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AE
climber
Boulder, CO
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Dec 17, 2015 - 03:01pm PT
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"What is the most rare and exotic, revered and holy guidebook of all climbing and alpine literature?"
Surprisingly modest in price, check out
“Climbs on Alpine Peaks,” by Abate Achille Ratti, Mountaineer translated into English by J. E. C. Eaton.
Published by T. Fisher Unwin Limited, of London, in 1925 and is the second impression of the 1923 FIRST ENGLISH EDITION.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CLIMBS-on-ALPINE-PEAKS-Abate-Achille-Ratti-POPE-PIUS-XI-Mountaineering-1925-ALPS-/361352468863
asking only 14.95lb !?
Ratti became Pope Pius XI in 1922, and his reputation from ascents like the first traverse of the Monte Rosa in 1889 generated the interest in compiling the guide, now apparently of little interest as a collectible.
Certainly might fulfill the "most holy" niche (if one isn't concerned about the nasty debate over Nazi tolerance).
///\\\\\\\
The best thing he appears to be responsible for is this
BLESSING OF TOOLS FOR SCALING MOUNTAINS(Approved by Pope Pius XI on October 14, 1931)
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
Lord, we beg you to bless + these ropes, staves, mattocks, and
these other tools, so that all who will use them in scaling the
mountains’ heights and precipices, in ice and snow and raging
storms, may be preserved from all accidents and catastrophe,
safely reach the summits, and return unharmed to their homes;
through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
Let us pray.
Protect these servants of yours, O Lord, by the prayers of St.
Bernard, whom you have made patron of mountain dwellers and
travelers; and grant that along with scaling these heights they
may also reach that mountain which is Christ; through the same
Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
(the equipment is) sprinkled with holy water.
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ArmandoWyo
climber
Wyoming
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Dec 17, 2015 - 03:27pm PT
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Sorry to be late to great thread. before yaking, I'll post a contribution or 2. I think THIS IS the first Pinnacles guide, 2 pages, by David Brower.
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Janet Wilts
Trad climber
Grand Teton National Park
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Dec 17, 2015 - 03:58pm PT
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Hey, the omnibus is fairly funny......it sounds like one engineer talking to another.....great old books on this.....
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Curt
climber
Gold Canyon, AZ
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Dec 17, 2015 - 07:02pm PT
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I have a copy of a hand drawn bouldering guide to Hueco Tanks by Bob Murray--from the 1970's. I suspect that's fairly rare.
Curt
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TGT
Social climber
So Cal
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Dec 17, 2015 - 07:36pm PT
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You know you are old when you have 4 or 5 of the books mentioned, a couple full of notes and one so used it's falling apart.
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Spider Savage
Mountain climber
The shaggy fringe of Los Angeles
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Dec 17, 2015 - 08:51pm PT
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How about rare pieces of paper:
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TomMc
Trad climber
Massachusetts
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Dec 20, 2015 - 07:26am PT
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Oh boy, do these ever bring back memories from BITD. I have a slew of old guidebooks from the '60's and '70's. I'll post what I can find, and by-the way, I'd probably sell them to anyone who collects old guidebooks. These are hard to find and I want them to go to another climber who appreciates the history they record and represent.
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Dick Erb
climber
June Lake, CA
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Dec 20, 2015 - 12:53pm PT
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This is a fun thread. That old Vedauwoo book is outstanding.
This one by Eric Beck may be the first Tahoe rockclimbing guide. I like how he describes many of Bliss State park boulders as too egg shaped to climb.
I haven't yet seen Pat Ament's Eldo guide from the sixties here.
Here is one of the early specialty guide books from 1960.
This Static Point guide by Dave Whitelaw from the 80's may be my rarest guide. As it is put together by hand very nicely with glue, tape, and staples, there must not be very many of them.
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jgill
Boulder climber
The high prairie of southern Colorado
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Dec 20, 2015 - 01:50pm PT
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1898 bouldering guide by Aleister Crowley and friend Legros (artist)
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Buck Wilde
Boulder climber
Oregon
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Dec 20, 2015 - 03:19pm PT
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An entry from this decade would be the Young/Ryan Bishop Bouldering guide that is currently selling for $330 on Amazon.
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Lassitude 33
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Dec 20, 2015 - 03:26pm PT
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John, That Crowley guide has to be the coolest thing I've seen - particularly considering it is a bouldering guide and pre-1900.
Fascinating to see that "eliminates" were in vogue so long ago. Love the notations about off-route holds and features.
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looking sketchy there...
Social climber
Lassitude 33
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Dec 20, 2015 - 03:34pm PT
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Here is an obscure area that recently came up over on MP. Original single page topo of Temple Rock, Laguna Beach, CA. Fairly worthless climbing area.
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Rockin' Gal
Trad climber
Boulder
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Dec 23, 2015 - 06:07am PT
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Another obscurity. Not sure if climbing is allowed there now.
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bhilden
Trad climber
Mountain View, CA/Boulder, CO
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Dec 23, 2015 - 10:36am PT
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Gibraltar Rock just north of Madison, Wisconsin is currently closed to climbing. The Wisconsin State Department of Natural Resources currently controls it's fate, but it is still closed.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Dec 23, 2015 - 11:09am PT
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Jenny Lake bouldering guide was mentioned up thread...
this is the 1987 edition
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Gnome Ofthe Diabase
climber
Out Of Bed
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Jan 20, 2016 - 09:42pm PT
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Steve O'Keefes' list / guide to Green pond Nj-1977-8?
I wish I had scanned more of the pages in this, now it is tucked away again and the scanner is very fickle . . .
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justthemaid
climber
Jim Henson's Basement
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Jan 21, 2016 - 07:08am PT
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Well, I don't have a picture since I don't own it but... cant even find a pic on the intardnet.
15 Climbs that Don't Suck in Sedona
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Gnome Ofthe Diabase
climber
Out Of Bed
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Jan 21, 2016 - 08:02am PT
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Three things
Hey Just the Maid, I've been in Jim Henson's moms' basement,
And thnx for your totally cool headed and thourogh response to trolling jelous
Pencil dicks
And for the Sedona climbs I remember a red booklet, "A Cheap Way To...? Fly or die can't
Remember but it had about 40 routes I think?
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JerryA
Mountain climber
Sacramento,CA
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Jan 21, 2016 - 08:36am PT
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In the 1960's ,I purchased an unopened 1934 first edition of Starr's Guide at the Holmes Book Store in Oakland for $7.50 . It contains a wonderful "15x30" map of the High Sierra in a rear folder in the hardcover. The number of paved roads and major reservoirs constructed since 1934 are dramatic.The Huntington Lake to Mammoth Lakes trail that was almost paved all the way is an obvious trans-Sierra highway route.
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