The Book

Season raptor closures MORE INFO >>> The following areas are closed from March 3-July 31: Twin Owls Bat Flake Batman Pinnacle Batman Rock Lightning Rock Checkerboard Rock Thunder Buttress The Parish For more information, go to the NPS website: http://www.nps.gov/romo/planyourvisit/area_closures.htm Keeping climbing areas open and conserving the climbing environment

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Description 

In the opinion of many, the Book is the finest cliff on Lumpy Ridge. It certainly offers the best non-wide crack climbing (if you like them wide, head for Twin Owls!). Many long, striking crack and dihedral lines grace the complex cliff, which rises to heights of 600'. Due to the cliff's predominant less-than-vertical aspect, many of these lines check in at under 5.10, though there are plenty of test-pieces at 5.10 and 5.11 as well. A few bolt-protected 5.12s are scattered about, and true hardpersons can attempt the 5.13+ crack line of Country Boy, first freed by Tommy Caldwell.

Some recommended routes would include Pear Buttress at 5.8; Loose Ends and J-Crack at 5.9; Fat City, Cheap Date, and many others at 5.10, and any of the 5.11 routes such as Howling at the Wind that ascend in or near the Howling dihedral. The Renaissance Wall and El Camino Real are said to be good 5.12 routes. The Book also has many 1-pitch routes (including first pitches of longer lines) which are a good alternative if the weather looks iffy for a longer route. Fixed anchors seem to come and go, however...

DESCENT: From the very top of the cliff, one can walk east a ways, beyond a steep broken area, and then contour back to the base (long and easy). Many routes end just above the "Cave" on the right side of the Book. From here, scramble out on a narrow ledge east to its end, and downclimb a groove (or do a short rappel from a tree a little ways out). From the bottom of the groove, go southeast (easier but longer) to walking terrain, or head southwest down more grooves to a cairn at the top of a east-angling chimney/gully. Go down that and one more chimney to walking terrain. Like the east slabs descent in Eldorado Canyon, this shorter descent should not be attempted in the dark or when wet unless you are familiar with it. No rappel route exists that I know of and none is needed.

Getting There 

From the new parking lot, take the west trail towards the old Twin Owls parking lot ~0.6 miles. The Book is a complex cliff; here is an attempt to describe it. Starting from the east, as you view the south-facing cliff from the Black Canyon trail, note a broken area of slabs and gullies (the Cave descent). Just left is the beautiful J-Crack Slab, sporting the very long parallel crack lines of Femp and J-Crack, and several other excellent crack lines to their left. Above are some reddish overhangs on the right, a cavernous overhang (The Cave!), and to the left, a short, steep headwall capping the cliff.

The next major landmark is the Howling at the Wind dihedral, a massive, overhanging left-facing corner which extends about halfway up the cliff. Many superb and intimidating free lines attack this feature and the overhangs nearby. Left of it are narrow, smooth slabs, with an arching roof band about 150 feet up. The next section is obvious: an area of deep grooves which extend the entire length of the cliff, known as the Pages Wall. Left again are two massive chimneys running the entire height of the cliff (Book of the Dead Chimney and Requiem Chimney). A narrow prow between the two, known as the Isis Buttress, offers many excellent routes. The western-most chimney includes the brilliant Renaissance Wall, home to numerous hard bolted & naturally protected climbs. Left of the west-most chimney the cliff becomes broken and unappealing for a long stretch and no routes are recorded here. Below this broken area is The Bookmark, a subsidary cliff about 400 feet high, described elsewhere.

The Classics

Featured Route For The Book

Pear Buttress 5.8  CO : Lumpy Ridge : ... : J-Crack Slab Area

My favorite 5.8 in the world. It begins right where the approach trail ends. The climb starts at a clean flake just right of a broken area. P1: The flake can be climbed directly from the bottom (5.9 R), but the standard start is to climb up the slab right of the flake and step into it where it offers a perfect hand crack (5.7 w/ no pro for the first 20 ft.) One can avoid all these scary starts (but also some great climbing) by scrambling up ar...[more]   Browse More Classics in CO

Photos of The Book Slideshow

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BETA PHOTO	BETA PHOTO	BETA PHOTO
BETA PHOTO	BETA PHOTO: Full south face of the Book.	The Book
Bookmark to Right Book.	Rebecca and Omar climb somewhere on 'The Book' at ...	The Book
The Book and The Bookmark (left)	The Bookmark and The Book	BETA PHOTO: The Book from the junction of The Book trail and t...
BETA PHOTO: View of Left Book, The Bookmark and the Book ...	The Book area from the approach trail.