Rock Climbing Colorado

by Stewart M. Green

The only Colorado guide available which covers all the major climbing areas in the state with routes ranging from 5.0 to 5.14 from the big cliffs and faces of Rocky Mountain National Park and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison to the smaller crags and outcrops of Pikes Peak, Boulder, Rifle, Shelf Road, and Elevenmile Canyon. 37 areas are covered with information on the area and its climbing history, route betas and topos, full-page maps and photos. Also included are suggestions for equipment and listings for shops, gyms, and guide services. More than 1,500 detailed route descriptions included.

480 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2011

About the author

I've been a freelance photographer and writer since 1977, based in Colorado Springs and traveling all over the great American West as well as the rest of the United States and the world in search of memorable images and experiences to write about and to lead people toward. Since the mid-1980s I've worked as a contract photographer and writer for FalconGuides/Globe Pequot Press, writing 25 books and photographing a few more.

My books include Rock Climbing Colorado, Rock Climbing Europe, Rock Climbing Utah, Rock Climbing Arizona, Rock Climbing New England, Best Hikes Near Colorado Springs, Scenic Routes & Byways Colorado, Scenic Routes & Byways New England, Scenic Routes & Byways California's Pacific Coast, Scenic Driving California, Scenic Driving Arizona, KNACK Rock Climbing, Best Climbs Moab, Best Climbs Denver and Boulder, Rocky Mountain National Park Pocket Guide, and Back Country Byways.

My work has also been published in lots of other national and international publications, books, magazines, catalogs, and advertisements.

Along the way I fathered a couple of amazing kids--Ian and Brett Spencer-Green, climbed and adventured in a lot of places around the world that I never could have imagined, and had loads of fun. I've kept my hands busy and my heart full. I'm grateful for that.

I write and photograph because of what is in front of me, to honor everything beyond in the world which is great, interesting, mysterious, and always changing. To be a writer and photographer is to see newly every day, as if for the first time, the essence that illuminates and lives within the earth. Every subject redefines me and allows me to discover harmony, reconcile disparities and inequities, and to find shape, symmetry, and truth in the chaos of life.

As a writer and photographer I seek to record my life and times, my vision of the world and its natural beauty, its other creatures, and my fellow human beings, and to find affirmation in life through belonging, wholeness, and living. I always think of the reader and the viewer over my shoulder, the person who sees my vision and reinterprets it in his own experience.

Reviews

[Elwin Kline · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think material like this is a victim of modernization, meaning the fact that the human race is walking around with miniature super computers in their pocket that offer practically endless knowledge and resources that can be updated in real time.

This was originally written in 2010... so, think about how much has changed in 11 years when it comes to rock formation that endure weather, erosion, people damaging the rock, so on and so forth.

Nowadays, there are online communities that have knowledge sharing that update things monthly, weekly, or even daily. Folks talking about how a new route was just put up/established, an older route has been damaged and is no longer safe, or even identifying a rockslide that has impacted the area.

I get it, not too long ago folks read maps, the didn't have cellphones in their pockets, and they didn't have Internet/computers at home with printers to plan all this stuff out. This type of book should *only* be used as supplemental type material. Sure, it could be nice to throw in the backseat or the backpack and peruse it at the campsite.... but you just cannot trust the material in this for such a dangerous sport in which you could easily lose your life to. Times have certainly changed. The only way to make this thing remotely compete, is if it was updated maybe yearly? Even then though... think about how much things could change in a mere 6 months.

I'd say the biggest appeal to this book would be a fanatic rock climber, who just simply wants to day dream about climbing. It could also be used as kind of like a check the box type reference, in which you could get a list going of all the different climbs you wanted to hit based off of this book and then going and verifying safety/relevance/etc.

I wrote quite a bit of notes reading this, but above captures what is the most important.

I would only recommend this if you are a die-hard climber that just wants to daydream while you aren't on the rock and/or as a supplemental resource to your climbing adventures (aka addiction).

[Mandy]

some of the route pics leave a lot to be desired but book still provides a good overview of climbing areas in CO