So Ill Guidebook

Last week while I was interneting I found out that the new So Ill Bouldering Guidebook was available. There had been rumors for a while now that a sweet new guide was going to come out and I was very psyched to find out that it wasn't some super cruel hoax. I ordered it on the spot.

I was very pleased three days later when Katie found it in our mailbox. After chasing her down and prying it from her hands I opened it up and was pretty happy with the initial look and feel of the book. It's a nice size and seemed to be very well put together and polished.

After looking through it for a couple of days I'm very impressed. This is how guidebooks should be. Beautiful color pictures and incredibly clear topos and directions. We have all seen the poorly done guidebooks and while they can be endearing in a certain way, the So Ill guide is a good testament to what should be a standard. There were maybe 4-5 areas that I didn't know about and two of those are pretty major areas that are seemingly very worthwhile. He also included topos for Elephant Rocks in neighboring Missouri. Having been there many years ago, it was nice to see what some of the problems actually were.

One thing that I appreciated a lot was the brief history write up in the front of the book. I'm a nerd when it comes to climbing history and I'm pretty sure that the "history" section is my favorite part of all guidebooks. Matt Bliss did a great job with this one.

Definitely a worthwhile purchase. After I actually go down there again I'll try to update everyone on whether or not the directions helped us not get lost. Unlikely.

If you want to purchase a copy go here.