UKC

I'm looking for a recommendation on a guide book for the peak district. There seems to be lots and unsure what the best one to buy would be. I would like one that covers stanage and other near by crags worth visiting.

Thanks,
Tommy

In reply to t__her6:

In the past I've always bought rockfax but the BMC ones are now also very good. If you live locally or are going to visit a lot get the BMC one, if not either bmc or rockfax, which ever is cheaper. I don't bother with the other selective guides.

In reply to t__her6:

Rockfax's Eastern Grit should fit the bill
https://www.rockfax.com/climbing-guides/books/eastern-grit/

I think it's the easiest to use guide and covers the most areas in one book.

Disclaimer: I work for UKClimbing (who owns Rockfax) but that's not affecting my recommendation.

In reply to t__her6:
If you're planning to climb here lots get the bmc definitives. If you're only going to have a few visits get eastern grit.

If you want a good selected guidebook that covers eastern & western then get True Grit. It doesn't seem to get mentioned on here very often but is a great guidebook that covers more crags than the others.

In reply to t__her6:

For the occasional visitor the rockfax books, for both grit and limestone cover a vast area with selected routes.
If you live locally and intend to climb extensively in the Peak the BMC definitive guides cover every route up to the time of publication. The Peak Southern Limestone guide will be out later this year but all the rest are fairly up to date.
I don't work for rockfax, I am a BMC member, and I know people from both organisations and I have tried to stay neutral. (Why are posts suddenly having disclaimers! Think it is something to do with the Bob Pettigrew farce!)

In reply to johncook:


When people who work for a company recommend their product, disclaimers are a good thing. Conflict of interest blah blah blah.

In reply to Paul Phillips - UKC and UKH:

I'd second the recommendation for the Rockfax guide. I replaced my very old western grit guide (circa 1989) with the western grit Rockfax and love it. Great layout, colour coded grade bands, superb photos of the routes and crags.
My mate has the eastern one and it's equally as good.
That said, I've not used the BMC guide so cannot compare but the Rockfax was money well spent. The grade creep since the '89 guide means I'm climbing harder too

In reply to angry pirate:


The BMC guides are a different kettle of quality - they are wonderful books crammed full of goodness, often witty and amusing, with great little features scattered amongst the info. They do a brilliant job of capturing the essence of the crags, and of the sport.

Rockfax make very useful products for visiting climbers, but they are not the same kind of thing.

In reply to Jon Stewart:

Quite right, I've actually sat and read Over The Moors cover to cover, whereas the Rockfax guides are definitely better for referencing.

In reply to deacondeacon:

And True Grit has great pictures of local heros in it! Though I'm sure there is no bias in the recommendation. Without the route blurb it certainly packs the route/venues in well for east and west.

Thanks everyone for the helpful replys. I now have a good idea what one to get.

Thanks again!

In reply to t__her6:

I started with Easter Grit but soon had; Froggatt to Black Rocks, Burbage and Beyond and the Stanage definitive. My copy of Eastern Grit is now gathering dust, it's a good book to start with but it's basically just a list of routes. It doesn't get you psyched and you won't find yourself lovingly flicking through dog eared pages in the evenings.
You can get the 2006 Eastern grit for £12 on Amazon though... the routes don't exactly change in the revised edition.

In reply to Tigger:
I've had Rockfax Eastern Grit for 15 years or so and only recently started on the BMC ones. I also live in Sheffield. I can say that I've definitely got very psyched looking through Eastern grit in the past and it can be for more than the occasional traveller

In reply to Cake:


Thanks for that - the newer Eastern Grit should keep most mortals going for years - and years.

Chris

In reply to Chris Craggs:

Yep, you on Kirkus Corner on the front. Still plenty of 3star routes not completed and very psyched to do

In reply to t__her6:

Hello Tommy, True Grit will show you clearly the routes you want to do, the topo photographs in my opinion are far superior to rock fax but as other people have said you don't get route descriptions. You do however get information as to the seriousness of a route by way of differing symbols.
With True Grit get everything in one guide, if you bought rockfax guides you would need both western and eastern so are doubling the cost. The definitive guides are also good but of course you would need a lot of them.
Whatever you buy enjoy the grit.
Jez