In reply to Tom Ripley Mountain Guide:
Tom
'If you'd actually looked at both guides in your hands you would realize that they are slightly different products.'
I have.They are. But they largely cover the same ground. The clue is in their respective titles.
'As an 6a/E1 climber there is a much wider selection of routes at UPT and the Slate. Whereas I exhausted the those areas in North Wales Rock several years ago.'
There's not much worth doing at that grade at UPT anyway. If you've exhausted the slate routes in the Ground Up guide at that grade why not buy their definitive guide, which is a superb book in many ways not just as a climbing guide, and support a small local company in the process?
'It also includes a load of great neglected mid grade classics in Mid Wales, an area that was left out by Ground Up, which probably compounded the areas' neglect. (It was in Paul Williams remember.) Leaving out the Lleyn is a more sensible choice in my view, having lived in North Wales for 4 years and visited it once. (It's choss - don't go!)'
They're supposed to be guides to North Wales! Have to disagree with you re Lleyn. There are some great adventures to be had there.
'Also the topos in the RF book are superb, much better than the Ground Up offerings due to the big pages and the photo manipulation to accentuate features. I do admit that the Rockfax book is pretty bulky, but it probably isn't any heavier than NWR, which is too heavy to lug up routes anyway'
They are pretty good. One of the reasons why the Ground Up book was so welcome when it first came out was that at last there were accurate and reliable topos for the Gogarth cliffs. It took the authors a lot of time and effort (and route cleaning) to sort those out. I think they deserve the climbing community's continued support just for that.
'I'm looking forward to seeing this hallowed North Wales Limestone, though it would probably appear sooner if Pete Harrison spent less time ranting on the other channel'
Bit unfair and disrespectful to Pete. There are a number of reasons why Pete's guide hasn't come out yet which were beyond his control, not least serious injury and recuperation