Rock Climbing: VA, WV & MD

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Climbing Guidebooks

Guidebooks exist for a variety of outdoor and adventure sports. Somewhat like the maps at ski resorts, these guidebooks can inform hikers, bikers and climbers of where different terrain can be found. The big difference is that the terrain at a ski resort is intended for skiing and snowboarding while climbing can be found in a variety of multi-use areas, such as Cooper’s Rock in West Virginia.

For better or for worse, guidebooks provide a lot of valuable information to outdoor users. In the case of climbing guidebooks, they usually include some amount of area information, climbing history and descriptions and maps of the established climbing areas. World-class climbing areas like the new River Gorge have guidebooks that rival the bible in width and include full-color pictures, local stories and advertisements.

Lesser known areas may see a slim guidebook or leaflet published, but often information about these areas is spread via word of mouth. Websites like Mountain Project have somewhat combined the traditional guidebook and word of mouth into a mixture of online guidebook and social media.

The value of publicity can become the subject of debate between different user groups or even amongst climbers. Some would argue that guidebooks get people where they want to go with as little impact on natural areas as possible.. However, the flip side is that the existences of guides bring more and more users to an area.


To say that this is the only argument would be an extreme understatement. There are a multitude of ecological, political and economic factors, not to mention multiple opinions on each topic. Often different types of users, types of climbers and even different generations view the use of natural areas differently.