Cascade Alpine Guide: Climbing and High Routes

by Fred Beckey

Book Overview

* Cascades climbing routes -- the guidebooks relied on for more than 25 years * Northwest climbing legend Fred Beckey has summited and explored hundreds of Cascade peaks * Hand-drawn maps and photos... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0898864232
• ISBN13: 9780898864236
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Mountaineers Books
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.0" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

This is the bible, but.....

There was a time when this was the only book for finding routes in the Cascades (to Stevens Pass) but times have changed. This is still the most comprehensive guide to climbs and has the best descriptions for the oddball, out-of-the-way, and esoteric climbs but there are much better guidebooks for the more popular climbs and routes. Fred Beckey's book has become the reference to check after you find your hike in another guidebook. It will give you detail that might not be in the other one, it will show alternative routes, and will frequently have nearby routes not in your other guidebook. But buyer beware: This is not really the book for new or novice climbers. Fred Beckey is notorious for rating climbs easier than they are. He also has grand details on some things (check out his route for Mt. Garfield) yet will have comments like "just go up the spur to obvious ledge" on a mountain covered with spurs, ledges, and loose rock. I use Beckey extensively but it is my reference for climb information, not my guidebook. This book belongs in every climber's library but it should not be the first guidebook you buy for Washington (which I would recommend as Jeff Smoots Climbing Washington's Mountains).

Cascade Alpine Guide books: Ultimate Cascades Reference series

If you aren't yet familiar with Fred Beckey's Cascade Alpine Guide series (3 volumes) but think you know the Cascades mountains-- well, think again! Until you've been through Beckey's 3 books inside and out, back and forth, at least 50 to 100 times, I doubt you could claim much overall knowledge, that is, unless you've been living in the mountains and exploring them continuously for the last 50 years or so!! His CAG series is, without any question, THE ONLY AUTHORITATIVE GUIDEBOOK series on the Cascades mountain range within Washington and British Columbia (doesn't cover the Olympics in WA state and only covers the Cascades to the Fraser River, no farther north as this area becomes other ranges in BC, the interior ranges to the NE, the Coast Range to the NW). This series does not cover Mt. Hood or anything in Oregon or California, but it does cover the Washington volcanoes completely: Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams and Mt. Rainier are all in Volume 1; Glacier Peak is in Volume 2; and, Mt. Baker is in Volume 3. A good set of topo maps at the 1:24,000 scale, along with Beckey's books, is a virtual necessity in order to gain a full perspective on this amazingly complex and super-spectacular mountain range. I recommend you either buy the real USGS ones, or print them out yourself (or just study them on a big monitor) by buying and using one of about 3 or 4 good software packages that are all readily available (see http://www.rei.com for one good source of most of what I've mentioned) on the net or through many map stores, book stores, mountain, hiking and camping equipment stores, etc., etc., throughout the USA. Author Fred Beckey is the "King of the Cascades." Every decent mountain climber in the Northwest (and many from afar, too) knows this. He has put up more first ascents and new routes than any other three or four people combined that I know of (in many other places besides the Cascades, too). But, these books, my God, are they informative-- so much so that every hardcore backpacker or hiker, every geographer, every geologist, every landform scientist, every resource manager, every Forest or Park Service employee, every person who loves mountains and glaciers and on and on, they all need and want these guides. Why? They describe not just climbing routes but all the approach routes, highways, roads, abandoned roads, trails, valleys, glaciers, bivouacs, camping and transportation facilities, climbing and exploration history of each area, all the specific geology and geography of each peak and each group of peaks, all the glaciers and ice-climbing routes, plus anything at all that is a pertinent detail in any way relating to these mountains and anything in them. One warning-- be advised, the estimated hiking/climbing times listed in these guidebooks are listed accurately for very seasoned and physically-fit mountaineers and explorers under optimum conditions only. The rest of us must allow much additional time to accomplish the same given

The "Bible" of the Washington Cascades

Whether you are a climber, a hiker, a car traveler, or just an armchair explorer, the Beckey guides are the indispensible resources for your mountain experience. The three volumes are filled with information about the natural and human history of the Washington Cascades, as well as complete route and access data for every significant summit. The photos alone are reason enough to own these books. If you are interested in really "knowing" the Washington Cascades, you MUST have them in your library. Highest possible recommendation.

An indispensabe reference book for Northwest Climbers.

I have used this Guidebook so many times in the past 12 years that I've had to purchase it three times. The definitive section on the Picket Range alone is worth the price of the book.For those who want to experience the North Cascades as they were in the 30's and 40's, reading the "Trails and Alpine Hiking Approaches" section will steer you in the right direction. This book is rife with golden kernels of information found nowhere else. Any serious climber should have all three of the Cascade Alpine Guide books.Mike Quinn

Full beta for the Northwest!

Fred Becky has been know in producing the most comprehensive mountaineering guide books for the Northwest. This particular book covers all peaks from the Columbia River (south) to Stevens Pass (north) and from Yakima (east) to Seattle (west). Within this area, routes for over three hundred peaks are described by Becky. This Becky guide also has an excellent introduction that includes Cascade Weather, Special Dangers, Geographic Aspects, and Winter Travel and Climbing to name a few. You will be given enough technical and grade information to fully understand exactly what type situation you are getting into. Please note that although easy peaks are listed, this is not a beginners "how to" guideEach peak is listed with the exact height and the first ascent history. Since most every peak have more than one way to the summit, this guide explains each alternate route. While most of the routes are classic mountaineering, there are many technical climbing routes detailed. Almost every peak is photographed and accompanied with some other type of drawing to give the reader more detailed instruction. With over 300 pages, this one of the most comprehensive guide books for this particular region.For example, on popular peaks such as Mt. Rainier, a 9 page history and geological study is given along with backpacking and climbing regulations. 15 pages of route description along with 16 b/w photographs of the Mt. Rainier gives the reader excellent beta that will necessary on summit day.After reading through the guide, the reader gets an idea how enduring Fred Becky has been over the years. About the author states, " His intimate knowledge of the topography has been gained through many years of personal experience, including the ascent of hundreds of peaks - many of them first ascents - in all parts of the range". Well worth the price tag, this book will pay for itself weekend after weekend. Hell, you may even end up quitting your job and bagging peaks! full time.