Ridges of England, Wales and Ireland
Product Description
By Dan Bailey
A guide to summer scrambles, technical rock routes and winter climbs on ridges in the Lake District, Snowdonia, Peak District, Exmoor, the Isle of Wight, Kerry and Connemara, covering popular classics and obscure gems, from Sharp Edge to Skeleton Ridge. With inspirational photographs, this book is both a celebration of the landscape and a route guide.
Who could resist a good ridge? Stony tightropes stringing the peaks, gap-toothed like jawbones, chiselled crests spearing out of sea surge or corrie shadow – these are the stuff of climbing dreams.
This book complements Cicerone’s popular Scotland’s Mountain Ridges, describing and celebrating the best routes of this type across the rest of Britain and Ireland, and bringing them all together in one place for the first time. Ranging from balmy (and occasionally barmy) seaside trips and roadside quick fixes to strenuous snowy days in the high hills, the selection described here reflects the diversity of mountaineering and traditional climbing in our islands, and the dazzling patchwork of contrasting landscapes in which these adventures can be enjoyed.
There’s a new adventure for everyone here – scrambling beginners and experienced climbers alike
Reviews
‘This book is very professionally crafted, one which will surely join the great classic guidebooks of this century’The Keswick Reminder Friday 31st July 2009
As with all offerings from Dan Bailey, this is an accessible, beautifully written, well researched and, above all, inspiring book. Ranging from balmy (and occasionally barmy) seaside trips and roadside quick fixes to strenuous snowy days in the high hills, the selection reflects the diversity of mountaineering and traditional climbing in our islands and the dazzling patchwork of contrasting landscapes in which these adventures can be enjoyed.
This book complements Cicerone’s popular Scotland’s Mountain Ridges, also by Dan Bailey, describing and celebrating the best routes of this type across the rest of Britain and Ireland and bringing them all together in one place for the first time. There’s a new adventure here for everyone who enjoys ridge-walking, scrambling or climbing. Illustrated with inspirational photographs, the book is both a route guide and a celebration of the landscape. If you are an experienced mountain walker, scrambler of climber, most routes can be done throughout the year with routes to suit all levels of ability. But advanced skills are necessary if taking these routes on in winter.
Outdoor Enthusiast Magazine, Volume 6 Issue 1 (August 2009)
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Nanuls - Nov 16, 2009 7:13 am - Voted 5/5
The Ridges of England, Wales and IrelandCovering areas as diverse as Snowdonia, the MacGillycuddy's Reeks and the Isle of White, the book picks out all the best ridge routes south of the Scottish border, from easy summer scrambles to heart-pumping technical rock climbs and ambitious winter adventures. In the style of his previous publication, Dan devotes a carefully crafted handful of pages to each route, all of which have the obligatory textual descriptions, and are bolstered by a collection of annotated Ordinance Survey maps, diagrammatical topos and colour landscape and action photos. These are the things all good climbing guides should aspire to, and place The Ridges of England, Wales and Ireland well above the proverbial bar. There is certainly plenty to inspire mountaineers of all abilities here.
A key difference between this book and the previous one is the type of routes covered. The word ‘mountain’ has been dropped from the title, leaving the book free to cover a much wider variety of locations, for example Commando Ridge (VD) in Cornwall, as well as a handful of other delightful sea cliff climbs. Another welcome feature is the inclusion of less known routes such as the South Ridge (S) of Rhinog Fach, a route unfairly omitted from all of Snowdonia’s current general guides.
In effect it’s a general guide with a specific purpose and if you’re a weekend warrior in search of a bit of excitement then there is much to recommend here. If you’re looking for a bit more variety, or somewhere more place specific however, then you may be better off buying something else. Like with Dan’s pervious book, my only real criticism, and in all fairness it’s a small one, relates to the size of the book; it’s just too big to fit conveniently in a jacket pocket and a bit too heavy to carry in a rucksack, especially if you have a long approach and are laden with gear, thus when I’ve used it I have opted to take photocopies of my planned routes before setting out. A minor inconvenience on my part. Ignoring these practicalities however, this book is absolutely superb, and a fantastic introduction to the England, Wales and Ireland’s famous and not-so-famous ridge routes.