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Selected Climbs In The Northeast
by S. Peter Lewis and Dave Horowitz
The Mountaineers Books
$24.95
Containing "rock, alpine and ice routes from the Gunks to Acadia", it's hard to know who this book is pitched to. Can it replace your other guidebooks? Well only if you are willing to accept 3 routes on Whitehorse, 9 on Cathedral, 6 on Canon, 4 at Lake Willoughby, 21 in the Gunks, 9 for Acadia and...well you get the picture. That said, Peter and David have worked hard to include all the classics.
It's hard to find fault with their selection and their work, it's a class act, it's just the numbers. Throughout, they've included stories about the climbs and a bit of history about the areas. While it doesn't seem to specifically say who is speaking in the anecdotes, my guess is Peter. The commentary is often entertaining and humorous, but if they were left out there would likely have been space for another 50+ climbs. With due respect to them, frankly I would rather have the climbs!
The pictures are excellent and entertaining. Route descriptions are well done and accurate, plus the topos are well drawn, clear and thankfully free of the icons encrusting his new Super-Topo map of Whitehorse Ledge.
Selected Climbs is in direct competition with Stuart Green's Rock Climbing New England. Both are well done, both cover the same general area and include many of the same climbs. While Selected Climbs includes the ice and alpine routes, there are simply many many more climbs in Green's book. That said Green's book is an additional $10!
If you live in New England, this book might not be for you. For ice climbing you'll certainly want Lewis' own excellent Ice Climbing in Northern New England and for rock both Ed Webster's Rock Climbs in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and Jon Sykes' Secrets of the Notch will keep you busy for years. That said, if you're on an extended road trip that keeps you in the northeast during ice season, Selected Climbs will keep you busy on the crag and entertained in the tent.
309 pages, lots of pictures & topos, 9" x 6", ISBN:0-89886-857-2
April 2004
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