Guidebooks are extremely useful, but typically as dry as cotton-mouth after a ten-plus pitch climb sans water. Enter Zion Climbing, a new route guide written by Bryan Bird and published by Super Topo. Bird’s guide, which details over 250 free climbs, 25 aid routes and even a few boulder problems, is a breath of fresh air. It reads more like a book than a directory, with page-long history lessons written by Zion enthusiasts intertwined with route maps and beta.
Printed in color, Zion Climbing is also chock full of photography that is both captivating and inspiring, contrary to the grainy black-and-white photography in other guides. The color photography also makes the rock formations outlined in maps more distinguishable, so you’ll spend less time guessing which route is which and more time actually climbing. Oh yeah, there’s also the amazing artwork of Renan Ozturk included in the mix.
Zion Climbing is the most comprehensive guide available for Zion National Park. With its colorful layout and informative text, the guide is as well-suited to the trails of Zion as it is on the coffee table or in the can.
