Welcome to this week's Gear and Beta. Where we feature and give little tips for climbing in the the Bay Area that we have found helpful.
For this week we are featuring 'Bay Area Rock' by Jim Thornburg. This guidebook is essential to getting the best climbing out of the Bay Area. Jim has done a great job helping people learn where to climb with clear info on each area and crag. We definitely would not be able to have as much fun as we have with his guide. Check out his book here to grab a copy for yourself and support all the work he has don't for the area making climbs accessible, giving directions and bolting a ton of the routes himself.
We bring the guide with us every time we go out to climb. When we first started climbing outdoors we didn't have anything to direct us and we ended up in the wrong place, and narrowly escaped a disaster(that's a story for another time). Don't be a hero out there. Take time to scout out the routes with the guidebook and Mountain Project to get a clear picture of what your outdoor expedition entails. I have been to many crags where other climbers have no idea what crag they are at or looking for, are lost on what climb they are supposed to be on, or completely off route(and causing rockfall at the more chossy crags).
The first crux you'll find at some spots in the Bay Area is just getting to the right crag. If you frequent Castle Rock State Park, Vent 5 Area or others, you might find yourself lost if you don't have guides. Too many times people have come up and asked us how to get to 'insert crag here.' Do the diligence beforehand and bring the directions with you, the experience will be better for all involved.
Knowing the routes that you want to get on and being able to identify them from the images in the book allows you to get on the warm-up climbs and moderates when you want and then get to the harder climbs once you are ready to crush. It helps you prevent injury and also not having to risk losing gear due to bailing on a climb that is way above your pay grade(we can talk about that at a later time as well).
Lastly, getting off-route in the middle of the climb can cause for you to climb into unprotected rock or just bad rock. One time we were climbing at 'The Juice Shop' and a party of four next to us were climbing and the climb they were on slightly veered left as you got higher. Well without the info from the Bay Area Rock guide, they climbed slightly right into suspect rock and actually pulled a softball sized rock out and sent it tumbling down to the belay. Luckily, no one was standing under and the climber was fine as well. Oh and did I mention the climber was climbing this barefoot too? I have no problem with any of that if you know what you are doing but being reckless is going to cause problems and injuries for yourself or worse, someone else. Also to note, that even though there are not many multipitch climbs given in the book, this is a great way to get aquianted with how to read a guidebook for when you do venture into that style of climbing where being off-route is even higher stakes.
At the end of the day, spend the money and time to protect yourself climbing in the Bay area with Jim's book. It's worth it so you can have as many great days climbing on the amazing routes all of the area.
If you have any questions reach out to us by email or on instagram @stoneriverclimbingco and see what we are up too over there. Be safe and go crush!