We are extremely excited to announce our third book of the year – Spain : El Chorro – has just been published. This follows on from the Kalymnos guide in May and then North Wales Slate in September.

El Chorro is one of the longest-standing Rockfax areas which we first covered way back in 1994 with a set of topocards. It then went through three editions of the triple-header Costa Blanca, Mallorca, El Chorro books until it got its own title in 2008.

Now, 24 years after we first covered the areas, comes the biggest and best El Chorro guide yet. The new book has some of the best crag photos we have ever taken. Combine this with the detailed maps and the huge amount of new route development and information and you have the essential guide to this wonderful area.

El Chorro itself has also come a long way in the last 24 years. The old access problems have now mostly been cleared up and there are now a wealth of climber-friendly accommodation options, including the Olive Branch, Finca La Campana and the Climbing Lodge. This really is a great destination especially for those looking to meet other climbers, or wanting to climb without a car or on a budget.

The book is available now for ordering with free delivery in the UK. It is also available on the Rockfax app.

This year our stand is in the far back left corner of the tent. Those present on the UKC/UKH/Rockfax stand at various times will be: Alan James, Rob Greenwood, Nick Brown, Dan Bailey, Stephen Horne, Paul Phillips, Martin McKenna and Natalie Berry.

If you have any questions that you wish to ask then visit the stand and we will either arrange a meeting or pass your question on.

Rockfax Bargains – up to 25% off most books!

We will have the full current range of Rockfax books available at bargain prices including the new North Wales Slate guide, Kalymnos and Chamonix books at big discounts. We also have Rockfax guidebooks covers for £10 and free car stickers.

Our third book of the year is a long-awaited new edition to an old favourite - El Chorro in Andalusia, Spain. This is in fact our longest standing guidebook area outside the UK, going back to the first publication in 1994, but the last edition was in 2008 and things have moved on a lot since then. There area has also been dogged by rumours about access problems which has kept some visitors away. In reality there has always been plenty of climbing on offer here although there are some strict requirements for certain areas and a few older areas are no longer available. Luckily new developments have significantly added to the climbing on offer overall.

This new Rockfax covers everything in the El Chorro area itself which contains enough climbing to keep most people happy for many trips. There are also nearby crags at Desplomilandia, Valle de Abdalajis and Túron and a few further afield including a couple of great new crags down by the coast. We have used a lot of the new map and photo techniques that we have been developing in recent books. The photo-topos are the best ever seen for the area, the maps the most detailed ever produced and all this is presented with a stunning set of action photographs to complete the inspiration. We have been very happy to work with some great local climbers including representatives from the Federación Andaluza de Montañismo (F.A.M.) and from the Asociación Andaluza de Escaladores (A.A.E.E.). They have been very supportive and helpful with information on routes and access requirements and we are happy to be supporting the work of both of these organisations with financial contributions coming from the proceeds of this book.

You can pre-order a copy now at a special offer price of £26.95 (RRP £32.95). As soon as we get stock in early December, we will send the book out directly. This is the fastest and cheapest way of getting hold of a copy.

• More about the book
• The introduction (PDF)
• A sample chapter (PDF)
• Order Spain : El Chorro Now

Paul Phillips on Arabesque on the Escalera Arabe on Frontales.

There has been a lot of mis-information about the access situation around El Chorro and the famous gorge. Much of this has been connected to the redevelopment of the Caminito, which is a tourist version of the  Camino de Rey built early in the last century. The old rotten walkway that was one of the features of El Chorro climbing back in the early days has now been replaced with a much more solid version which has become a popular tourist attraction. This has meant that the routes in the gorge are now off-limits, most are no longer accessible anyway, but there is now a total ban on routes in the narrow section of the gorge.

This hasn’t had an impact on the place as a climbing venue though since development outside the gorge has been prolific and there are now many more great climbs available on the huge walls of Frontales, in the Central Gorge area and on the surrounding crags of Desplomilandia, Turon and Valle d’Abdalajis. This book will also include a few excellent new crags down by the coast.

We are working on the book now and it will be available for pre-ordering in November with publication in early December.

Please note – We appreciate that people going out before this would love a copy but we don’t have any copies of the book available before this time and we aren’t able to release PDF versions of the book. 

One of the most exciting projects we have been involved in recently is the North Wales Slate guide. This might come as a surprise, after all, it is only a small area and one that we have covered to an extent before – hardly a Kalymnos, Chamonix or Dolomites! The difference is that this is a comprehensive guidebook that have approached with a long term view to create a sustainable information database enabling us to provide continuous updatable coverage for this area in digital and print format. It is also the first book that we have produced using some new photo techniques combined with the detailed maps that we first introduced in the Chamonix guide of 2016.

The new book contains comprehensive coverage of the slate quarries near Llanberis in North Wales. This includes the major areas of the Dinorwig quarries like Vivian, the Rainbow Slab, Twll Mawr and the vast Australia area. Also covered are the quarries on the south side of Llanberis around Gideon, the Nant Peris quarries, Fachwen and Nantlle Valley. Over 1000 trad and sport routes in total.

The information will be simultaneously released through the Rockfax app. Unlike previous guides, this won’t have its own dedicated package but instead will become part of the North Wales Climbs package. Anyone who has previously purchased North Wales Climbs, or the ‘Slate Quarries’ bundle will get the full North Wales Slate guide as a free upgrade.

• More about the book
• The introduction (PDF)
• A sample chapter (PDF)
• Order North Wales Slate Now

One of the most exciting projects we have been involved in recently is the North Wales Slate guide. This might come as a surprise, after all, it is only a small area and one that we have covered to an extent before – hardly a Kalymnos, Chamonix or Dolomites! The difference is that this is a comprehensive guidebook that have approached with a long term view to create a sustainable information database enabling us to provide continuous updatable coverage for this area in digital and print format. It is also the first book that we have produced using some new photo techniques combined with the detailed maps that we first introduced in the Chamonix guide of 2016.

The new book contains comprehensive coverage of the slate quarries near Llanberis in North Wales. This includes the major areas of the Dinorwig quarries like Vivian, the Rainbow Slab, Twll Mawr and the vast Australia area. Also covered are the quarries on the south side of Llanberis around Gideon, the Nant Peris quarries, Fachwen and Nantlle Valley. Over 1000 trad and sport routes in total.

The information will be simultaneously released through the Rockfax app. Unlike previous guides, this won’t have its own dedicated package but instead will become part of the North Wales Climbs package. Anyone who has previously purchased North Wales Climbs, or the ‘Slate Quarries’ bundle will get the full North Wales Slate guide as a free upgrade.

Pre-order now – You can pre-order a copy now at a special offer prices of £22.95 (RRP £29.95). As soon as we get stock in early September, we will send the book out directly. This is the fastest and cheapest way of getting hold of a copy.

• More about the book
• The introduction (PDF)
• A sample chapter (PDF)
• Order North Wales Slate Now

The next Rockfax guidebook is well progressed and should be available in September this year. North Wales Slate is a comprehensive guidebook to the brilliant climbing on the Slate quarries near Llanberis.

It is being written by Llanberis local Mark Reeves, main author of the very popular North Wales Climbs. A measure of how enthusiastic Mark is about the Slate quarries is that, when he submitted his first draft for North Wales Climbs back in 2013, it contained about 100 pages of slate! We had to cut it down a bit but have really enjoyed reinstating those pages now, as well as adding all the other routes and updating everything with an almost complete new set of crag photos.

The app version of this will just be an update to the North Wales Climbs package and will be a free update for everyone that has already purchased it.

More about the book

The Kalymnos app version has been updated inline with the new book published last month. This is a free updated for anyone who had bought the package before.

It is available on the Rockfax App via the Download tab on the Crags tab as a single download for £22.99 or as 17 smaller separate bundles. More information on the App here.

We are already aware of some new developments on the island and we will be updating the app to incorporate these later in the year.

The Kalymnos guide has been published and is now available for fast delivery to UK addresses, or from your local specialist outdoor retailer.

The book looks great – 456 pages of stunning quality limestone sport climbing. Bags of inspiration for a late season trip or for those looking further ahead towards the end of the year. Order your copy now.

The App version is just going through the Apple verification process and should be available in the next week or so. This will be a free upgrade for anyone who has bought the previous version. More about the app.

The Kalymnos Rockfax is now available for pre-ordering at the special offer price of £24.95 (about €28.60 – RRP £34.95/€39.95). Pre-orders will be sent out as soon as we receive stock which is expected to be in the week beginning 7 May.

Kalymnos is one of the best-known sport climbing destination on the planet and Rockfax is very excited to announce that this new book is currently at the printers and will be published in early May.

This will be the first printed Rockfax to the island although we have been producing guides to Kalymnos for the last 15 years. Initially this was in the form of downloaded PDF MiniGuides and it has also been included in the Rockfax app since 2016. The main author for most of these publications has been Chris Craggs who now brings his ten year obsession to the island to life with this great guidebook.

• Read the introduction
• Check out the sample chapter