Chessler Books
Rock Climbing - Mountaineering - Exploration
New - Used - Collectible - Signed
Chessler Books Accepts PAYPAL Chessler Books Accepts VISA Chessler Books Accepts MASTERCARD Chessler Books Accepts DISCOVER CARD Chessler Books Accepts AMERICAN EXPRESS
All Orders Shipped via United States Postal Service   Chessler Books Ships Via USPS
Author:
Title:
Keyword:
Item #:
A B C D E F G H I
J K L M Mc N O P Q
R S T U V W X Y Z
Item #: GB2412-93512
CLIMBER'S GUIDE TO TAHQUITZ AND SUICIDE ROCKS Chuck Wilts 1979 6th (final) ed Softcover Fine-New Multiple Copies Available
By Wilts, Chuck, AAC
Price: $9.99

List Price: $25.00
You Save $15.01 (60%)



Add to wish list


Detailed Product Description
New York, AAC, 1979, 6th edition, last Wilts edition. 208 pp, b/w route photos. New softcover

The classic AAC guidebook for these 2 popular California rock climbing meccas. 

Tahquitz Climbing History:

In the 1930s, the Rock Climbing Section (RCS) of the Sierra Club Members in California started a campaign to identify potential rock climbing locations in southern California. RCS member Jim Smith 'discovered' Tahquitz in June of 1935. The first fifth-class ascent of Tahquitz, The Trough (5.0), occurred in August of 1936 by Jim Smith, Bob Brinton, and Z. Jasaitis.

A month later, Smith and Bill Rice quickly put up the now-classic route, Angel's Fright (5.4). In 1937, Dick Jones and Glen Dawson led a first ascent of The Mechanic's Route, one of the first 5.8s in the country. During the late 1930s, the movie Three On A Rope featured climbing at Tahquitz.

By 1940, about a dozen routes had been established. World War II slowed down development, but activity soon picked back up and fresh faces were seen at Tahquitz. Royal Robbins, a prominent member of the RCS, led the new surge in Tahquitz development in the 1950s.

This new group of climbers eschewed some of the time-honored safety techniques of the past, which led to harder and harder climbs being developed, culminating with The Vampire in 1959. Though Robbins and Dave Rearick climbed it via aid technique (5.9 A3/4), it was free climbed in 1973 (5.11a) by John Long et al. and is now considered one of the best free climbs in southern California.

With the help of new climbing shoe designs, route development in the1960s jumped well into 5.10 territory. Nearby Suicide Rock also started to be developed, resulting in another southern California classic, Valhalla (5.11a) in November of 1970.

The Yosemite Decimal System (YDS) of grading routes was developed at Tahquitz by members of the RCS of the Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club in the 1950s. Royal Robbins in 1952 established what was then one of the hardest free climbs in the United States, Open Book.

As new routes were constantly being discovered and climbed, the old method of rating climbs as either easy, moderate, or hard was quickly becoming useless. With the help of fellow RCS members Don Wilson and Chuck Wilts, the modern system of rating fifth-class climbing was developed, with the scale running from 5.0 to 5.9. Mark Powell, a local who frequented Yosemite, passed this system on to the climbers in Yosemite. By the early 1960s, the Yosemite Decimal System was the standard.

Other Items You Might Like

  • Similar Items Available
  • Items From This Author
  • Items From This Category
1965 SUPPLEMENT TO A CLIMBER'S GUIDE TO TAHQUITZ AND SUICIDE ROCKS [3rd ed] Chuck Wilts 1965 Rare Softcover Pamphlet Fine
By: Wilts, Chuck
Price $35.00
- Item # GB2412G-942
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
ALPINE JOURNAL 100s OF INDIVIDUAL ISSUES LISTED HERE! PAPERBACK, WRAPPERS or HARDCOVER ISSUES 1863-1986
By: Alpine Club UK
Price $10.00
- Item # JR207B
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
SUMMIT MAGAZINE BACK ISSUES 1960-1969 See This List
By: Summit Magazine
Price $10.00
- Item # JR154J-893
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
ROYAL ROBBINS THE AMERICAN CLIMBER David Smart 2023 1st edition New IN STOCK Multiple copies available
By: Smart, David
Price $21.95 ~ Regular $24.95, You Save $3.00 (12%)
- Item # BK4781-8825
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
MAZAMA BULLETIN INDIVIDUAL BACK ISSUES 1905 - 1975 New issues recently added
By: Mazama Bulletin
Price $5.00
- Item # JR225-127
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
TAHQUITZ AND SUICIDE ROCKS SUPPLEMENT (Rock & Ice Guide) Randy Vogel 1987 Softcover Near Fine
By: Vogel, Randy
Price $14.95
- Item # GB8198-943
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
CLIMBER and CLIMBER AND RAMBLER MAGAZINE UK (Not a set) $5 per issue As available
By: Climber and Rambler Magazine
Price $5.00
- Item # JR251-121
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
GOING UP: TALES TOLD ALONG THE ROAD TO EL CAPITAN [Yosemite First Ascents] 2012 1st ed New Hardcover DJ SIGNED by Joe Fitschen Multiple copies available
By: Fitschen, Joe
Price $19.99 ~ Regular $35.00, You Save $15.01 (43%)
- Item # BK7609-8829
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
TRAIL AND TIMBERLINE 1962 - 1998 As Available Not a Set $5 each
By: Colorado Mountain Club
Price $5.00 ~ Regular $10.00, You Save $5.00 (50%)
- Item # JR727A-966
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
THE CLIMBING ART MAGAZINE Individual Back Issues Number 1 to 31
By: Climbing Art Magazine, Pat Ament
Price $5.00
- Item # JR156-127
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
Sorry, we were unable find any similar items available by this author.


THE EIGER SANCTION: A CLIMBING NOVEL Trevanian 1972 Hardcover DJ Very Good-Fine Multiple Copies Available
By: Trevanian (Rodney William Whitaker)
Price $4.99 ~ Regular $35.00, You Save $30.01 (86%)
- Item # BK2042D-9663
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
FALL OF THE PHANTOM LORD [Dan Osman] Andrew Todhunter Hardcover DJ Near Fine-Fine 2 copies available
By: Todhunter, Andrew
Price $15.99 ~ Regular $23.95, You Save $7.96 (33%)
- Item # BK1563-9382
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
INTO THE UNKNOWN: THE REMARKABLE LIFE OF HANS KRAUS Susan Schwartz 2005 1st ed Softcover Near Fine 2 Copies Available
By: Schwartz, Susan
Price $14.95 ~ Regular $21.95, You Save $7.00 (32%)
- Item # BK2053-2072
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
MOUNTAINEERING, THE FREEDOM OF HILLS Peggy Ferber 1975 3rd ed Hardcover Good
By: Ferber, Peggy
Price $4.99 ~ Regular $15.00, You Save $10.01 (67%)
- Item # OP428D-938
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
ALPINIST MAGAZINE ISSUE 57 Spring 2017
By: ALPINIST MAGAZINE Issue 57
Price $15.00 ~ Regular $35.00, You Save $20.00 (57%)
- Item # JR203-57-936
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
KICK TURN [Novel] Anthony Glyn 1963 1st UK ed DJ Near Fine 2 Copies Available
By: Glyn, Anthony
Price $14.99 ~ Regular $35.00, You Save $20.01 (57%)
- Item # OP3396-9392
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
BRITISH MOUNTAINEERS Frank Smythe 1946 2nd Imp Hardcover DJ Fine
By: Smythe, Frank
Price $14.99 ~ Regular $30.00, You Save $15.01 (50%)
- Item # OP2408-933
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
HIGH EXPOSURE: A LIFELONG PASSION FOR EVEREST AND UNFORGIVING PLACES David Breashears 1999 1st ed Hardcover DJ Near Fine Multiple Copies Available [Not Signed]
By: Breashears, David and Jeff Long
Price $9.99 ~ Regular $26.00, You Save $16.01 (62%)
- Item # BK634C-9624
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
BIG WALL CLIMBING Doug Scott 1974 1st US ed Hardcover DJ Near Fine
By: Scott, Doug
Price $19.99 ~ Regular $65.00, You Save $45.01 (69%)
- Item # OP210-207
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 2019 February Alex Honnold Free Solo El Capitan Yosemite
By: National Geographic Magazine 2019 February
Price $19.99 ~ Regular $30.00, You Save $10.01 (33%)
- Item # NG2002-9342
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart