Looks like a very nice piece of work! What kind of routes are covered - I guess I'm asking about 5th class routes (checked FHN's website but couldn't find the info)? Thanks!

Holy smokes! I just got my copy in the mail today. Very well-done book. It's bright and exciting, engaging layout, and total alpine eye candy! Nice quality, full of color pictures, and chock-full of detail: Route profiles, crux details, summit views (peaks identified).

Dynamite job!!!

PS: I have purposely hidden the book on the shelf and away from my desk so I can finish up a report for a client without the distraction from this book!

Bump.

I strongly recommend this book for anyone interested in climbing in Glacier. The Edwards guide has been the standard for years but often comes up short because of confusing descriptions and a need for helpful photos and diagrams.

I've climbed with FlatheadNative and know his passion for Glacier. Anyone who has seen his pages here on SP knows his passion and his attention to detail. I won't be getting my signed copy until I get together with FN this summer, but I have seen some of the pages, and they are outstanding.

With the start of Glacier's climbing season about a month away, now might be the time to grab this book if you are going out that way and not terribly familiar with climbing in the park.

Sorry if this looks like a shameless plug for a friend...

Thanks for all of the kind comments.

This is bad. Very bad. What happened to imagination? Discovery? And now a dozen guidebooks to come?
Maybe we should just have E-climbs so that people can climb peaks from the saftey of their couches by following the red line?
This is another example of wild country being reduced to entertainment.
As a former backcountry ranger in GNP and someone who lives next to the Park and still is in the backcountry every week, I was appalled to find out that even the permit center had created a book full of pictures and GPS data of every BC campground. Where is the mystery? But, this is the fault of unimaginative visitors.
Throw your stupid GPS's in the trash and discover something for yourself.
Our national parks' and wilderness areas' "management" strategies have done plenty already in watering down our experience of the wild. We don't need more guidebooks to ruin it further.
Thank the lord that there are still wild things like grizzlies and weather that we can't predict and that will never be wedged into predetermined guidebooks.
One word of caution for beginner climbers: reading this book will forever alter your entire mountaineering career in Glacier.
To quote an email from a good buddy, "As for drawing a line up a mountain as if it were a trail to follow, I must say that this must alter, psychologically, how one approaches a mountain and moves up walking and climbing, steepness varying, constantly analyzing the terrain and planning a way up. While this won’t change using this guide, climbers will look for features rather than learning to figure out a mountain on your own. That was the beauty of JG's book, it at least told you the aspect to climb, where to begin your bushwack, and mileages and elevations, and the rest, you had to figure out for yourself. This, figuring it out for yourself, transforming a massive mountain into a navigable and surmountable geographic feature, and doing this more regularly and more precisely, this is a highly enjoyable and valuable skill to have. The red line theory, follow the line, is definitely my biggest gripe with this guide. Not only is this more likely to get people in over their heads, regardless of caveats in the book, but it changes the way a beginning climber will look at a mountain. It ruins the chance for a beginning climber to find his or her own way to the summit (and with all these mountains there are many different routes and variations)."

Last I checked, no one forces anyone to read this guide book or any other, nor is anyone forced to use online beta such as that on SP or other climbing sites.

Anyone out there, regardless of experience level, always enjoys the option of heading out into the mountains as beta-free as they wish.

Yes, even the most self-righteous among us retain this option.

Besides, the good old days always have been, and always will be, a figment of the imagination.

HolidayWild articulates an interesting perspective. Personally I prefer to be well informed and prepared before venturing out for a climb. I want to know what to expect and what options might be available even though I expect to discover unmentioned routes along the way. A reference such as this text is a good source for my needs. I do not however, use a GPS and I am happy to take excursions beyond the "red lines" and explore where my eyes can take me through GNP.

Would one suggest, on the far end of the discussion, that we venture into the woods without previewing a map or checking weather conditions? That would certainly allow for some imagination and adventure! (I'm being fecetious here of course)

I think of the book as a good communication tool. I've had Edwards' book for several years but have never used it to plan a climb due to my relative inexperience and hesitation to expose myself to a situation that might be over my head. Having a more descript reference allows me to better choose climbs more suitable to my experience and desired challenges.

HolidayWild suggests this book may get more people in over their heads. While I think the book may certainly appeal to more "tourists" vs. mountaineers than Edward's book (because of great photography and "curb appeal of the layout), I don't see a causal relationship with such negative outcomes. I think odds are in favor of people getting into trouble from too LITTLE information, not too MUCH information.

With a reference like this I feel I could head out on a trek confidently. Without enough information to prepare myself I would then be relegated to climb with somebody else who knows the route. That's a great option and one I prefer, but it's difficult these days to organize my own schedule much less synchronize it with someone else. I think Holiday has some good points and a valid perspective but I feel the positives of the book outweigh any perceived negatives (my humble opinion). I'm anxious to read further discussion here.....

HolidayWild wrote:...reading this book will forever alter your entire mountaineering career in Glacier.
To quote an email from a good buddy, "As for drawing a line up a mountain as if it were a trail to follow, I must say that this must alter, psychologically, how one approaches a mountain and moves up walking and climbing, steepness varying, constantly analyzing the terrain and planning a way up...

This is an interesting statement and one I tend to agree with to a certain extent. HolidayWild tries to get at a reason for climbing. Does one climb to discover the mountain or oneself? For entertainment? To conquer a peak? Reach a summit? Check off a line on a list?

For me climbing is an adventure and learning experience. I do keep a record of my ascents and always look for new adventures. But I prefer to find my way. I seek out information (beta as it's called these days) but I'm always looking for the best route. New climbers following a line might get the idea that the Red Line is THE way to go and no better exists. Starting out this way could lead to a climbing career based on the concept that each mountain has only one way to the top. Somewhere down the line, if a climber is going to progress and become a true mountaineer, he/she must learn to read the mountain like a puzzle and put the pieces of the route together to form a complete way to the summit. Will the Red Line method allow for that development?

I've always admired the thinking expressed by Pat Caffrey in Climber's Guide to Montana (1986). He wrote,
"Much of the pleasure of climbing Montana's mountains is discovering your own route, feeling the excitement and spirit of a pioneer in high places..."

Caffrey's book, "...suggests ways you can attack the mountain of your choice without extensive reconnaissance, and will tell you if your level of climbing competence and skill are adequate." But, "You won't find dotted line diagrams or elaborate descriptions..."

One of my favorite routes in Caffrey's book for one of the prominent peaks on the Rocky Mountain Front west of Choteau, MT states simply, "Try the west side." That brief description provides enough information while minimizing the time that might be spent circumnavigating the summit looking for a route. And it provides the opportunity to explore and learn about the mountain and oneself.

J. Gordon Edwards in The Climbers Guide to Glacier provides much more information on routes but still leaves ample room for exploration, discovery and adventure.

Glacier is a popular place. Most of the summits attainable as a day climb now have "cow tracks" on them. Even more remote peaks like the 10,000 footers have visible climber's trails. These are visible trails used by countless numbers of "climbers" to reach the summit. For many peaks then there is already a "line" to follow. Do these trails reduce the spirit of adventure and learning? I think they do. Learning to climb by following the line might preclude ever learning how to put the pieces of an intricate route puzzle together.

As one who has climbed in Glacier since 1974 I relish those days when the mountains had no trails to the summits. Climbing then was more of an adventure. The chance to discover new things was great. That "chance" is is still great and there is still opportunity for adventure but the climber must learn that a guide book is only a guide. It is not the one and only or best way to a summit.

Thank you all for your support and/or opinions.

This guidebook was not written for those of us who are experienced at climbing in Glacier. I am amazed each week when someone who purchased this guidebook comes to me and thanks me. They are excited to be able to get off the hiking trails and begin to explore their National Park just like all of us have done.

For the beginning climber everything is an adventure, just like you and I see our next objectives as an adventure!

Most of us yearn to see what is on the other side of that ridge and this book is a tool to help them explore their park and find out what's over there.

Does a red line in a book decrease their sense of adventure? I think not! After all the red line is in the book not on the mountain. They still have to climb through the rocks and scree. They still can turn around and see incredible sights. They still can scrape their knees on krumholtz and rocks. They still have to do the work to reach the summits!

This book has motivated people to get off their couch and begin to train to climb a mountain. I for one am excited about this because it will fuel their passion and love for our National Park.

When was the last time you took a beginning climber out to explore their National Park? I have been priviledged to bring many beginning climbers on their first climb in Glacier. They all fell in love with the park and their passion was ignited and now they are hooked.

The founders of the park never intended that our park should be seen only from the roads and trails. They also did not intend it just for people who have the attitude of "just us four and no more". The park was founded to be preserved AND enjoyed by all people. George Byrd Grinnell climbed all over the park and certainly left an indelible mark on the place he cared so much about.

Before you criticize this book I would encourage you to read it.

Any resentment expressed towards your guidebook is less criticism and more just raging against the machine. Gord Edward’s climbing guidebook has not been updated in a few years, it was inevitable for new editions or new guidebooks such as yours to be produced. There might be a few more scree-beaten tourist routes noticeable… but the information you are providing is really just a drop in the bucket compared with all the info on the web! For example, there are dozens of scrambles described in guidebook quality here on Summitpost for GNP alone. How could anyone express any negative sentiment towards a new guidebook by posting on summitpost without realizing the irony?

GNP is still a wild place, but perhaps not as wild as the place that exists in our imaginations. As far as I know, all of the mountains in Glacier Park have been climbed. Adventure is left up to the individual to make new first ascents (that are new for himself only; to climb new routes; explore areas in winter, etc.) Not much for professional mountaineers to document, but who cares?

The internet is in a state of constant flux and guidebooks come and go. PEOPLE come and go. So what? The mountains will still be here long after we’re gone.

Almost without exception, all of the mountain people I have met share a passion for nature and understand the need for conservation. Nobody wants GNP or the Rockies to become a circus with cable cars and viaferratas or more highways and concrete. I think that your book is a good thing because the more people that are passionate about the mountains the better. If a new guide book can help encourage that passion for even just a few people, than that is good. Chances are that if someone stands up to decry too many tourists for a park in Montana, they will care about environmental issues elsewhere.

Beautiful and informative book... really enjoyed it. Although I tried to climb one of these mountains the other day but couldn't find the red line????? Maybe it was buried under the snow? I'll try again when it melts some or is it because I'm a blond? God bless and much success!

I'll be picking up a copy of your book when I hit St. Mary in August. Can't wait for the next two volumes. I hope you make a ton of beer money!

the best way to get around the "lines" up to summits is to bag the summits without the lines, like the ones nobody thinks about bagging.