“A Climber’s Guide to Big Bear Lake and Holcomb Valley Pinnacles” is the essential guide to climbing near Big Bear Lake in California’s San Bernardino Mountains. It features over 1000 trad and sport routes! You’ll also find a little bouldering, too. The most popular climbing area here is the famed Holcomb Valley Pinnacles, loved for its steep, well-featured, granite sport climbs. The Pinnacles are covered in full detail, but if you want to do some social distancing, there is beta here for scores of crags where you might not see a single person. Moderate sport climbs may have put Big Bear on the map, but there is something perfect here for everyone, from easy slabs, to remote pinnacles, to trad cracks of all kinds. Awesome camping abounds. Fall and even winter climbing is easy to find. The pine-covered hills, quaint mountain town, and expansive lake offer all kinds of rest-day fun. With never-before-published crags, extensive maps, and new routes for every skill level, this full-color, comprehensive guidebook promises years of climbing adventures in LA’s backyard.

Author Brandon Copp’s other job is aerospace engineer, and he has applied that same careful attention to detail in this guidebook. You’ll appreciate that when you’re looking for precise driving directions to a remote crag, or the respective grades of each of three variations to a route at your favorite Holcomb crag. What you won’t find is drab writing  — Copp’s love of the area shines through bright and clear.

2020 Wolverine Publishing