Stefanie Hunt
We're excited to welcome local climber and author Blake Herrington to Washington's cadre of self-published guidebook authors! You've seen his work in Alpinist, Climbing, and Rock & Ice magazines as well as numerous websites and newspapers. And he's just completed a new guidebook, Cascades Rock: The 160 Best Multipitch & Alpine Routes in Washington and Southern BC. Join us on March 22 as he presents his new guidebook at the Seattle Program Center.
Blake grew up in the North Cascades where he first became passionate about mountains. His father was a newspaper editor and his mother an English teacher. Blake learned to climb as a teenager while working for a small bakery in North Cascades National Park. His first trips into the mountains instilled in him a life-long love for alpine choss and seldom-visited peaks. He has established over two dozen new alpine routes or first free ascents from Alaska to Colorado to Argentina.
While Blake has climbed sport and traditional pitches up to 5.13a, he considers diverse alpine routes the most inspiring kind of climbing. He has climbed extensively in the North Cascades and all over the world, including long ice routes in the Canadian Rockies, Spanish limestone up to 5.13a and first ascents in Patagonia, Alaska, British Columbia and Colorado. He lives and writes in Leavenworth, WA.
Like many other self-published rock climbing guides, it was years in the making and is the product of countless of hours of writing, editing, design, and contributions of suggestions, encouragement, photos and revisions from family, friends and climbing partners.
The book is true to its title. It's a guide to some of the best multipitch alpine rock climbing that Washington and southern British Columbia have to offer. It has something for everyone; climbs range from Class 4 scramble to 5.13 alpine walls. In the book's 272 full color pages, you'll find comprehensive descriptions and dozens of topos published here for the first time. You'll also find stunning photos and compelling stories from Colin Haley, Will Stanhope, Mikey Schaefer, Jens Holsten, John Scurlock, Steph Abegg, Garrett Grove, Forest Wooward and more.
We will soon have Cascades Rock available in our bookstore and Blake will introduce it to us at our Seattle Program Center on Mar 22. Look for more events on his website and Facebook page, including the official book release and dinner party on Feb 23 at Golden Beetle Restaurant.
Read Blake's blog to keep up with his climbing and writing.
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