Matt Lemke wrote:Fred,
I do have a copy of Ron's book. Since my book will be about the Beartooth's I have read every word of his Beartooth section.
Regarding GNP I noticed he has a little more scramble route descriptions for that area...probably because the rock isn't suited for rock climbing. He has 6 peaks with brief descriptions for the Cabinet Mountains towards the end of the book and all of those are scrambles/walks. An example of one of his scramble route descriptions:
Ibex Peak 7,676' II, Class 3
(Peak introduction blah blah) The first approach is to hike trail 978. After hiking about two miles up the trail, the Northwest face comes into view. Climb the face that funnels you to the summit via gullies and ribs.
Now I would be just fine with that short of a route description...reminds me of Beckey's scramble route descriptions! but others I don't think will like it.
About half the book are climbing routes 5.8 or higher with a considerable amount of 5.10's and aid routes.
He also rates his snow climbs a little odd I think but maybe I'm just used to steepness ratings in degrees. He uses an Alpine ice rating system whereas you need glaciers for that to even be correct. There are very few glaciers remaining in Montana and you wouldn't step foot on any of them after mid-summer anyways!
Lastly, of the routes I climbed in his book so far, his ratings in the moderate climbs (5.4-5.8 ) tend to be easier than what he rates them as. I'm certain the harder ones are more correct though.
Fred, if you are looking for moderate alpine climbs throughout Montana this book will suit you well (as long as you are ok with 3-4 sentence descriptions) If you are wanting it JUST for GNP and the Cabinets I would pass.
Hope this helps,
Matt
It's the same for my Wind River Range guide book. It's a lot to cover so he gives a brief synopsis. I found it nearly useless for the Cirque. Rock climbers are used to detailed route descriptions, but that would create a 3,000 page book for the Winds. You really need specialized books like Matt is working on in order to get details. Can you imagine having detailed route descripts for EVERY climb in the cirque included in the entire winds guide?
I wouldn't want to haul that back!