Lake Tahoe Guidebooks

Climbers Guide To Calaveras Dome

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Latest and Greatest climbers guide to Calaveras Dome

American Alpine Journal, 1979 (free article)

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Bob describes the 3 routes he and friends put recently: Grandma Buttons, Grandpappy and Grizzly Green.

Rock Climbs of Placerville, CA - 2nd Edition (2003, Cottrell)

This excellent book describes two areas around Placerville, and is by far the best resource for both areas covered. Excellent overhead views and detailed topos leave little desired, except more pictures perhaps?

Covers two areas: Cosumnes River Gorge and Mosquito Coast.

Climbers Guide To Alternative Cragging - East Tahoe Region

Yellow Paper back book 2nd Edition, 1991 March
Areas-
Lakeview slab
The Egg
Dinosaur Rock
Iron Butte
Ball Buster Rock
Woodfords Canyon
Pleasant Valley/Grover Hot Springs
Indian Head Rock
Zebra Walls

East Shore Climbers Guide: Woodfords Chapter

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A Supertopo user kindly shared this rough but usable PDF of the Woodfords Canyon chapter of an obscure old guide by Ron Anderson. (note as of 2017 the URL https://www.supertopo.com/topos/obscurities/woodfords_guide.pdf went 404).

American Alpine Journal, 1980

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Bob writes up some recent routes he and friends established around Pyramid Peak.

American Alpine Journal, 1981 (free article)

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Bob mentions Placerville climbers have been establishing routes on Slick Rock this year.

Rock Climbing at Indian Springs

Indian Springs is a fun little crag with a lot of variety. There are traditional, sport and top rope climbs and this is a great area for beginner to intermediate climbers. The guide book contains 45 climbs ranging from 5.2 to 5.11 and shows slab locations, climb ratings, slab illustrations & pictures plus climb descriptions.

Big Chief Area Climbs (2005, Hajek)

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From Marek. A new book for Big Chief, finally answering my rantings on the current published information on Big Chief. This book has it all, photographs of almost all the rocks, excellent topographic information on approaches and wall locations. Edited by Marty Lewis (I know him from his Owens River Gorge books, though he has another on Mammoth Area climbs), this book keeps with his style, which is the more information, the better! This book lacked in only one area: it is so narrowly focused, since there are other walls quite close by.

The Climbing Guide to the Big Chief Area, Lake Tahoe
Marek Hajek, Edited by Marty Lewis
March 2005 - 1st Edition
96 pages - 5.5" x 8.5"
ISBN: 0-9676116-7-9
Maximus Press
Lake Tahoe Area Climbing Guides Vol. 1

Big Chief Area
Light Deprivation Buttress
Little Chief
Sawtooth Ridge

Climbers Guide to Tahoe Rock (1991, Carville)

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Mike Carville's 1991 Chockstone Press guide has tons of routes.

From the Back Cover:

"Superb crags in a sensational setting--that is climbing in the Lake Tahoe region. This beautiful, wide basin, surrounded by the rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains, hosts a variety of excellent crags along the lake shore and throughout the surrounding backcountry. Rock Climbing Lake Tahoe, formerly Tahoe Rock, describes more than 1,000 routes at a dozen major areas around Lake Tahoe."

Bouldering Lake Tahoe-Outlying Areas

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"Bouldering Lake Tahoe-Outlying Areas Edition features over 2,500 problems at 20 different areas.This is a comprehensive guide covering every pebble that has been wrestled on the outskirts of Tahoe.

Some of the areas included are:

Doyle, Purgatory, Pyramid Lake, The Sierra Buttes, White Rock Lake, Hwy 20, The Bathtubs, Prison Hill, Washoe Boulders, Erratica, Silver Lake, Ronin, Woodfords Canyon, Loon Lake and much more.

It has full color photos of all the boulders, topos, overview maps, breathtaking photography and everything else you need to get you to the boulders.This book is written by local climbing pioneer Dave Hatchett, so you can be assured the info will be accurate and up date."

FEATURED: North Tahoe: A Rock Climber's Guide

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The definitive guidebook to rock climbing in the North Tahoe region. This 350+ page full-color guide has it all! Photo diagrams of every crag, detailed topographical maps, route info, inspiring photos as well as hundreds of never before published routes!This guidebook covers a broad geographical area north of Lake Tahoe between Auburn, CA in the west and Reno, NV in the east. It describes over 1400 rock climbs, which span the full spectrum of climbing styles and grades, from multi-pitch traditional adventures to clip-and-go sport routes. All the classic and previously documented areas - such as Donner Pass, Big Chief, Rainbow, and Indian Springs - have been thoroughly researched and expanded to include pitch length, grade, gear required, a description of each climb, as well as detailed approach and descent options. The new and yet-to-be documented areas of Bowman Valley, The Emeralds, and Cold Stream Canyon are included for the first time in print. From the classic to the soon-to-be classic, the guide includes over 90 distinct crags in the greater Tahoe area.

Climber's Guide to Lake Tahoe and Donner Summit (1973, Beck, out of print)

The original guide to Lake Tahoe climbing documented five 5.10s between the Tahoe Basin and Donner Summit.

FEATURED: Bouldering Lake Tahoe - North/West Edition (2013, Hatchett)

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"Bouldering Lake Tahoe-North/West Edition features over 3,200 problems at 25 different areas.This is a comprehensive guide covering every pebble that has been wrestled on the north and west shores of Tahoe.

Some of the areas included are: Rainbow, Castle Peak, Donner Summit, Truckee, Big Chief, Old County, Sugar Pine, Bliss, Cascade Falls, Lost in Space and much more.

It has full color photos of all the boulders, topos, overview maps, breathtaking photography and everything else you need to get you to the boulders.This book is written by local climbing pioneer Dave Hatchett, so you can be assured the info will be accurate and up date."

FEATURED: Bouldering Lake Tahoe - South and East Shore Edition (2014, Hatchett, Lucido and Thompson)

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"Bouldering Lake Tahoe-South/East Edition features over 3,500 problems at 30 different areas. This is a comprehensive guide covering every pebble that has been wrestled on the south and east shores of Tahoe.

Some of the areas included are: Phantom Spires, Lovers Leap, Benwood Meadows, Flagpole Peak, The Beavers, Luther Pass, Burnside Lake, Kirkwood, The Pieshop, The Zephrys, Incline Village and much more.

It has full color photos of all the boulders, topos, overview maps, breathtaking photography and everything else you need to get you to the boulders. This book is written by local climbing pioneers Dave Hatchett, Jon Thompson and Frank Lucido, so you can be assured the info will be accurate and up date."

Locals Guide to Rock Climbs of North Tahoe (2011, Jackson)

John Jackson, CAMP 4 PRESS, 2011

From the publisher's website: "The only comprehensive guidebook for all climbing routes located in the North Tahoe and greater Reno and Carson City Region. Over 1,200 routes, including more than 700 previously undocumented climbs and many formerly obscure crags. Full page color photos, with route overlays, for every cliff and route. Includes a section on the extensive climbing history of the North Lake Tahoe Region, with vintage photos, as well as first ascent information for all routes. Also directs climbers to select bouldering areas (Not a bouldering guide though) throughout the region. 60+ crags, 476 pages. "

California areas covered include:
Crystal Bay Boulder
Donner Summit
Indian Springs
Rainbow
Trippy Rock
Truckee River Canyon

FEATURED: South Lake Tahoe Climbing (2004, McNamara)

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Chris McNamara and company at Supertopo have put out an excellent book on climbing around the Southern Section of Lake Tahoe. While the topos often leave some things to be desired, the books plethora of pictures picks up the slack.

Rock Climbing Lake Tahoe (1999, Carville)

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Mike Carville's 1999 Falcon Guide has tons of routes.

From the Back Cover:

"Superb crags in a sensational setting--that is climbing in the Lake Tahoe region. This beautiful, wide basin, surrounded by the rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains, hosts a variety of excellent crags along the lake shore and throughout the surrounding backcountry. Rock Climbing Lake Tahoe, formerly Tahoe Rock, describes more than 1,000 routes at a dozen major areas around Lake Tahoe."