The latest edition of the Dorset Rockfax features the now widely acclaimed full-page colour topos, and includes all the new lines in the areas previously covered, as well as many entirely new sectors. The crags are illustrated using bigger topos and there is a complete new set of action photos. This new Rockfax guide will concentrate on Portland, Swanage and Lulworth, covering all the sport routes in these areas, and also the bulk of the quality trad climbing at Swanage and Lulworth. Coverage of bouldering and deep water soloing, along with all the routes in Devon have migrated from this book.

Links take you to the relevant section of the Rockfax Route Database. Crags in bold are new since the 2005 guidebook or have significant new sectors added.

Portland West Coast

Blacknor North, Blacknor Central, Blacknor South, Blacknor Far South, Battleship Edge, Battleship…

The third book in the Rockfax France series covers the extensive and fertile climbing area west of the author’s previous guide to Haute Provence. The areas covered largely surround the beautiful Parc National des Cévennes, but also includes crags that are close to the cities of Nimes and Avignon. Some areas have been climbed on for generations; others are still very much in development, all will leave you hungry for more.

Starting in the family-friendly summer holiday destination of the Ardèche, the guide promises a tour of the very best crags in the region. The next stop is in the Gorge du Tarn, a highly acclaimed recent addition to France’s portfolio of perfect crags, here you can choose from the never-ending stamina tests in the Tarn, the occasionally traditionally protected multi-pitch adventures of the Jonte, and the various high-quality offerings of the Dourbie. Moving south, we cover Thaurac, for its…

“I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking to take their climbing to the next level. The authors put their wealth of climbing experience into an entertaining and easy-to-read manual.”
Chris Sharma commenting on the first edition in November 2006

Until now, instructional books for climbers have taken a largely ‘negative’ approach, concentrating on how to reduce the inherent risks of the sport, and mentioning only in passing the equally important skills required to get to the top. This book represents a watershed in the genre, coming from a coaching perspective, Sport Climbing+ is packed with inspirational photos, humorous illustrations, and two lifetime’s worth of learning how to succeed at the toughest of all sports.

The book takes a practical approach, focusing on the improvements that climbers can make immediately, without embarking on lengthy training programs. Written…

This is an up-to-date, full-colour topo of one of Europe’s most iconic mountain routes. With pitch descriptions, approach and descent information and an accurate route-line, this micro guide is the essential companion to your Eiger ascent. Easily printed out, lightweight and free.

The Mediterranean island of Mallorca is now well-known as a sport climbing destination. Since the last Rockfax in 2006, it has also established itself as the home of Europe’s best deep water soloing.
This latest edition of the Mallorca Rockfax (our 6th Mallorca publication in 15 years!) brings together all the sport and DWS into one book. The sport section includes seven crags that haven’t appeared in our previous books plus many new routes and sectors at the existing crags, and the DWS section combines the work from the Rockfax book Deep Water, and the Rockfax PDF MiniGuide Mallorca Deep Water Soloing.

The style is in the new glorious full-colour format and features many new crag and action photos. The sport climbing is being written by Alan James and Mark Glaister, and the deep water soloing section is being written by Daimon Beail.

The Mallorca Rockfax is the essential companion to your…

The cliffs of the South of France rocketed to popularity back in the 1980s when it was realised what great climbing was available and how good the weather was down there. Since then other areas have attracted the attention of travelling climbers and once-popular venues such as the cliffs of the Calanques, Sainte Victoire and even the Verdon have rather fallen off the radar in recent years.

Following from the recent well received France : Haute Provence guidebook, France : Côte d’Azur reassessed these famous cliffs and also includes some of the great venues around Toulon, the sunniest city in France. Plus there is the popular winter venue of Châteauvert, the less well-known Esterel and Châteaudouble areas, as well as the world-famous Verdon Gorge. Add in Saint Jeannet and a selection of cliffs in the Nice area and this will become an essential volume for any climber.

Presented in the universally…

A topo to Out of Africa, one of the original and most classic big wall routes of the famous Tsaranoro Massif in Madagascar. A full colour topo, pitch by pitch information and a detailed approach photo combine to make this an inspirational and essential file for all Madagascar visitors.

MicroGUIDES are very simple single page PDF documents to cover single routes or crags. They should be printed out on A4 paper using a good quality colour printer.

West Country Climbs is a major new Rockfax guide to one of the UK’s most celebrated, sunny and diverse climbing regions. The book is fashioned in Rockfax’s award-winning layout and design, and copiously illustrated with action photographs of the climbs and cliffs that reflect the quality and variety of climbing experiences to be had on offer in the UK’s most popular holiday destination – the West Country. Many of these cliffs have never been illustrated so clearly before and this book has some of the best crag photographs ever taken.

The book covers around 900 of the West Country’s most popular and highest calibre climbs, which span the full spectrum of climbing styles and grades; from committing multi-pitch sea cliff routes, to easy-going inland sport climbs. The rock ranges from the moorland and sea cliff granites of Dartmoor and West Penwith, through the geological weirdness of North Devon and Cornwall,…

Sun, sea, sand and…trad!

Aphrodite’s island of love is better known for the infamous resort of Ayia Napa, strange squeaky cheese and dodgy brandy, and much less as a climbing destination. But for the last 30 years the climbing scene has grown, quietly at first but more recently with increasing pace. In the west there are compact sandstone and limestone sports crags, but in the east there is trad.

The golden-grey limestone crags around the coast between Larnaca, Ayia Napa and Protaras jut out into the sea dramatically and have the blue of the Mediterranean Sea as a backdrop. Here you will find over 230 trad routes of most grades, but especially those in the low to mid range, and with British grades at that! The climbing here will grow on you, especially as the crags are not crowded but are easily accessible. Add to that the convenience of nearby Larnaca…

Since the guidebook was published in June 2008 Loften has seen an unprecedented number of visitors coming to enjoy the superb climbing found there. As a result many new routes have been done and we have received loads of feedback on the existing routes.

This update covers these new developments in the normal Rockfax style. It has 24 pages and is available in normal and booklet style.

We are very grateful for the support of Thorbjorn Enevold and the NNKS for their help in putting this booklet together

A significant addition to the Rockfax stable; North Wales Classics is a pocket-sized guide packs in hundreds of superb routes throughout the mountains of Snowdonia.

From Tremadog to Tryfan, and everywhere in between, the book covers mid-grade routes on the best crags and features top-notch photo-topos and inspirational action shots taking you where you want to go.

Also includes Welsh Winter; a full chapter covering the best winter routes in Wales. Llanberis Pass, Trinity Face, Cwm Idwal and the Black Ladders with full photo-topos and glorious color.

The handy pocket format means you can carry the book easily up the routes, yet the full page photo-diagrams beautifully showcase the cliffs in perfect detail.

The guide does full-colour justice to several cliffs never before documented with topos, such as Little Tryfan and the Upper Tier of Tremadog.

North Wales Classics is the indispensable companion to your Welsh mountain adventures.

Format – The book is similar in…

This single page MicroGUIDE covers the route Scenic Cruise – the most popular route in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison in Colorado. The route is around 650m long and given a 5.10+ and a big wall grade of V. That equates to around E3 in British Trad although the length means that fatigue and dehydration are important factors to consider, so assume that you need to be competent at E4.

France: Haute Provence presents many of the finest sport climbing destinations in the world together in one clear and colourful book. Covering all the best areas from the magnificent walls of Céüse in the north to the impeccable climbing playground of Buoux to the south, this book has a lifetime’s worth of climbing waiting on its pages.

Selected to give something for everyone, even a quick glance at the contents of this book proves that there’s a huge amount of brilliant climbing to go for whatever one’s ability. Whether you’re seeking the ultimate physical climbing challenge, or happy to soak in the scenery while enjoying pitch after pitch of flawless rock, expertly bolted all the way to a natural summit, it’s all waiting for you.

For climbers in northern Europe looking for a week of winter sun, this is a destination that doesn’t necessarily require flying, all the areas covered in…

This short single page document contains corrections for the El Chorro Rockfax, published in December 2008. It will be updated from time to time so check that you have the latest version before you go on a trip.

Give your Feedback - If you find something you disagree with in the guide then please use the Rockfax Route Database to inform us about it. You can also vote on the grade and star rating using this database. If there is something not relating to a particular route which you wish to tell us about then please use the feedback forms here.

This short single page document contains corrections for the Pembroke Rockfax, published in August 2009. It will be updated from time to time so check that you have the latest version before you go on a trip.

Give your Feedback - If you find something you disagree with in the guide then please use the Rockfax Route Database to inform us about it. You can also vote on the grade and star rating using this database. If there is something not relating to a particular route which you wish to tell us about then please use the feedback forms here.

The famous Pembroke Rockfax has returned with this glorious full-colour version packed with classic routes and all the wonderful features that you have come to expect from Rockfax. It is now twice the size of the old 1995 book and has some of the biggest and clearest photo-topos that have ever been published in a UK guidebook. You can see a preview of the guide in the Mother Carey’s chapter which is available for free download.

The book covers the beautiful slab climbing around St. David’s and all the best crags of Range East and the Lydstep areas, as far as Mother Carey’s Kitchen. The range and variety of routes is enough to keep any climber happy; from those leading moderate grades keen to have a look for the first time, all the way to those who have developed lifelong obsessions for the place!

Format – The…

The book is a new edition of the award-winning Western Grit guidebook and is a complete re-working of the popular 2003 publication with a completely new set of crag photos, lots of tweaks and improvements to grades and descriptions, and all presented in the new lavish colour format of the recent Lofoten and El Chorro guides.

The crags covered are similar to the last edition with a few new buttresses and the less cramped coverage contributing an extra 100 pages to the book. The complete list is below but it ranges from the popular Staffordshire gritstone edges of the Roaches, Hen Cloud and Ramshaw up onto the remote Kinder and Bleaklow moorland crags. Also contained are the superb Chew Valley edges, the best of the Lancashire crags and the fine sandstone buttresses on Merseyside of Helsby, Pex Hill and Frodsham.

Format…

This single page MicroGUIDE covers the right-most coire of Beinn Bhan.

UKC article Meet the Godfather

Winter Climbing+ is the third in the critically acclaimed series of instructional books from Rockfax. Written by two of the UK’s most respected winter climbers, Winter Climbing+ takes a positive approach to the climbing discipline that has traditionally had its delights obscured by its dangers.

Filled with inspirational full colour photographs throughout, and a clear, concise text that quickly unravels the mysteries of winter climbing, Winter Climbing+ wastes no time in revealing shortcuts to the skills that make a sound winter climber. The book assumes the reader has no prior-knowldge of winter climbing and starts with the basic skills and equipment that are needed to safely head into the hills. The book progresses gradually to the more subtle movement skills and tactical elements that allow for rapid progress into higher levels of difficulty.

Describing the full range of activities covered by the title, Winter Climbing+ takes a detailed look at both…

The huge limestone gorge of El Chorro, located in the hills 50km inland from Andalucia’s coastal city of Malaga, is one of Spain’s foremost sport climbing destinations. El Chorro’s huge quantity of brilliant climbs, combined with a pleasant winter climate, easy access and wide range of accommodation has kept it high on the list of the winter-sun venues in Europe for the last two decades.

The development of the cliffs in and around El Chorro village has continued at an impressive rate since the publication of the last Rockfax guide to the area in 2001. This coupled with the expansion of the outlying areas, and the development of new cliffs, has kept the area well furnished with new routes throughout the grade range and offers both the first-timer and the seasoned El Chorro visitor something new to go at.

The latest Rockfax guidebook…

This MiniGUIDE covers one of the most popular routes in northern Norway; the remarkable South Pillar of Stetind. All the information is included and well-illustrated with photo-topos and maps.

Version 1.1 (June 2008) - Includes a slight amendment to the description to take account of some bolts which have appeared on the pillar. It also has updated approach information taking account of new roads.

Awarded: Winner of 2008 Mountain Exposition Award at the Banff Mountain Book Festival
Awarded: Winner of 2009 Guidebook of the Year Award at the Outdoor Writers’ Guild

“The word that comes to mind when summing up this book is perfect. We can’t imagine how another guidebook formula could make a complex climbing area easier to navigate or more enticing to visit.”

John Harlin summing up the Banff Mountain Book Festival Judges’ feelings about Lofoten Rock – November 2008 (full review below)

The Lofoten Islands are located off the west coast of Norway north of the Arctic Circle - FREE PDF Map of the climbing areas. The area is covered with inspirational mountains of perfect grey granite in some dramatic scenery. As with many areas the developed climbing seems to have barely scratched the surface of available climbable rock and yet the established routes are already regarded as some…

The wide rolling hills, outcrops and quarries of Sandstone and Gritstone that pepper northern England have long been popular with the locals, though visitors are less common, except on the few better known cliffs. Although lacking the extensive edges of the Peak District, there are many fine crags and hidden classics here waiting for the diligent explorer. This guidebook will help climbers get the most from this superb and varied area.

The book is a selected route and crag guide although it still manages to pack over 2350 routes between its covers, spread across 44 crags. The main focus is on routes of all grades from Moderate to E9, but the best bouldering is also described.

Format – The book is presented using the familiar Rockfax features of beautiful photo-topos, accurate descriptions, detailed crag maps, inspiring action shots, route symbols, crag tables and graded lists.

Links take you to the…

Following on the heels of the critically acclaimed Sport_Climbing+, Trad Climbing+ is the first climbing text book focusing on modern traditional climbing from a British perspective.

“The best how to book on trad climbing to date. I only wish it was around when I started climbing.”
Dave Macleod’s comments on the pre-publication version of the book.

The aim of Trad Climbing+ is to offer a balance of safety-focussed ropework and protection skills with equally useful tactical and psychological ideas that drive the individual to succeed. Trad Climbing+ is the first book of its kind ever to include in-depth coverage of coaching-derived ideas that will allow the reader to reach new levels of confidence and ability without embarking on lengthy training programmes.

Trad Climbing+ contrasts with a number of recent publications in that it is aimed at active climbers rather than solely at professional instructors. The 280+ pages of content appeals to both…

The first two publications in the new Rockfax series of Pokketz guidebooks; Peak NE and Peak SE cover the eastern gritstone edges and the limestone of the Stoney and Matlock areas.

Peak SE Pokketz is the first Rockfax guide to the Peak area to include a mix of grit and limestone. The grit edges from Froggatt and Curbar to Gardoms and Birchen are given ample coverage, then we dash over to Stoney and Horseshoe for a bit of limestone, and Ravensdale adds another aspect to the low grade limestone package. The final section covers the fine crags around Matlock – for a full list see below.

The book focuses on routes from Moderate to HVS and manages to pack more than 500 carefully chosen gems between its covers, but also includes 20 classic E1s and E2s to give something for everyone to aspire to.

This book provides a…

The first two publications in the new Rockfax series of Pokketz guidebooks; between them, Peak NE and Peak SE cover the eastern gritstone edges and the limestone of the Stoney and Matlock areas.

Peak NE Pokketz has the best of the north eastern grit crags in the Peak area including Rivelin and Bamford, the majestic Stanage, the Burbage Valley, and Millstone and the other quarries – for a full list see below.

The book focuses on routes from Moderate to HVS and manages to pack more than 500 carefully chosen gems between its covers, but also includes 20 classic E1s and E2s to give something for everyone to aspire to.

This book provides a compact and low cost (RRP £9.95) introduction to the brilliant climbing found in the NE Peak Area. It is presented in the same clear and easy-to-follow style that make Rockfax publications the current leaders in…

Winner of the 2007 Mountain Exposition Award at the Banff Mountain Book Festival
In the last fifteen years the branch of sea cliff rock climbing referred to as Deep Water Soloing has grown in popularity and spread its watery wings around the Globe. Deep Water is the first guidebook dedicated to documenting the major areas that have seen significant amounts of Deep Water Soloing interest and development over this period. The main author, Mike Robertson, was one of the first climbers to ditch the rope and security of standard protection and rely upon the safety-net of the sea. Mike has travelled far and wide, developing new routes and climbing old sea cliff lines in the Deep Water Solo style, and has published many articles and photographs in climbing magazines worldwide.

Deep Water Soloing is a sociable activity that has been popularised by several summer festivals and, during the warmer ‘in’ seasons,…

Nissedal is located in the central southern Norway in a region called Telemark. It is home to a number of striking granite domes dotted around Norway’s sixth largest lake, Nisservatn. These domes offer some great climbing for those seeking long routes on perfect granite similar to that glaciated granite domes found at Toulomne Meadows near Yosemite.

This MiniGuide scratches the surface of the climbing in the region and only describes samples from the two most popular venues – Hægefjell and Baremlandsfjellet. The general climbing scene here is good and the camp ground below Hægefjell is usually busy with a great atmosphere. Queuing can be a problem on some of the most popular routes, especially on Via Lara…

The 2006 edition of the Mallorca Rockfax covered sport climbing across the island and was the first Rockfax book dedicated to Mallorca after three editions of the triple book. It was produced in the full-colour photo-topo format and proved very popular for the 4 years it was available.

Current Print Edition - A new edition published in March 2011.

The following minor corrections are for the 2006 book.

“Because this book is as close to perfect a guidebook as we are likely to get.”
Ed Douglas writing about Peak Gritstone East, Climber Magazine – Feb 2002 - Full review

Ed Douglas’s praise for the award-winning Peak Gritstone East was well-merited at the time but we now think that he may have been wrong. The latest edition of the Rockfax guidebook to cover the eastern gritstone edges of the Peak District is, in our opinion, even better than its predecessor. It contains all the style and elegance that made Peak Gritstone East such a popular guidebook, but we have refined the look, added more usability and, most importantly, added over 100 more pages packed with nearly 900 more routes. That’s 2950 of the best routes in the Peak!

Format - The 19 different crags are beautifully illustrated using full-colour photo-topos accompanied by inspiring descriptions, over 50 action shots…

The first dedicated bouldering guidebook to the Lake District, spanning a range of areas largely in the National Park and all north and west of the M6 junction 36. The guide is intended to be useful to the visiting climber looking for a day or evening’s light bouldering just as much as the hard-core local with decent coverage for the V1 and V9 boulderer alike.

The most striking aspect of Lakes bouldering is the sheer variety of rock types and environments available in the area, from the seaside sandstone of St. Bees to the high volcanic boulders of the Central Lakeland fells and from the grit-like Carrock gabbro to clean Eskdale granite. This variety means that conditions are likely to be decent somewhere in the region on most days of the year, though spring and summer are likely to…

Produced in 2006 and not updated since. Some of the information is likely to be out of date.

If you are into limestone tufa climbing, and are searching for a good cheap holiday venue, then look no further than Montgrony in Catalunya, north-eastern Spain. Suspended high above the small village of Gombren, in the foothills of the Spanish Pyrenees, Montgrony offers some of the best single pitch tufa-sport-climbs anywhere, plus an attractive Upper Tier with some easier routes. Montgrony itself is a small sanctuary for religious retreat and the chapel and associated accommodation are built into the cliffs around which the main climbing crags are located.
For teams looking for quality grades 6s there is enough here for a short week and it would be ideal to visit as part of a trip to other crags in Catalunya such as Monserrat or the superb crags of the Costa Daurada. For teams…

The Rjukan Area in Norway has become well known across Europe in recent years for its magnificent waterfalls which give a high concentration of ice climbs of all difficulties. The waterfalls vary from short half-pitch exercises to long (800m) full day outings and most are easily reached by short approach walks. The main valley is sheltered from the sun most of the winter, and offers stable cold climate in the winter months with many options for accommodation.

Format – This book is in the familiar Rockfax format of full-colour photo topos, high quality route descriptions, with symbols, maps and all the other features that you have come to expect. The authors are Jon Haukåssveen and Tom Atle Bordevik, both live locally and are experienced ice climbers, Jon in particular has put up many first ascent in the Rjukan area. Because of the environment it is used in, the Rjukan guide…

The best of the small but well-developed crags near Barcelona in Spain. Seven crags with some great routes and plenty for those operating in the Green and Orange spot zones.

Produced in 2005 and not updated since hence some of the information is likely to be out of date.

This fine area of quality limestone crags and quarries is often overlooked by those travelling to Wales to climb, however the majestic cliffs lining the Eglwyseg Valley, situated to the north of Llangollen, are as good as most other inland limestone crags in Britain. Added to this are some delightful quarries and smaller edges dotted around all set in a lovely landscape and often with a friendlier climate than the mountain crags further west.
The main cliffs vary from the small solid walls of the Dinbren and Pinfold cliffs, through the popular crags of the World’s End area and onto to the imposing major venue of Craig Arthur. The majority of the climbing is trad with plenty on offer in the friendlier ‘green spot’ grades. In recent years there has been a substantial amount of bolting and re-gearing of existing routes which has left a wealth of high quality sport…

The 2005 edition of the Dorset Rockfax was another popular and successful book to this great area. The book contained a similar set of venues to the 2000 Rockfax, although the Devon section (first included in 1994) made a welcome return and, in addition, several of the popular bouldering areas made their first appearance in a Rockfax.

Next Print Edition - A new edition is planned for 2012.

Links take you to the relevant section of the Rockfax Route Database.

Portland West Coast
Blacknor North, Blacknor Central, Blacknor South, Blacknor Far South, Battleship Edge, Battleship Back Cliff, Wallsend North, Wallsend Central, Wallsend South, Coastguard North, Coastguard South, White Hole.

Portland East Coast
Lighthouse Area, Cave Hole, Beeston Cliff, Cheyne Wears Area, The Cuttings

Lulworth
Durdle Door, Dungy Head, Stair Hole, Amphitheatre Roofs

Swanage
View publication]]> 2013-01-23 16:24:44 http://www.rockfax.com/climbing-guides/old-books/dorset-2005/ 0.00 http://www.rockfax.com/climbing-guides/old-books/costa-blanca-2005/

A few copies of this book are still available from Wolverine Publishing in the USA.

This was the first Rockfax guidebook dedicated exclusively to the Costa Blanca and was the most comprehensive book ever published to sport and trad climbing on Spain’s ‘white coast’ – weighing in at 368 pages. It covered a host of superb cliffs between Leyva in the far south to Gandia in the north.

The book sold out in February 2012.

Next Print Edition - A new edition of this book will be published in February 2013.

Within the pages of the book are 16 Easter Eggs, no, not real chocolate Easter eggs, but hidden modifications and additions to some of the photographs. They are very minor, very subtle and incredibly difficult to find.

Links take you to the relevant section of the Rockfax Route Database. Italic text indicates…

Northern Limestone was the most comprehensive guide ever published to limestone in England – it weighed in at 384 pages and covered every major limestone crag between Dove Dale in the south, and Chapel Head Scar in the north, with over 2500 routes described in detail. It sold for 6 years and sold out in February 2010.

Next Print Edition - The next edition is going to be too big to fit into one book so we will be splitting it back up again. Peak Limestone is due for publication in May 2012 and is being written by Chris Craggs and Alan James. We are hoping to get Yorkshire Limestone out in 2013.

Links take you to the correct section of the Rockfax Route Database.

Peak Limestone - Stoney Middleton, Horseshoe Quarry, Harpur Hill, Staden Quarry, Chee Dale Upper, Chee Dale Lower, View publication]]> 2013-01-15 12:19:44 http://www.rockfax.com/climbing-guides/old-books/northern-limestone-2004/ 19.95 http://www.rockfax.com/climbing-guides/old-books/western-grit-2003/

Winner of the Outdoor Writers Guild Guidebook of the Year Award 2004 - More…

“A virtually flawless climbing guide – an admirable and practical book – extraordinary clarity” – OWG Judges, November 2004

The crags covered in this first edition of Western Grit ranged from the popular Staffordshire gritstone edges of the Roaches, Hen Cloud and Ramshaw up onto the remote Kinder and Bleaklow moorland crags. Also contained are the superb Chew Valley edges, selected Lancashire quarries and small natural edges and the fine sandstone buttresses on Merseyside of Helsby, Pex Hill and Frodsham (not strictly gritstone we know but a logical inclusion being short of information at the time).

The book sold well, eventually selling out in 2009.

Kalymnos is the fourth largest island in the Dodecanese chain of Greek islands, which include Kos and Rhodes, and is situated close to the Turkish mainland. It is only a small island but it packs a lot in with amazing range of routes on its limestone cliffs and its size makes it ideal for getting around without a hire car. Historically it is known for its sponge diving and honey but both of these have fallen on lean times in recent years and the main industry here now is tourism. Climbing started on the island in 1997 and has taken off in the past couple of years with new crags and routes being developed at a feverish pace. The best of the climbing at the moment is concentrated around the small tourist town of Massouri, a 20 minute taxi ride from the island capital and ferry port of Pothia….

This FREE MiniGUIDE covers two new winter crags in the Lakes. Both have been developed in the last two months during the cold spells. Although not the largest crags around, they are very quick to come into condition compared with other Lakes crags and offer good climbing on strong lines.

Please note, this version of the MiniGuide was put together in 2002 and the climbing information and crag access information has moved on quite a bit since then. It may be some time before anyone from Rockfax is able to update the MiniGuide so please treat the current information with some caution – expect new routes and be particularly careful when trying to access the crags.

Tenerife is the largest of the Canary Islands. Its reputation for a 12-month summer and buzzing nightlife have made it a firm favourite holiday destination. Combine this with the dramatic mountainous landscape and you have an obvious place to come to find some winter-sun rock climbing. The rock on the island is a volcanic ignibrite and was formed from the ash ejected from the 16km wide crater of Mount Teide, the now-dormant 3718m high volcano situated in the centre of the island. This peak…

The book covered all the major crags in the Sierra de Prades, and adjacent areas, to the north of Reus, and the west of Barcelona, in Catalunya. This area has many fine crags including the impressive Siurana, the extensive buttresses at La Mussara, the vast walls of Montsant and many more. The book sold out in July 2010.

Next Edition – At present we have no plans to produce a new edition of this book.

Links to you to the relvant section in the Rockfax Route Database.

La Mussara, Mont-ral, Arboli, Siurana – Valley, Siurana Village, Montsant, Vilanova – Camping, Vilanova – Out of Town, La Riba, Cogullons, Margalef

Please note that this MiniGuide dates from 2002 and hasn’t been updated much; the information is quite out of date now. The crags covered should still be reasonably accurate but there are local alternatives that are worth looking at to find out about the new developments. We have no plans to produce any new MiniGuides or printed guides to Sardinia.

For most visitors to Sardinia the place they aim for is Cala Gonone, however this is only a small area on this huge and delightful island. It comes as no surprise to discover that there are plenty more excellent crags inland offering enough rock and routes for years of climbing holidays. Two of the major inland areas are explored in this MiniGUIDE but these really only scratch the surface of what there is on this island.

Isili is a village roughly in the centre of the island set in rolling hills…

The most famous mountaineering expedition in Britain is the Skye Ridge. With over 3000m of ascent spread along 10km of spectacular mountain scenery, this fabulous trip is high on the tick list of climbers and adventurous walkers alike. Twelve Munros are packed into its length with the Inaccessible Pinnacle being the toughest of all the Scottish Munros. For those into a more demanding type of activity running the ridge offers an awesome challenge to test both running fitness and climbing skills.

This MiniGuide contains information put together by the former record holder for running the ridge and is the result of his years of experience on the ridge. The topos provide key route tips for every section and the general logistics advice needed to plan your attempt. This is a much-enhanced version of the topos which originally appeared in Climber Magazine in May 1995 and which have been widely regarded…

Please note that this MiniGuide dates from 2002 and hasn’t been updated much; the information is quite out of date now. The crags covered should still be reasonably accurate but there are local alternatives that are worth looking at to find out about the new developments. We have no plans to produce any new MiniGuides or printed guides to Sardinia.

If you are into limestone tufa climbing, and are searching for a good cheap holiday venue, then look no further than Montgrony in Catalunya, north-eastern Spain. Suspended high above the small village of Gombren, in the foothills of the Spanish Pyrenees, Montgrony offers some of the best single pitch tufa-sport-climbs anywhere, plus an attractive Upper Tier with some easier routes. Montgrony itself is a small sanctuary for religious retreat and the chapel and associated accommodation are built into the cliffs around which the main climbing crags are located.
For teams looking…

“Because this book is as close to perfect a guidebook as we are likely to get.”
Ed Douglas writing about Peak Gritstone East, Climber Magazine – Feb 2002 - Full review

This majestic full-colour celebration of the best climbing on the eastern edges of the Peak District covered all the major buttresses from Wharncliffe to Cratcliffe including Stanage, Burbage, Millstone, Froggatt and Birchens plus many more.

When published in 2001 it set a standard which all other UK guidebooks have had to try and live up to by establishing bright, full-colour, highly-detailed photo-topos and maps as the standard method for displaying climbing information.

Islands In The Sky is the guidebook to climbing on the world class limestone of Mount Charleston, Clark Mountain, the Virgin River Gorge, Mount Potosi and a further 43 limestone cliffs around Las Vegas and the rest of Nevada. Nearly 700 routes from 5.4 to 5.14 are described. The book contains a smorgasboard of climbing images, over 130 action photographs. It is the most definitive and comprehensive guidebook to the area, and was written by local experts and new route activists Dan McQuade and Randy Leavitt, and ROCKFAX USA’s Mick Ryan.

May still be available in the USA only from some outdoor retailers.

The 2001 edition was the last of the popular combined 3-area version of this guidebook.

For many the best bouldering in Britain is found in the county of Yorkshire. This book gives comprehensive coverage of all the many fine problems found at crags like Almscliff, Brimham, Caley, Bridestones and many more.

Format – Each major area is given full coverage including descriptions and diagrams for all significant problems, and many great eliminates. Many minor areas are described with simple approach details for keen boulders to explore for themselves.
The book was put together by Alan Cameron-Duff and although the style differs from recent ROCKFAX publications, the coverage remains clear and concise.

Almscliff, Bridestones, Brimham, Caley, Crookrise, Crookstones, Earl Crag, Gorple, Hetchell, Ilkley, Shipley Glen, Simon’s Seat, Slipstones, West Vale, Wetherby, Widdop, Woodhouse Scar.

This book covered the whole of Portland and also included the best of the trad routes at Swanage. It was only published in 2000 but it sold out in only 3 years. Once again it was authored by Pete Oxley who couldn’t believe that a second edition could actually involve more work than a first edition. In this case it did, mainly because we added the trad routes at Swanage.

A book researched, photographed, written, printed and published within the year 1998. The first drawings were done in January and the book came out in November – a testimony to the hard work of Mark Glaister and Emma Medara with their first ever guidebook. The area has never quite had the easy-travel attraction of the Costa Blanca but this book went a long way to putting it onto the radar of travelling climbers across Europe.

This interim book of the Costa Blanca, Mallorca, El Chorro was more of a reprint of the first edition than a new edition although it did contain many amendments and corrections, however there were relatively few new crags.

This single book covered all the major bouldering areas in the Peak District and was loosely based on the previous two Peak bouldering guidebooks written by Allen Williams and Jason Myres and published by On The Edge. The book included all the areas in these two books and many more. It existed in two editions, the first published in 1998 and then a reprint in 2000, finally selling out in December 2004.

Format – The book had black and white boulder maps and a few topos. It was the first Rockfax to use a text-based style-sheet system for the route names, descriptions and grades. We are still using this system today in all our books and is also fully integrated with the online databases making it incredibly easy to change guide formats and upload guidebook information to the databases.

New Edition - A new edition is due in the summer…

A guide to the limestone of Rifle Mountain Park in Colorado. Over 200 of the best hard sport routes to be found anywhere. The information and topos have been done by Dave Pegg and this book is the best source of information on the climbs at Rifle.

Crags Included - Ruckman Cave, Meat Wall, Sapper Wall, Project Wall, Anti-Phil, Winchester Cave, The Bauhaus, Crystal Cave, Skull Cave, The Ica Caves, The Wasteland, Nappy Dugout, The Arsenal, Sno-cone Wall, The Wicked Cave, The Lower Canyon.

Format – The book contains black and white topos of all the routes with detailed descriptions, route symbols and location maps.

This 1997 edition of the North Wales Limestone Rockfax covered the fine sport and trad climbing found on ther Ormes of Llandudno. It was the first Rockfax guidebook to cover all the routes and was the ‘definitive guide’ for the area until it sold out in 2009. The book was produced in black and white with a mixture of photo-topos and drawn topos.

New Edition - After much deliberation we have decided not to go ahead with a new edition of North Wales Limestone. The book was originally due to be published in the summer of 2011 and was to cover the Ormes of Llandudno and the sport crags on the A55 corridor. In November last year an alternative guidebook was announced which was going to cover roughly the same area. North Wales Limestone is never a very popular area so it was decided that Rockfax would step aside and not…

The first of the Rockfax guides to Spain although it did follow two topo-card guidebooks – to El Chorro, in 1993, and Mallorca, in 1995. This has become the best-selling Rockfax series destined for three editions and a total of over 14,000 copies sold. The information is now widely regarded as the best information available in the areas covered and the three areas have enjoyed continued popularity with travelling climbers simply because the information is, easy to get hold of, clear, concise, up-to-date and accurate.

Two books to Maine were published by Rockfax in 1996 – Rumney and Cathedral and Whitehorse. Both proved to be very popular and sold out in under 2 years. Since then Rockfax has passed the coverage of these areas over to locally based climbers.

Two books to Maine were published by Rockfax in 1996 – Rumney and Cathedral and Whitehorse. Both proved to be very popular and sold out in under 2 years. Since then Rockfax has passed the coverage of these areas over to locally-based climbers.

Although the sixth guidebook ROCKFAX produced this was in many ways the one which ‘broke the traditional mould’ with regard to guidebooks in Britain. Up to 1995 ROCKFAX publications had mainly covered sport climbing areas like Yorkshire, Peak and North Wales Limestone, and Portland. This book was the first to stray into an exclusively trad climbing area and was published to resounding cries of doom and destruction from the traditional guidebook producing establishment. The book sold out in the summer of 2005 after 10 years on the shelves and has now been replaced by a full-colour new edition of the Pembroke Rockfax by Mike Robertson and Alan James.

The third (and final) topo-card guide was the first of our publications to the sport climbing on the island of Mallorca.

This was the first Rockfax guidebook to Dorset and it focussed mainly on the sport routes at both Portland and Swanage. It was written by Pete Oxley who fulfilled his one-man quest to climb, bolt and write about most of the routes on Portland – a tremendous acheivement! A new edition was published in 2000, also written by Pete Oxley, which sold out in only three years.

This varied guidebook covered the accessible sport climbing (and a touch of trad) on a selection of different crags across the Lake District ranging from the slate quarries of Hodge Close and Parrock to the sandstone sea cliff of St. Bees Head.

It is still available in many outdoor retailers.

New Edition

The second topo-card guide which covered the gorge and surrounding cliffs at El Chorro in Spain. It had simple topos and basic information.

A small topo-card guide that covered the sport climbing at Malham, Kilnsey, Gordale, Blue Scar, Yew Cogar, Loup Scar and Hollywood Bowl. It was the first of three low-cost topo-card publications that had simple topos and basic information.

This was the third of the Rockfax books to be published and the first with major involvement from Alan James who authored it. The book was not actually published by Rockfax but by another company connected at the time to On The Edge Magazine. As a publication the one fact that amazes us now is that it was written on a computer with a hard disk of 80MB – about the size of 4 full colour photos in the current guides!

This was the second ever Rockfax and one that did a lot to shape the way Rockfax guidebooks developed over the next few years. The book was largely put together by Mick Ryan and Steve Mayers who put in a tremendous amount of work to document the superb climbing found on the North Wales Ormes, much of it had never been properly recorded before. The second edition, published in 1997, relied a lot on the quality of the research done for this book. The symbols appeared for the first time and there were some cartoons from Alan James.

The book was completely revised and added to with the 1997 edition of North Wales Limestone.

The first ever Rockfax guidebook and one that started the change in the shape of British guidebooks. Inspired by Mick Ryan’s vision of a better way of presenting rock climbing information, Ben Walker and Mick put together a simple and clear photo-topo-based system to described the routes, accomplishing the master stroke which so few guidebook writers since have managed to follow, that of putting the diagram and routes on the same page (a maxim followed by Rockfax in every book since). The book concentrated on the harder sport routes and sold slowly over the years.