HERE’S A TALE of two routes on two nearby mountains – the icing on the cake of my winter season last year – but it’s also a tale of two very good guidebooks. I wonder if guidebooks get a bit of a bad rap sometimes. They aren’t considered ‘creative’ enough, or they encourage honeypotting, or they’re adventure-lite, a dumbing down of the hills. Elitism, much? I expect us users don’t even look up from the book as we stumble around outdoors, do we?
As an occasional route deviser and a regular guidebook delver, I’d like to suggest a different reading. The best guidebooks are jumping-off points – gifts from author to reader, bridging gaps in knowledge and confidence, providing just enough support to promote independent learning. They are springboards for exploration. The much-feted mountain memoir is all about the author, whereas the humble guidebook is all about the reader. What could be more generous and unselfish than empowering us with the tools to do what we once thought was impossible?
FULL IMMERSION
The two books I have in mind are just such instruments. The first, from Garry Smith, outlines both winter mountaineering routes that I’m about to introduce, leaving my friend John and me to do the obvious thing and link them together. Information and photos are tantalisingly
