UKC

So the controversial North Wales Rockfax guide is out, haven't seen any reviews official or not...so what do you think?

In reply to Sl@te Head: No one interested or brave enough to give an honest review of it on here?

In reply to Sl@te Head: When is the "real" guide comming out? the one done by the hardworking local activists??
If soon, then no-one needs to buy this guide, and can wait until the Spring to buy the "definative" guide to the area!!!
With all the fantastic routes they have been producing!!! and there are some.
This guide will be well worth waiting for!!
Please note that I am not anyway involved in the guide, but have been lucky to climb some of the new routes they have been involved in
Cheers
Nick B

In reply to astley007:

This again. Many yawns.

In reply to astley007:

You're not Colin Struthers are you by the way?

In reply to avictimoftheDrpsycho:

No he isn't.

Mick

In reply to astley007:

So is the North Wales Limestone book going to cover all the non-limestone stuff then? Ogwen, Cromlech, Lliwedd etc?

In reply to astley007:

Given your proof reading skills its probably a good job you're not involved with......
Sorry. Haven't got a clue what guide you are talking about.


!!!!!!

In reply to astley007: Wasn't that guide supposed to be released years ago? Last I heard it was going to be out summer/autumn. Guess it must have been delayed again. People can wait if they wish.

In reply to Sl@te Head: I got it. Nice guide, typo on the first page I opened, plus ca change!. Otherwise, usual high quality and good pics. The coverage for a wide area guide is very good, and the inclusion of some Mid-Wales crags is a nice addition.
The inclusion of sat nav co-ordinates which started in the Costa Blanca guide is a good feature, and as yet I haven't found any errors in either guide.
I guess the physical size of the guide is down to taste. The excellent Ground Up guide manages to get full photo topo info into a smaller footprint. Slimming down even further are the definitive guides, but without full phototopos and still a feeling that they haven't quite caught up. In lieu of electronic version of the Rockfax guide, I've found scanning onto a smart phone works ok in the interim.
I like guidebooks, and would have bought it anyway, and overall the production values are top notch. However, my 'dream team' for the area is the Ground Up area guide, especially because of the inclusion of bouldering. Supplement this with North Wales Bouldering (hurry up with the new edition!) and a copy of A55 Sports climbs, and there's enough for any eventuality.

In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

Yet I suspect most people buying the new Rockfax will be bumbling up lower grade welsh mountain classics.

In reply to Offwidth: yes that is absolutely true. However it doesn't stop the production of for example a superb set of guidebooks for the Peak, both best of and definitive, when for most climbers a cutoff date of 1960 would do, and no need for any further editions.

In reply to andyathome:


Or yours?

Mick

In reply to paul_in_cumbria:

Not quite true. A lot of work was done in the recent peak BMC guides to assess the grades and descriptions of the vast majority of the routes in the lower grade bands. I noticed that some minor starred routes on popular crags in Wales still get daft grades (Wall Climb, VD, on Milestone is a classic example, polished bold 4a or 4b moves on the two starts and the associated lemming voting on UKC to hide the useful advice from the occasional poster like "its the hardest VD I've ever done").

In reply to Sl@te Head:

Being relatively new to acquiring guide books I'll happily confess to being a big fan of rockfax books (the n.wales one is on my Christmas list). I find their style and layout much easier to browse than other guides I've looked at and it's easier to pick out climbs at the grade I'm interested in. Their approach feels far more modern and used friendly than some other styles of books I've seen.

Hence, I'm slightly bemused why this thread has such a negative vibe. Not wanting to (apparently) open up old wounds, but any chance anyone can point me in the direction of any older threads that might give me a clue where all this bitterness comes from???

Mike.

In reply to Otis: as well as numerous mistakes being included in sample pages of this guide that have been released by Rockfax, + rock fax's track record of mistakes included in guides.

The release of this guide was announced last minute with almost comprehesive coverage of an area that has got got a quality guide being produced by local activists with all profit going to the bolt fund.

http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php?topic=22459.0

In reply to Double Knee Bar:

I don't wish to get into this again here but this is actually nonsense. All guidebooks have errors, Rockfax no more so than others.


Again, this is a somewhat ridiculous statement as anyone who has a copy of the guidebook can now see. The coverage of NWL is far from comprehensive and it wasn't announced at the last minute. Additionally the Rockfax guide will be donating money to the bolt fund based on initial sales which should be quite significant by the end of this month.

If you aren't hideously bored by it already then here is my account of the whole saga - http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=552134&v=1#x7372654

The stuff about the bolt fund at the bottom isn't quite right anymore as announced here
http://www.rockfax.com/news/2013/06/20/north-wales-climbs-to-support-the-no...

In the end I suspect we will have two great guidebooks to North Wales, some good publicity and funding for the bolt fund, and the whole episode will seem to be a bit irrelevant.

Alan

In reply to Sl@te Head:

Thanks to the previous two posts for some info - looks like there is plenty of history there for me to get my teeth into.

For the sanity of everyone else I've got more than enough background info now to digest - hopefully you'll allow me to put the lid back on the can of worms I might have accidentally opened

Mike.

In reply to Otis: The fact that some worms won't go back in tins isn't your fault. Enjoy the great climbing.