Eldorado — A Rock Climber's Guide by Pat Ament (1980)

Second edition of Ament's influential guide to Eldorado Canyon, Boulder's trad climbing proving ground.

Much expanded from the pocket-sized first edition, this book captures Eldorado as it was at the start of the '80s: most of the classic trad lines climbed out, some of the aid climbing history still palpable, before the mind-control masterpieces of the 1980s started going up on the blank faces. Jim Erickson's 1979 ascent of Genesis (5.12) presaged the time to come in the canyon... but it was not there yet.

Ament himself was a huge part of the history of Eldo, and knows all the history and first ascent stories. Creative as he was in all his endeavors, here he made an elegant little book.

164 pages, black and white, with many action and scenic photos, and just a few overview photos with labeled route lines. Good condition with a crease on the front cover, original EMS price sticker on back ($8.95), and sale sticker on front ($1.99). Priced as it is because Eldo is my local crag, the place where I learned to climb for real, and I like having this book in my library.