Supertopo Releases Yosemite Sport Climbs and Top Ropes
6/28/10 - Supertopo LLC, known for producing world-class climbing guidebooks and the über-popular website supertopo.com, has just released
their latest book: Yosemite Sport Climbs and Top Ropes, by Chris Van Leuven and Chris McNamara. This book covers more than 200 of the best sport climbs and top ropes in the 5.7 to 5.12 range in Yosemite Valley. It includes formerly obscure and unpublished climbs to provide more options for avoiding crowds. As in all Supertopo books, the authors have documented each route with meticulous care to create the most detailed and accurate topos ever published. Yosemite Sport Climbs and Top Ropes includes more than 30 color images by such
photographers as Andrew McGarry and Jim Thornburg. The introduction was
written by Conrad Anker and includes first ascent stories by Pete Takeda and
Al Swanson.
Chris Van Leuven, a big wall climber/free climber and Climbing magazine
contributor, resided in Yosemite seasonally from 1995-2005, and for a year in
2009/2010. Hes taken expeditions to Patagonia, the NW Territories, and more.
Van Leuven writes for a variety of publications and works as an assistant editor/
reporter for The Sopris Sun in Carbondale, Colorado.
Chris McNamara, a noted big wall specialist and speed climber, is the founder
and President of Supertopo. McNamara started Supertopo in 1999 out of the
frustration he experienced from lack of good, available climbing Beta. Additionally,
in 1999, McNamara founded of the American Safe Climbing Association (ASCA),
a nonprofit group that has since replaced more than 5,000 dangerous anchor bolts.