Best PNW guidebooks

Hi all,
I'm getting ready to move to Seattle in a couple weeks and was wondering what the essential guidebooks/resources are for the greater area and which ones I could do without. I mostly climb sport and boulder. Thanks in advance for suggestions!

I like this for bouldering:
Click me

The guides by Garth Bruce on Exit 32 and 38 are pretty good for sport climbing close to Seattle. Mazama is also great for sport climbing but you should get the guide that the gear shop up in the area sells(don't remember the name). Here's a link to the PDF guide for Vantage. justgetout.net/ClientFiles/….

Hopfully that will give you a good start. There are lots of great sport climbs in all those areas.

Edit: also here's a link to the Index topo it's mostly a trad area but worth checking out. web.stanford.edu/~clint/index/

Thanks for the leads, I'm glad to hear there's something in print for the little si area.

I have an extra exit 38 guide if you want it. PM me

Instead of that PNW bouldering guide, get the better, more detailed local guides: Leavenworth Bouldering and Western Washington Bouldering.

The new Snoqualmie Rock guidebook will be out this summer, covering everything from Issaquah to Snoqualmie Pass--Little Si, Exit 38, etc, plus lots of new stuff. Expected release is in June.

Nice, that one sounds like it's worth waiting for. Thanks for the info everybody. Hope to meet some of y'all out on the rocks this season.

Definitely get the W Washington, Leavonworth, and Squamish guides for bouldering.

The only reason I would ever consider purchasing the PNW Bouldering guide is for info on the tiny crags that don't warrant their own guide.

I'd hold out for the Snoqualmie Rock guidebook. The current exit 38 & 32 books are the two of the worst guidebooks I have ever used.

Ashort wrote:I'd hold out for the Snoqualmie Rock guidebook. The current exit 38 & 32 books are the two of the worst guidebooks I have ever used.

Do you know who the author/publisher is of the new guidebook? Is there a place to pre-order that you know of?

Sport climbing near Seattle is nothing to write home about but the trad climbing within a days' drive is legit--Index, Squamish, Washington Pass, Tieton, and more... Local beta is your best bet for Index.

Hope it stops raining. Been a wet winter out there. Every time I've talked to my folks since October they say it's pouring.

Edit: there is "sport" climbing at Index too, actually. Cunning Stunt is well-protected and there's a new 5.10 3-pitch sport line on the Lower Lump that's really fun--be prepared for safe but sparse bolting. Try climax control on a warm summer day for an introduction to true Index-style sandbagging.

I'd rather do one route at Index than a whole week at the freeway-rumbling chosspile that's Exit 38.

You can get around most places with online resources. To fill in what isn't here on Mountain project, the Frenchman coulee pdf is nice (and a new guidebook on the way) . if you're going to Mt. Erie, definitely stop at the corner store at the base and pick up that guidebook (unless you enjoy getting lost) and a copy of Workman's Skagit crags.

The Exit 38 guidebook is basically a list of the routes. Use MP and ms word and make a better one.
Moving a little away from sport, the best darrington resource is free online. If you end up in Mazama later in the year, swing by goat's beard mountain supply and grab the supplement pamphlets you can't get elsewhere.

BrokenChairs wrote: Do you know who the author/publisher is of the new guidebook? Is there a place to pre-order that you know of?

It's me. No pre-orders yet, but I'm going to get a list going sometime soon. I'll post it here when the time comes.

And the new edition is a completely new book compared to past ones. Full color, beta for every route, new maps, detailed history, etc. Over 700 routes!

"Leavenworth Bouldering"
"Western Washington Bouldering"
Both great books. You can pick up an old copy of "Central Washington Bouldering" which covers both areas if you're on a budget.

"Squamish Bouldering"

"Sky Valley Rock"
Index actually has a lot of sport including some upper wall test pieces and a bunch of stuff not in the online guide. Checkout Tempitchous, Rhythm and Blue's Cliff, Dana's Arch as well as stuff on the left side of the upper wall and the country. There may be a newer guide?

"leavenworth rock"
Leavenworth is mostly known for trad and bouldering but there are also a lot of sport lines including some nice multi pitch lines.

"Climber's Guide to Smith Rocks" or "Rock Climbing Smith Rock State Park" by Allan Watts
A great rainy season destination and not that far.

"Tieton River Rocks" (Ford and Yoder)
Actually some excellent sport climbing on cool features, Not sure when/if a new one is coming out.

"Mazama Rocks"
East side of north cascades highway and a good place to escape the rain.

I'd wait for the new snoqualmie book and I think there is a new vantage book in the works as well.

There are some other spots like Newhalem, Nason Ridge, Equinox, Mnt. Eerie that may or may not be included in current guidebooks but may have online guides of one sort or another.

You'll probably end up with a copy of "Rock Climbing Washington." It's pretty inaccurate at times but will at least get you to a lot of areas.

I'd also at least peruse the Washington Pass supertopo, the two volume "select climbs of the cascades" and maybe the new "Cascades Rock" book. There are some amazing alpine rock routes in washington.

Anybody have any info on a bouldering guidebook for the Bellingham area? I found reference to a guide called "Bellingham Bouldering" by Erik Matthews on this App called Next Ascent, but can't seem to find info on it anywhere else.

Kurts book is the best guidebook for snoqualmie and the best guidebook I have ever had.

Kurt if you haven't made a final draft of the new book, I would recommend revising the Chainsaw wall map, the wall curves significantly and if I recall the book makes it seem like a long straight ledge, the route at the end of the wall pretty much can't be climbed and very hard to see.

Also, the turn off for semi-wall in the map in the book vs my GPS  was pretty significantly different (but maybe my phone was off).

Alan Watts' Smith Rock Guide Book

BrokenChairs 88 wrote:  Here's a link to the PDF guide for Vantage. justgetout.net/ClientFiles/…;

This link appears to be dead. Any chance you or anyone else have a working link?