THE LIBRARY
Rock Climbing and Bouldering Pennsylvania: Secrets of the Keystone State
W
E CLIMBERISM FOOLS WERE LUCKY ENOUGH TO GET OUR HANDS ON ROB HOLZMAN’S RECENTLY PUBLISHED GUIDEBOOK TO PENNSYLVANIA. COMING IN AT NEARLY
500 PAGES, IT IS THE FIRST COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE FOR THE “KEY STONE” STATE, AND THE AUTHOR’S HARD WORK AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE PA CLIMBING SCENE IS EVIDENT THROUGHOUT. HOLZ- MAN, AND HIS PARTNERS TOM KNEISS, NICK MORELL AND RYAN LUKAS HAVE DEVELOPED THOUSANDS OF ROUTES AND BOULDER PROBLEMS THROUGHOUT PA, AND HOLZMAN HAS “CLIMBED, OR ATTEMPTED, NEARLY EVERY ROUTE AND BOULDER PROBLEM MEN- TIONED IN THIS GUIDE.”
BECAUSE THIS IS THE FIRST GUIDEBOOK FOR PENNSYLVANIA, HOLZMAN HAD TO DO A LOT OF LEG WORK TO FIGURE OUT ORIGINAL ROUTE NAMES AND FAS DUE TO CLIMBERS IN THE STATE NOT KEEPING A WRITTEN RECORD OF WHAT HAD BEEN SENT. HE IS RESPECTFUL OF ACCESS ISSUES, ONLY INCLUDING AREAS THAT ARE OPEN TO CLIMBING. WHAT YOU’LL FIND IN THIS GUIDEBOOK ARE OVER 1,000 ROUTES AND BOULDER PROBLEMS FROM POPU- LAR AREAS LIKE DELAWARE WATER GAP AND BOXCAR ROCKS TO THE MORE OBSCURE CHIMNEY ROCKS AND BROWN SUGAR WALL IN WHITE HAVEN. EACH AREA HAS LOCATION AND DIRECTIONS, HIS- TORY, RECOMMENDED RACK, ACCESS ISSUES AND RESTRICTIONS, IN CASE OF EMERGENCY CONTACTS, AND ROUTE DESCRIPTIONS AND GRADES.
WHAT YOU’LL ALSO FIND IN HOLZMAN’S TOME IS HUMOR AND PER- SONALITY. WHEN TALKING ABOUT GRAFFITI AND VANDALISM AT BOXCAR ROCKS, HE SAYS “IT’S THE SPRAY-PAINT-TOTING KIDS WHO LOOK LIKE THEY WALKED OUT OF A MARILYN MANSON VIDEO, AND CARRY A COPY OF HELTER SKELTER IN THEIR BACK POCKET THAT WORRY ME.” WHILE THERE MAY BE SOME IN PA WHO WILL ARGUE WITH CERTAIN ROUTE NAMES, FAS OR GRADES, HOLZMAN ENCOURAGES PEOPLE TO CONTACT HIM FOR FUTURE EDITIONS. IF YOU LIVE IN PA, YOU’LL DISCOVER NEW ROUTES AND CRAGS IN THE BOOK; IF YOU LIVE OUTSIDE THE STATE, YOU HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO FUEL UP, GRAB YOUR RED BULL AND GET YOUR ASS TO PA FOR SOME FINE NORTHEAST CLIMBING!
38 climber MAGAZINEism |
On Edge: The life and climbs of Henry Barber
P
ERHAPS IT IS NO SURPRISE THAT A CLIMBER AS PROLIFIC AND CONTROVERSIAL AS HENRY BARBER HAD A BIOG- RAPHY WRITTEN ABOUT HIM AT THE RIPE AGE OF 28. IN ON EDGE: THE LIFE AND CLIMBS OF HENRY BARBER, CHIP LEE CAPTURES THE FRENETIC PACE AT WHICH BARBER TACK- LED SOME OF THE HARDEST ROCK ROUTES FROM GERMANY TO AUSTRALIA DURING THE 1970’S. BORN IN BOSTON AND SCHOOLED ON ROCK AROUND THE NORTHEAST, BARBER’S MARK HAS BEEN LEFT ACROSS THE REGION--JUST PICK UP A GUIDE BOOK FOR THE GUNKS OR CATHEDRAL LEDGE AND YOU’LL SEE HIS NUMEROUS FA’S. HIS EMPHASIS ON CLEAN AND FREE CLIMBING MARKED A TURNING POINT FOR THE SPORT AFTER A RELIANCE ON AID BY MANY CLIMBERS OF THE PREVI- OUS GENERATION.
LEE’S BIOGRAPHY IS AT TIMES GRIPPING, WITH ONE CHAPTER TITLED “BEAUTY AND DEATH” QUOTING BARBER AT LENGTH ON HIS PHILOSOPHY OF FREE-SOLOING, “IT IS A TIME WITHOUT DISTRACTIONS, WHEN YOU CAN ONLY LOOK DEEPLY INSIDE YOURSELF. THE HARMONY OCCURS WHEN YOU HAVE TO BREAK THROUGH THE BEAUTY AND ADVENTURE TO GAIN THE BALANCE OF MIND AND BODY NEEDED TO SOLO DIFFICULT ROUTES.” BUT, AT OTHER TIMES THE BOOK CAN BE SCATTERED AS THE CHAPTERS AREN’T ALWAYS CHRONOLOGICAL AND LEE TRIES TO COVER TOO MUCH IN THE 281 PAGES.
OVERALL, THE BOOK IS A MUST READ THAT DESCRIBED ONE OF CLIMBING’S FIRST SUPERSTARS. HENRY BARBER TOOK A LOT OF HEAT AFTER A MAJOR ACCIDENT AND RESCUE WITH ROB TAYLOR AT KILIMANJARO, BUT BARBER’S NO-BULLSHIT ATTITUDE AND PIONEERING OUTLOOK WERE PIVOTAL IN THE PROGRESSION OF AMERICAN AND INTERNATIONAL CLIMBING. IF YOU WANT TO GET IN THE MIND OF ONE OF THE BEST AND MOST BAD-ASS NORTHEAST CLIMBERS EVER, GET A COPY OF THIS BOOK.
JULY AUGUST 2011 |
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