Tuolumne Meadows Climbing:
A Comprehensive Guide
Over a decade in the making, this is the first new rock climbing guidebook in 15 years to this magnificent alpine region of Yosemite National Park. Over 1,700 routes are catalogued in detail across over 170 formations, with approach and parking directions, route descriptions and grades, photo overlays, maps and topos, and more.
500 full color pages
delivery by Summer 2024
Book details
What’s in the book?
Comprehensive guidebook to roped rock climbs in Tuolumne Meadows, consisting of formations reachable off Highway 120, between Crane Flat in the west and Lee Vining in the east.
500 full color pages
1,700+ routes over 170 formations
400+ new, never before published routes
Approach and descent information, GPS locations, parking directions, sun/shade times and maps for every formation or crag
Pitch-by pitch route descriptions, grades and safety ratings (runout, etc), gear beta and bolt counts, first ascensionists and history, as well as photos overlaid with route lines and/or topos, as appropriate
Robin and an assortment of experienced climbers have visited every formation in the book to collect all the essential beta. Additionally, in order to give an accurate assessment of each route’s quality and grade, he has personally climbed over 80% of the routes in the book.
Wait a minute…
What is Tuolumne Meadows?
A sample of maps and illustrations used throughout the book
Watercolors by Zach Polic
Tuolumne Meadows is the high country of Yosemite National Park in California. Blessed with some of the highest quality granite in the Sierra Nevada, the area boasts over a thousand rock climbing routes, thousands of boulder problems, sweeping granite peaks, and wide open vistas. Tuolumne, with its alpine locale, are generally only accessible during the summer months, roughly June through October.
The rest of the year, Tioga Pass Road, the main thoroughfare of the area, is closed due to snow. Constrained by the limited season, and shadowed by the fame of Yosemite Valley below it, fewer park visitors travel and climb in Tuolumne — but those of us who do, tend to fall head over heels for this place.
This project is born out of our love and appreciation for Tuolumne Meadows. There are few climbing areas in the world with such a combination of history, variety and quality of rock, relatively easy access, and stunning setting. We hope the book will encourage more folks to explore the less traveled parts of Tuolumne, and discover the joy and magic of these alpine meadows that have captivated us personally for decades, and generations of folks for millennia.
Meet Robin & Thomas
Who are the authors?
Robin Hirsch has been working on an updated, comprehensive guidebook to the Tuolumne area since 2012. He’s been frequenting and climbing in Tuolumne since 2008, working in the park for first the concessionaire, then the National Park Service on many ecological restoration projects. On a walk through Tuolumne he can tell you about an obscure rock wall in the distance as well as the species and characteristics of the flora and fauna of whatever trail you’re on.
Thomas Bukowski joined the project in 2019. He’s been climbing in Tuolumne since 2013, and brings an invaluable background in print publishing and data management to the book, helping turn Robin’s hundreds of pages of notes and annotations into a cohesive, well-designed guidebook worthy of the majesty of this area.
Additionally, we're grateful to have the blessing of Chris Falkenstein, the co-author of the last comprehensive guidebook to Tuolumne, published in 2006 by Falcon Press. This book wouldn't have gotten off the ground without his encouragement and limitless knowledge of the area.
Robin (left) and Thomas (right) on
the summit of Outguard Spire in the Sierra
What you can expect, when
Production Details & Timeline
This project is being self-published. What that means is the final product will be free of paid advertisements, and we have control over layout, printing quality, and distribution.
We’re printing with Prolong Press, a Hong Kong based printer. They have significant experience printing climbing guides, and have produced several editions of guides in Squamish (Squamish Select, Squamish Bouldering, Skaha Climbing, etc), as well as the recent Yosemite Valley Rock Climbing and Big Walls guides. All paper used in the printing is FSC-certified, sustainably sourced from responsibly managed forests.
2012
Robin begins work on book
2019
Thomas begins helping on the project
2021 - 2023
Data collection continues in earnest
Spring 2024
Final book PDF sent to printer
Summer 2024
Books mailed for all pre-orders
Follow along the publishing process on the book’s Instagram account, @tuolumne.guide. You can get in touch with us by emailing knobs@tuolumne.guide.
At the end of the day, this book is a love letter to Tuolumne Meadows and the climbing community here. Thanks for supporting the book!
– Robin & Thomas
Wholesale orders • Contact us • © Cibola Publishing House, 2024