Customer Reviews

The Trad Guide to Joshua Tree: 60 Favorite Climbs from 5.5 to 5.9

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I think this is a great book for someone like me for the following reason:
1. The climbs in the guide are all within my skill level. Almost all the guides I have contain a large majority of climbs that are beyond my abilities and it is a pleasure to find a guide that is tailored to my skill level.
2. The climbs, their locations, approaches and descents are described extremely well. I don't know how much time I have spent trying to locate climbs whose approaches are very poorly described. I've also tramped for hours trying to locate a supposed quality climb, and then much to my dismay, the climb has turned out to be not worth the effort.
3. The photographs, route descriptions and gear recommendations are again very well done. I have done some of the climbs in the guide and can attest to their quality.

I highly recommend this book for climbers of moderate ability who enjoy quality traditional climbs, and don't want to purchase a guide that mostly contains climbs beyond their ability level.

Wow! Great book, color detailed photos of routes, sun/shade orientation for all routes & basically all the info that one needs to have a memorable trip in Joshua Tree. Also great to have a book that has a focus on climbs under 5.10. All in all this is the most informative climbing book I have ever purchased. Would have been happy paying twice the price I paid for it.

"The Trad Guide to Joshua Tree" is my favorite rock climbing guide book because it is very reader friendly. It is logically organized by climbing area in a color-coded fashion. This makes it straight-forward to quickly find the maps and approach/route descriptions of interest. For each climbing area, easy-to-read maps clearly show where to park and the approach for the various rock formations and routes. Informative approach descriptions are accompanied by colored pictures that show the rock formations from the angle seen on the approach.

Close-up photos show each route in a highlighted fashion making it easy to identify and stay on your chosen route. The Wingers provide route descriptions that are helpful to moderate trad climbers. Clearly described descent routes are also provided. Other information in the book that I find particularly useful includes whether the route is in the sun or shade making it possible to choose routes accordingly on hot or cold days. Also, the Wingers frequently mention other nearby moderate routes for those times when the route you originally chose is occupied or you want to do multiple routes in a given location. The Winger's thoughtful work on this book enables climbers to maximize climbing time and minimize time spent looking for routes.

I highly recommend the Winger's book to climbers interested in moderate Joshua Tree climbs. Every time I open this book, the organized lay out, beautiful pictures, informative descriptions and entertaining writing style make me dream of returning to Joshua Tree for another climbing trip. I certainly will take this book on my next Joshua Tree climbing adventure. I can't wait for my next trip!

We are always looking for new, fun climbs at Joshua Tree. We spend much of our time using 3 pieces of reference material to read about new routes and then we spend valuable climbing time looking for the formation, wandering around a formation trying to find the new route and once we have found the route we try to figure out how to descend. This book is for us. Trad Guide to Joshua Tree provides information for 60 great routes in the 5.5 - 5.9 range including clear, easy to follow directions to the parking areas for the routes, digital color pictures of the rock face the route is on, detailed descent information, recommended gear list, detailed description of routes and sun factor. This quality book provides excellent descriptions of fun-filled trad routes of moderate to intermediate difficulty at Joshua Tree. We really like the large color pictures of the routes.

This is a very user-friendly mini-guide to a huge and varied climbing destination. For the first-time visitor, or for someone wanting to make good use of a brief trip to Joshua Tree, this is exactly what one would wish for. But...wish no more, for here it is!

Unlike the more comprehensive guides that feature lots of "stars" by climbs, this little book has separated lots of chaff from the good stuff. Also, not everyone can, or is interested in climbing rock at the highest grades; after all, difficulty does not necessarily equate to quality.

What I really liked about this guidebook:

(1) A nice selection of potentially "do-able" climbs for a wide spectrum of personal abilities.

(2) Very nice presentation, in an easy to understand and use format.

(3) Beautiful full color illustrations.

(4) Good directions for FINDING THE CLIMBS!

(5) A nice balance between crack, face, and friction routes.

The down side"

(1) Could have been a bit wider in scope, and included Indian Cove and Quail Springs areas.

(2) Maybe expanded to a hundred climbs?

Overall, I would recommend this book as a "Must read" for any Joshua Tree visiting climber.

I used this book in conjunction with the Vogel Guides: Rock Climbing Joshua Tree & Rock Climbing Joshua Tree West. The interesting thing about this book is many of the routes don't have any stars in the Vogel guides but are stellar. Funny Bone comes to mind as the best route we did with Vogel giving it no stars. Coincidentally we ran into Charlie and Diane Winger coming off Funny Bone as we were walking up to it.

The approaches are described in great deal of detail. This is good considering the size and number of routes at J-Tree.

This is a great guide to get you on routes that perhaps you'd skip based on Randy's guides. This is no dig on Randy's Guides. They are great and a necessity. This guide allows you to find some really good moderate climbs with alternates nearby. We were generally pleased with the routes we climbed that are listed in this guide.

Climb Safe!

This is a well written and well illustrated guide for someone new to visiting Joshua Tree National Park. The dozen or so routes we did in this book were all challenging and enjoyable. There are thousands of routes in the Park, but this is a swell introduction for the traditional climber. At this price I don't see why any climber visiting the park wouldn't have a copy. The photographs and maps are the best I have seen in any book.

First of all, this book is written by some really nice people. This book is void of the elitism that usally comes with a guide book to an area like this. My wife and I have been to J-tree many times but this was our first year with this book. It truely enhanced our time there. The full color pictures are great, and they took all the pictures from such logical places that if you are following a road or trail and find yourself needing direction, you look up and see exactly what is in the picture for the climb you are looking for. My wife and I found ourself laughing on one climb when we were looking off in the distance for a rock formation and spotted the tree 6' in front of us that was also about 6' in front of the camera lense in the picture! And there are climbs that real people can do! I notice in other guide books the only highly rated climbs are 5.12 and up! Get this book, you won't be dissapointed. I only wish I could meet the authers and tell them of my appreciation.

Sometimes, as the saying goes, less is more. This book is an example of a user friendly rock climbing guide that limits it's scope to climbs that most people who go to Joshua Tree actually engage in. As the title stipulates there are no 5.12 sphincter squeesers here, just interesting traditional climbs.

Each climb is photographed in color with a graphic overlay clearly showing the route. Most of these are short, single pitch climbs that encompass a wide variety of problems with the emphasis on classic crack climbs. Approach info and the minimum protection requirement is noted along with a very abreviated strategy for the climb. Information on lodging and camping along with dining options are covered pretty well, though the surrounding areas offer a lot more variety than the book indicates.

If you're a beginner/intermediate climber and aspire to climb in JT, this is the guide to get.

This book is the best non comprehensive climbing guide book I have ever seen. The highlights are:

- Full color photos of the routes
- Both approach photos as well as close up route photos, making it easy to find the rock and specific route
- Full park map with relative camping and route locations listed
- Very good beta on each and every route (includes sun/shade, rack suggestions, etc), usually about a page per route not including another page for photos.

So basically if you're interested in the 5.5 to 5.9 trad routes in Joshua Tree you'll love this book, simple as that.