Zion Climbing–Free and Clean

By Bryan Bird
Published by SUPERTOPO
Review by Tony Lourens

For me guidebooks have two important jobs. The obvious one is that it should be accurate and include all the info one needs to get to and climb a route and also have some interesting copy on history, climate, camping, etc. But the second job of a guidebook and one that for me is of paramount importance, is the power amongst the pages to draw you to that area–to look at a picture in the book and say, “Shit! I want to do that route.” Or to read a classic description and while reading it you imagine yourself climbing that clean corner or pulling that roof to gain the exposed stance on the lip. That is the epitome of a great guidebook.

When I ripped open the envelope and Zion Climbing fell on my desk, I was immediately entranced by the front cover and within 10 seconds I knew that I would spend tens of thousands of Rand to fly from South Africa to America and go to Zion just to climb that route and be in the position that that guy was in on the front cover. It was that hypnotic!
Of course, anybody who has had any previous dealings with a SUPERTOPO guide, need not read further, but should simply buy it, as it is laid out in typically perfect SUPERTOPO fashion.

Zion Climbing describes 250 free climbs and 25 clean aid big wall routes (many never published before). While the descriptions are accurate and all routes have detailed topos and colour photos of the walls with dotted lines showing where each climb goes, the author does warn us that many of the routes in this unique adventurous climbing area have had few ascents and therefore consensus on grading and quality on some of the routes are not cast in stone. In my opinion, this actually adds to the character of what Zion stands for: Wild adventurous climbing that demands sound mountain savvy.
It is possible I may never get it together to wing it across the Atlantic and find myself in Zion, but that does not stop me from thumbing through the pages, reading the rich history of the first ascents, poring over the many full colour climbing pics and ticking classics that I may potentially one day do.

For anyone visiting Zion this definitive guidebook is essential for survival!

To order your pdf or hard copy go to www.supertopo.com

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