The cover shot of Ben Tibbetts’ new guidebook is a teaser. It allows the imagination to run—winter is coming.
Ben Tibbetts’ new guidebook, Selected Alpine Climbs and Ski Mountaineering Routes, The 4000m Peaks of the Alps Volume 1: Westexemplifies excellence. The images are top-notch and the beta, while not overdone, is just enough.
Guidebooks and atlases, be they digital or print, often raise debate. That debate circles the drain with language arguing the masses, the unprepared, the non-locals, will denigrate the experience or even, damn it, slow the fast among us with their faffing.
As much as a good guidebook directs and corrects with beta, it also can serve as a history. The very best of the best of them are timeless. My dog-eared copy of Bugaboo Rock: A Climber’s Guide by Bensen and Green is priceless, despite a “good condition” copy being available for under $6 on the Interwebs.
I’m not a fool for any old guidebook. Conversely, I might be a fool for guidebooks promising a momentary escape while armchairing an adventure. I also might be a fool for seeking guidance from a guidebook to a place I won’t visit that often—it’s a long way from Bend to the Alps. However, something about Ben Tibbetts’ new guidebook, Selected Alpine Climbs and Ski Mountaineering Routes, The 4000m Peaks of the Alps Volume 1: West, drew me in.
Tibbetts is an IFMGA guide based in Chamonix. He’s also an artist, considering his formal training and deft skills with a camera and a drawing pencil. Along with his artistry, Tibbetts is a crusher with first ascents and descents, with a capstone of summiting all 82 4000m peaks in the Alps. He’s certainly qualified to write and publish such a wide-ranging tomb: the guidebook is ~310 pages with 320 photos. The photos alone slay. Tibbets clearly mustn’t get a ton of good sleep; he has an ability to rise and move in the dark, which is to our benefit. His images are luscious, vibrant, and energetic and seem to routinely catch the fleeting and intimate union of first light kissing a welcoming snow slope.
Eventually, Tibbetts will release Volume II East. The first volume of Selected Alpine Climbs and Ski Mountaineering Routes, The 4000m Peaks of the Alps, explores the western Alps.
Geographically speaking, the west side of the Alps is a vast expanse. Tibbetts organizes these 4000m peaks from south to north, beginning in the Écrins Massif and terminating in Pennine Alps West. Sandwiched in between are the Gran Paradisso and Mont Blanc Massif. (Volume: 2 of 4000m Peaks of the Alps, to be released later, will include portions of the eastern alps north to the Bernese Alps.) If you are looking for a distraction and are either a guidebook navel gazer or fixing to climb/ski some Alpen objectives, there are many options.
For each respective 4000m peak, Tibbetts includes beta on the standard ascent and, when appropriate, more classic steep routes. For ski alpinists, the diagram accompanying each described 4000m peak includes a small ski touring icon when appropriate—not all lines/4000m are ski/rideable. Adjacent to the icon are details about the line’s ski rating using the European steep ski rating system.
The information for each route trends towards just enough and is not exhaustive. The diagram also includes key info like public transport or parking for the respective trailhead, approach time to a nearby hut, summit, and descent times, and beta regarding route-specific gear. A wheel diagram illustrates via color coding the months when a route is likely to be in condition. Each route description also includes a notated photograph with information on potential rappel points, objective hazards, and line of ascent
A sample page from Selected Alpine Climbs and Ski Mountaineering Routes, The 4000m Peaks of the Alps Volume 1: West. In the upper left hand corner provide a key with useful route information. Part of Tibbetts’ magic is providing just enough beta for real unknown outcome adventures to be had. Photo: Ben Tibbetts
The written portions of each route also deserve some praise. Tibbetts strikes an excellent balance between honoring first ascensionist and bringing readers up to date regarding the dynamic nature of the Alps as climate change morphs the mountainscape. He adds sections describing the conditions, approach, route, and descent. There’s a lot of literal ground covered in this guidebook. One could have easily justified making a four-volume set for the Alp’s 4000m peaks. What’s clear is that Tibbett’s keen editing cut the unnecessary fluff, making for an efficient package (considering the topic covered) and a go-to reference for further discovery. I imagine many readers keeping this guidebook adjacent to their computer, using it to zero in on what might be an exciting and viable climbing/ski objective in the Alps and tapping into the minefield of the Internet to go deeper. For climbers/alpinists looking for route topos with pitch-to-pitch beta, this is not your guidebook unless, as mentioned, you are using it as a resource for macro-details. For those not needing the blow-by-blow, as in move around this or that chockstone and enjoy the spicy move past the piton placed back when lederhosen was technical wear, the guidebook is ideal. To Tibbetts’ credit, he leaves a ton of room for would-be climbers and skiers to find their adventure, which is often the art of a good guidebook.
Selected Alpine Climbs and Ski Mountaineering Routes, The 4000m Peaks of the Alps Volume 1: West features standard climbing lines and ski descents.
The guidebook does an excellent job drawing the reader in with key route details, and Tibbetts’ fine photography.
Let’s look into a single example that might be of interest to steep skiers/riders. Tibbetts appropriately uses European rating/grade systems. Like me, you may need to reference the ratings and grade breakdowns beginning on page 11 as if it were a Rosetta stone.
For example, page 174 details information for the South-West Face of the Grand Jorasses and a line up and down from Pointe Walker (4208m). Compared to other ski descents in the guidebook, it comes at a modest 5.1 / E3 rating using the Toponeige system. This system has five levels, with the fifth level (much like the Yosemite Decimal System for climbing), broken down into decimals, ranging from 5.1-5.6. Any rating in the 5.1 or higher range indicates a minimum of “Very steep terrain: sustained 45° for more than 300 m, or with 50° sections for longer than 100 m.”
The “E” rates the exposure. Objective hazards are not considered, it only rates the consequences for a ski/rider fall. In this case, the E3 indicates “Exposure 3 : In case of a fall, death is highly likely.” With no irony here, it is safe to say this guidebook does not cater to meadow skipping or otherwise low consequence terrain. Yet, it is common knowledge that steep skiing conditions, and thus the relative difficulty of the day’s descent line, can vary from day to day and even hour to hour.
As my eyes fail me occasionally, the small font is the only thing that’s a minimal distraction. This, I understand, is a “me problem.” With the cost of paper and bringing such a lovely piece of work to fruition, the smaller font makes sense, as anything larger would have increased the page count and bumped the price up.
I ordered the book directly from Tibbetts’ site for £36.00, which at the time of this writing equates to $46.00. Shipping was roughly another $14. Not cheap. But, this is not a cheap product. (I’ve seen atlases here in the U.S. with a cheap staple binding that sell for $30.) The book features 320 color images and has a sewn binding. Further, supporting an independent creative effort like Tibbetts’ fits with our values.
In closing: highest praise for Selected Alpine Climbs and Ski Mountaineering Routes, The 4000m Peaks of the Alps Volume 1: West.
