New Yosemite Bigwalls: The Complete Guide on sale now!

Get the exclusive 300 route book now:

fundable.com/yosemite-bigwa…

Be a part of a movement to make a timeless guidebook to all of Yosemite's bigwall routes. We are running a kick-start campaign to fund the first production of the book, and we need your help.

Thank you for your support!
Erik and Roger

Feedback so far has been great! Thank you!

We're really hoping to print this book in America on recycled paper. To do that we need your support.

thanks,erik

Erik, I'm a fan of the book, but not a fan of the "crowd" funding sites. Is it possible for me to send you the money (Complete Ebook or Crew) via paypal instead of crowd funding?

Just got my "First Mate" level of support today.  Here's the post I made sharing this project on Facebook. I got a little sentimental while typing so forgive if you can. No matter what some people's personal feelings about Erik might be, this is a great opportunity to care about the way that the project can help other bigwallers and the community as a whole. Limbing, bolting, conflicts-of-interest, etc are valid discussions to be had but for me, I see topos as the very words we write about an experience on the wall that has changed each and every one of us. For me, allowing other more of an opportunity to begin to read the stories we write on the wall through lines, dashes, names, and numbers is the best way to share the life-changing experiences that are there on the wall waiting for anyone and everyone who is willing to let the seed these topos can plant grow.

Monkeys have always been solitary, weird, and confusing to the rest of the world. We like it that way. Sometimes though, the campfire can get a bit sparse and it doesn't need to be that way.

Nanook's (Erik Sloan) topos are amazing. Supporting this project is hugely important to bigwall climbing as a whole since up till now there's only been supertopo's bigwall book that contains only a (relative) few trade routes and the out of print Reid guide that is (understandably) out of date on many of the nonsupertopo'd routes.

Hopefully this book can get people on more obscure and new routes to not only spread out the wall climbers, but will finally allow new bigwallers to branch out and see more of what Yosemite has to offer bigwallers. The best experiences I've had as a bigwaller has been on less-travelled routes because those allow you more contact with the route itself instead of on trade routes where you end up having more contact with those that have climbed before you, often with less-than-acceptable practices.

I consider this project to be a way to open people's eyes to possibility rather than the current state of Yosemite bigwalling which is more about inevitability on trade routes. Adventure is key to expanding yourself as a climber. Supporting this project is less about helping the big get published and more about helping new and old climbers see the possibility within themselves.

I find myself caring about so little these days; it's nice to have someone like Erik and Roger Putnam put the initial effort in to opening up the ability to care about something that is imo,  so important.

VaGenius wrote:Totally puzzled here. People who donate get a book? Or people donate, you publish, then they buy the book like everyone else?

VaGenius, Take a moment to read the webpage if you're confused. It states in the description of the various levels of support that supporting on the fundable webpage allows you to get an immediatly downloadable pdf (ebook) of the product and (depending upon the level of support) receive a print copy of the book once it's available in Mayish

Thanks for all the feedback gang!

The question about why the goal went from 55k to 20k is a good one--I missed some fine print on the fundable.com site that said it was an all-or-nothing campaign, so we picked a target that we were sure we can hit(with your help ;).

The difference is Asian printing vs USA printing. We'd prefer to print it in America with recycled American paper from a mill in North Carolina, but if we can only raise 20k this time we will print in Asia. Then if we save our sales money in 4-5 years when we print the second edition we will be able to print in America.

Thank you everyone for supporting this project. We really need help with the up front printing costs. The feedback on the ebook has been good, and I assure you that if you contribute that you'll get the first printed books when they arrive.

fundable.com/yosemite-bigwa…

thanks,
erik

have the online e-book, and i must say there is a jaw dropping amount of wall routes that i new existed, but could never get the beta on! this guide is awesome, and a must have for anybody visiting the valley who want to not only do the classic 'trade' routes, but also maybe something off the beaten path
thanks for all your hard work Erik and Roger
this thing is rad!

Thanks for all the great feedback gang!

We are essentially just asking people to preorder the book through this campaign, to cover the upfront printing costs we are faced with.

Please pledge to our campaign!

fundable.com/yosemite-bigwa…

There is one tiny glitch with the fundable.com website: occasionally the site lists your pledge based on the day and time you first viewed the site, instead of when you actually pledged.

We have been on top of responding to all pledgers within 24 hours(usually a lot less), so if for some reason you do not receive your ebook within one day please email me directly at erik@yosemitebigwall.com.

Woot!erik

We have 17 days left to raise another $10,000, or the book will not be printed. If we do not reach our goal your credit card will not be charged. Pledge today! If you've already pledged, get three friends to preorder the book now. We can do this! Woot!

fundable.com/yosemite-bigwa…

Yo Gang, it's crunch time for our fundraiser and the new bigwall book: we have 13 days to raise another $9,200 to cover the printing. Please preorder your book today! Get your friends to order too!

fundable.com/yosemite-bigwa…

thank you, erik

Over 1,000 people 'like' our campaign on facebook. That's cool, but we need 155 more folks to preorder the book to cover the upfront printing costs. If you are planning on buying the book anyway, please pledge today!

fundable.com/yosemite-bigwa…

We only have about a week left on our campaign. Please preorder the book!

fundable.com/yosemite-bigwa…

I've been receiving a lot of emails asking about shipping to other countries. We don't know where we will be shipping from(California or Colorado) so can't calculate the exact costs of overseas shipping at this time. Go ahead and pledge and when we receive the books and know the shipping costs we will send an email asking for additional payment at that time(likely April/May). You will only pay the exact shipping costs--no handling/packaging fees.

I checked out the book. It's got lots of obscure stuff at all grades for those who want a different portaledge view, don't love the smell of pissy bivouacs, or were just wondering if anything has been done on that wall over there. Heavy on beta, light on route history stuff. Lots of shorter routes if you're dipping your toes in but the crowds turn you off to the standard entry-level walls. Rack lists tend to run heavy on the nails for my taste but at least they tell you what to throw in the bag, even if it stays there the whole time. A significant feature is the date of the rack list for nailing routes, which gives you some idea of how popular or banged-out the line is.

Considering Roger's geology background, the opportunity to distinguish this guidebook from others in explicating Yosemite's geologic history, or even how one's climbing experience might change in moving from El Cap granite to Half Dome granodiorite, has mostly been left unexploited. A few tidbits here and there mention different rock types, but that's about it.

Erik's quest to make big walls (two words, sorry) more accessible to the masses has ticked off more than a few Valley climbers so there's some notable exclusions here, few of which will matter to 99% of the population. The interesting question is whether the easy availability of this avalanche of beta will spread out the 99%ers, or whether the hordes will continue clogging up the same 5 or 6 introductory wall routes.

Higher-end free climbers might appreciate the collection of El Cap free routes and an odd lot of other climbs scattered amongst the walls, although it's apparent that those who have the skills to climb 25-pitch 5.13 routes are also capable of scrounging up a topo elsewhere.

in sum, there's a ton of beta easily collected in one place with a few nice pictures and such….basically an updated Reid guide, 22 years later.

I have the ebook and its great. A mind blowing number of routes I didn't know existed. A must have if you are going to be visiting the valley anytime soon.

Go Big!

photo: Paul Hara

fundable.com/yosemite-bigwa…

Sweet! The fundraising made it last night. New guides are coming.

Thank you to everyone who pledged! If you want one of the first books at a locked in low price and free shipping you can still pledge. Woohoo, bring on the bigwalls!
erik

When are they printing Erik?! Psyched you hit the goal!!!

We will have the file to the printer first thing next week....then it takes a while if we're not printing in the USA: 4+ mos compared to 2.5. So we should have em by the time Tom hits the Bridge!

Thank you everyone for your support. Only 4 days left to get in on this badass guidebook! Woot!

So, there is no option to just preorder the book for $30, right? Either the ebook, or the ebook and book, correct?