d want to climb, I bought a copy of the Rock Climbing Colorado guidebook, as it seemed to have good info on many different areas. While never covering any one area comprehensively, it was enough to point us in the right direction and we enjoyed many different crags that the state had to offer. Eventually, I would buy many of the books for the individual areas, as they will always have more detailed info, but on occasion I still refer back to that original tome for info on a new location.

Times have changed, and guidebooks have come a long way since that original edition. Full color photos are the norm, with heaps of useful info guaranteed to get you climbing more and fumbling around looking for routes less. And so the old standard of Rock Climbing Colorado has finally been upgraded into the 21^st century.

The biggest change is the full color photos, and this book is chock full of them. From excellent pictures of every cliff, to action shots both modern and retro, the book is bursting with colorful images. This is made all the more impressive by the fact that Stewart Green had to go re-take all the photos, as none of the originals were in digital format. That took some work!

As far as the crags that are covered, some of the old ones were dropped, and some new ones were added. You’ll no longer find info about the River Wall, Combat Rock, Flagstaff Mountain, Industrial & Mickey Mouse Walls, Lizard Head, Lost World or the Golf Wall. In their place, however, you’ll find excellent info about several areas that were previously absent from the last edition, including Red Rock Canyon Open Space, North Cheyenne Canyon, Tanner Dome Crags, Hartman Rocks, Escalante Canyon, & the Road 16Z Crags. Even with all the cliffs that were taken out, there are still about 300 more climbs listed in this edition.

For the Western Colorado crowd, the inclusion of Escalante is of note, as the last printed info on this area was found in the way out-of-print Desert Rock. There’s also more complete info for Colorado National Monument, and the inclusion of the reportedly excellent Road 16Z crags.

When flipping through the pages, the book feels quite comprehensive, though there are a few additional crags I would have probably included: The Monastery on the Front Range, East Animas outside Durango, the Pool Wall at Ouray, something around Vail, and maybe a crag or two around Carbondale. Overall, though, most visitors and residents alike will find this book chock full of excellent info for many Colorado adventures to come.