Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
Roots
Mountain climber
Tustin, CA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - May 7, 2015 - 08:15am PT
|
Been thinking about climbing guidebooks and their evolution lately. Was wondering about a few firsts:
-Which is considered the first guidebook ever?
-Who was the first female to be pictured on a cover of a guidebook?
-Which guidebook was the first to use actual photographs?
-Which guidebook was the first to use GPS coordinates?
..There must be many more "firsts" in guidebooks....
|
|
steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
|
|
Could start a similar thread here...we can even use the Limey spelling:
Oldest - Longs Peak (1955), Nesbit, Guide to the Colorado Mountains (1955), Ormes
Favourite - Granite Mountain (1973), Lovejoy
Most obscure - Guide to the Armpit (1993), Damien Suess
Most used - Joshua Tree Rock Climbing Guide (1992), Vogel
|
|
tolman_paul
Trad climber
Anchorage, AK
|
|
Would also add, which was the first guidebook to use topo nomenclature vs. verbal descripstions of routes?
|
|
Roots
Mountain climber
Tustin, CA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - May 7, 2015 - 11:50am PT
|
Great link. Those Brits...
A scan of the replies yielded this as the oldest they reference:
Oldest = Well Haskett Smith's "Climbing in the British Isles" as the first published climbing guide in 1894 & 1895
That is amazing. I would not have guessed that they (guidebooks) go back that far.
|
|
Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
|
|
If you are talking about the Alps and other mountain areas the dates go even farther back than 1895. I have a Ball's guide to the Western Alps from right around the same time and it is fairly extensive.
The original guide to Tahquitz Rock dates back to 1937 and is the oldest American guidebook that I am aware of. Check it out here:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/737755/Tahquitz-The-Early-Years-Rick-Ridgeway-Summit-1976
I suspect that the Canadian Rockies have some formal guidebooks going back to around the turn of the last century.
|
|
Ksolem
Trad climber
Monrovia, California
|
|
I think Randy Vogel wrote a book about guidebooks.
For real? Randy must be a glutton for punishment..:-)
|
|
Tricouni
Mountain climber
Vancouver
|
|
I suspect that the Canadian Rockies have some formal guidebooks going back to around the turn of the last century.
In 1912, there was The Selkirk Mountains: a Guide for Mountain Pilgrims and Climbers by A.O. Wheeler & Elizabeth Parker, published in London. Not really a guidebook in the modern sense, move of a travel description.
Was this the first guide co-authored by a woman?
The first North American mountaineering guidebook that I am aware of was A Climber's Guide to the Rocky Mountains of Canada by Howard Palmer and J. Monroe Thorington (AAC, 1921). I know there were hiking guides to the White Mountains published earlier, but this is a real mountaineering guide.
Thorington also did A Climber's Guide to the Interior Ranges of British Columbia in 1937, also published by the AAC.
Corrections welcomed!
|
|
WindRiverWildman
Trad climber
N. Colorado
|
|
I love guidebooks.
I have quite a collection going back to when I started climbing in 1970, and can't get myself to throw the older ones out. Perhaps future donations to a museum?
I wonder when the format changed from written descriptions to topos or photos? (The Ojai link provides insight into this).
It was often quite challenging to interpret what the author was describing - Spent a few chilly forced bivouacs by misunderstanding a written description. Nice that Supertopo often shows "off route" or "wrong way" features.
What about the most aesthetic?
My favorites are the Vedauwoo guide "Crack Country" by Layne Kopischka which was hand drawn in pencil with great detail, clarity, and conciseness. Also like the Rossiter guidebooks.
|
|
kev
climber
A pile of dirt.
|
|
Most errors (deliberate or otherwise)
"Southern Yosemite" by Spencer, aka "Spencer's Book of Lies".
|
|
steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
|
|
I did this one back in 2011.
Auctioned off a couple copies for the Gordo Fest.
722 pages, around 700 guides.
I need to do an update...
|
|
Brian in SLC
Social climber
Salt Lake City, UT
|
|
One of my oldest (and mentioned up thread):
Possibly my oldest:
Art Gran's guide is fairly popular amongst the collectors of such:
Great ol' Teton guide:
|
|
JimT
climber
Munich
|
|
The 1906 (or 1908?) guide to the Elbesandstein is though to be the first rock climbing guide as opposed to mountaineering. The 150th anniversary of the first route there was last year.
|
|
Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
|
|
I would love to see a copy of that guidebook. Did Oliver Perry-Smith author that guide?
|
|
Roots
Mountain climber
Tustin, CA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - May 8, 2015 - 12:01pm PT
|
^ Nice books Brian!
These are good, fascinating posts! What else you have out there? - I know this site has guidebook collectors, because I have bought some from a few.
Not a guidebook collector per se..well kind of..I do collect them but not my only focus. Hopefully I can post up a couple of gems soon!
|
|
Roots
Mountain climber
Tustin, CA
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - May 8, 2015 - 12:03pm PT
|
The 1906 (or 1908?) guide to the Elbesandstein is though to be the first rock climbing guide as opposed to mountaineering.
Interesting. So mountaineering guidebooks were first? - this would actually make a lot of sense.
|
|
Seamstress
Trad climber
Yacolt, WA
|
|
Ooo - I better take care of the older gems in my collection. I know I have stuff that predates my birth.
|
|
Steve Grossman
Trad climber
Seattle, WA
|
|
The carabiner was invented just a bit ahead of the dates on that Elbsandstein guide if that gives you a good frame of reference.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!