Rock Climbing Washington

As my title explains, you have to work with what you have. "Beckey Guides" (rock climbing guides) are hard if not impossible to get ahold of, and to go travelling around to cities that would sell a half way decent local climbing guide, can get spendy and frustrating; especially when you've done all that travelling for nothing because you can't find a local climbing guide at those cities. So, unless you know someone that can give you some good beta or talk to some of the other climbers at the crags, as it stands, Jeff Smoot's book is my choice as a climbing guide with up to date beta, at best. There's nothing wrong with Onsighting a route. I have no problem writing notes in my climbing guides when I can get some beta on a crag or route that the climbing guide didn't cover.

This is a fine guidebook, offering an overview of most climbing areas in Washington. If you want to get by with one guide, this is a good one. Several newer areas are detailed, and local ethics are discussed. Topos are great. Note that the topos may not present EVERY line on the rock, but I think this was Jeff's intent - if you want to know EVERYTHING about a given section of rock, buy the LOCAL guide. You will see the most popular lines well explained and displayed, however. The Darrington section should show the fine "Urban Bypass" line on the Giant Green Buttress, near Dreamer. Jeff does a nice job on Little Si, offering better topos than Bryan Burdo's standard Exit 32 guide, and showing a few new lines. Thanks, Jeff, for putting together this great book!