It is with great interest that I have been following the controversy surrounding the upcoming Bob Horan guidebook to the bouldering in Colorado’s frontrange that is to be released by Falcon Press. If you haven’t been following along, the book is causing a stir on multiple levels.
The initial firestorm began a few weeks back when climbers at Mt Evans overheard Horan talking about the area’s inclusion in the book. This was not something many people had heard about before, and apparently park management was also not included in any discussions about the area’s inclusion either. It can certainly be debated whether a guidebook for Mt Evans is any better or worse for the access situation there than the already high level of spray coming from Evans (this site included), but the controversy doesn’t stop there.
What cannot be debated is the need to release an accurate guide (if one must be released). Any guide including Mt Evans or RMNP would be the first to do so, and it should really be of the highest quality to set a standard for future updates.
At the recent Outdoor Retailer show Jamie Emerson had a chance to take a look at the new Falcon book. From what he says, the contents are laughably inaccurate. Check his blog B3bouldering.com for further details. It sounds like even a casual observer would be able to notice several inaccuracies.
As someone who is on their way to Colorado as he types this, a guidebook to areas like Mt Evans and RMNP would be especially useful to me. Based on what I have read about this new book though I don’t see how I would ever spend my money on it, and I will be contacting Falcon to tell them just that. I encourage others to do the same. You can email them at guides@falcon.com Tell Falcon you want to see a responsible AND accurate guide to these sensitive areas.
Until then, there are plenty of friendly locals who will share accurate information with you free of charge. I look forward to the opportunity to do just that in the coming week.
