Sources for Problems/Routes

Bertini, Joan, et al. Five Star Bouldering in Southern California. 2005.

Corso, Damon. Best Climbs Los Angeles. FalconGuides, 2015.

Dooley, Matthew, et al. Los Angeles County Bouldering. 2017.

Fry, Craig. Southern California Bouldering Guide. FalconGuides, 1995.

Fry, Craig. Southern California Bouldering Guide. FalconGuides, 1990.

Hellweg, Paul, and Nathan M. Warstler. Climber’s Guide to Southern California. 1988.

March, James. “mOthEr rOck MAIL.” mOthEr rOck, edited by Matt Artz, no. 98–08, 19 Mar. 1998.

March, James. “mOthEr rOck MAIL.” mOthEr rOck, edited by Matt Artz, no. 98–10, 1 June 1998.

March, James. “Seeking Refuge: Higher Ground Bouldering in Los Angeles County.” Rock & Ice, no. 90, Feb. 1999, pp. 92–97.

Mayr, Troy. Southern California Sport Climbing: The Guide III. 2004.

Mayr, Troy, and Anthony Sweeney. Williamson Rock: Southern California Sport Climbing. 1997.

Young, Wills. “Escape to L.A.” Climbing, no. 174, 15 Mar. 1998, pp. 84–93.

Other Citations (Books, Magazines, DVDs, Journals, etc.)

Ament, Pat. Royal Robbins: Spirit of the Age. Climbing Classics, 1998.

“Angeles Chapter Rock Climbing Section: Gone but Not Forgotten.” Sierra Club, May 2011, www.sierraclub.org/angeles . . . gone-not-forgotten.

“Angeles National Forest - Archaeology and Cultural Resources.” U.S. Forest Service, 27 Apr. 2025, www.fs.usda.gov/ . . . /natural-resources/arch-cultural.

Boessenecker, John. Bandido: The Life and Times of Tiburcio Vasquez. University of Oklahoma Press, 2010.

Bridwell, Jim. “The Innocent, the Ignorant, and the Insecure.” Ascent, vol. 2, no. 1, July 1973, pp. 46–53.

Cermak, R. W. Fire in the Forest: A History of Forest Fire Control on the National Forests in California, 1898-1956. U.S. Government Printing Office, 2005.

Fawm, Jordan Benjamin. “How to Survive a Snakebite in the Wilderness.” Asclepius Snakebite Foundation, 6 Sept. 2018, www.snakebitefoundation.org . . ..

Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians. “Upper Los Angeles River and Tributaries Revitalization Plan: Volume 2, Chapter H.” Upper Los Angeles River and Tributaries Revitalization Plan, 2 Mar. 2020, pp. 74–75, upperlariver.konveio.com/chapter-h.

Gabrielino/Tongva Nation. “Tongva Tribe History & Timeline.” Gabrielino/Tongva Nation, 23 Feb. 2025, gabrielinotongva.org/history/.

“History of Climbing Shoes.” Climbing Shoe Review, www.climbingshoereview.com/history-of-climbing-shoes/. Accessed 17 Aug. 2026.

“History of Los Angeles County: Pre-History to 1799.” LA Almanac, www.laalmanac.com/. . ..

Joe, Sherry. “Rock Climbers Scale Freeway Bridges Because They’re Close and Are Ideal for Training. But Now Caltrans Wants Them . . .” Los Angeles Times, 24 Oct. 1991, www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-10-24-vw-364-story.html.

Lendering, Jona. “Cicero on Damocles.” Livius.org, www.livius.org . . ..

Lisa Rands: The Hit List. Directed by Wills Young, Climbing, 2002.

Madley, Benjamin. An American Genocide: The United States and the California Indian Catastrophe, 1846–1873. Yale UP, 2016.

Mather, Kate. “Bad News Bears.” Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2013, www.latimes.com/ . . . htmlstory.html.

Milburn, Douglas M., Uyen K. Doan, and Joanna Huckabee. “Spatial and Temporal Distributions of Archaeological Heated-Rock Cooking Structures in the Transverse Mountain Range: Proposed Markers of Land-Use Shifts since the Early Holocene.” Proceedings of the Society for California Archaeology, vol. 22, 2009, pp. 1–21.

“On the Cover: Mount Baldy.” American Alpine Journal, vol. 74, no. 106, 2022, American Alpine Club, publications.americanalpineclub.org/ . . . 13201215986.

Quirarte, Louis. “Summit Signatures: The Origins of Southern California Peak Names (Part Nine: T–Z).” Hundred Peaks Lookout, vol. XXX, no. 3, May–June 1993, pp. 15–20.

Reid, Hiram A. History of Pasadena, Comprising an Account of the Native Indian, the Early Spanish, the Mexican, the American, the Colony, and the Incorporated City. Pasadena History Company, 1895, pp. 156–59, 370.

Reponen, Gerry. Angeles Crest Scenic Byway Roadside Inventory. Revised by Michael Smith, 2019, https://tchester.org/ . . . /Angeles_Crest . . . Roadside_Inventory_2019.doc.

Ripley, John G. “John Dale Mendenhall, 1911–1983.” American Alpine Journal, 1984, publications.americanalpineclub.org/ . . . /John-Dale-Mendenhall-1911-1983.

Robbins, Royal. To Be Brave: My Life, Volume I. Pink Moment Press, 2009.

Robinson, John W. The San Gabriels: The Mountain Country from Soledad Canyon to Lyttle Creek. Gem Guides Book Company, 1991.

Sandos, James A. “Toypurina’s Revolt: Religious Conflict at Mission San Gabriel in 1785.” Boletín: The Journal of the California Mission Studies Association, vol. 24, no. 2, 2007, pp. 4–14.

Schaufele, Tim. "Los Angeles Climbing with Damon Corso." Squamish Climbing Magazine, 9 May 2015, squamishclimbingmagazine.ca/ . . . -climbing-with-damon-corso/.

Sides, Josh. “The Sunland Grizzly.” Natural History Magazine, www.naturalhistorymag.com/ . . . the-sunland-grizzly.

“The Indigenous Dawn of the San Gabriel Mountains.” PBS SoCal, 10 Nov. 2017, www.pbssocal.org/ . . . /the-indigenous-dawn-of-the-san-gabriel-mountains.

“The Tongva and Yaanga Village.” Azusa Street Mission, 312azusa.com/the-tongva-and-yaanga-village-2/.

Thrall, Will H. "The Haunts and Hideouts of Tiburcio Vasquez," Historical Society of Southern California. Quarterly, June 1948.

Vogel, Randy. The Climbing Guidebooks of the United States, Part I: California and Arizona. Bonehead Publishing, 1993.

"Wildfires in Los Angeles County." LA Almanac, www.laalmanac.com/fire/fi07.php.

Book Recs

MacKay, Pam, and Timothy Thomas. Southern California Mountains Wildflowers: A Field Guide to Wildflowers above 5,000 Feet: San Bernardino, San Gabriel, and San Jacinto Ranges. FalconGuides, 2016.

Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills. 9th ed., Mountaineers Books, 2017.

Sherman, John. Better Bouldering. 3rd ed., FalconGuides, 2017.

Wilkerson, James A., et al. Medicine for Mountaineering and Other Wilderness Activities. Mountaineers Books, 2010.

Book Buying

So you want to start or expand your climbing book collection? Since I'm out of the game I don't mind sharing my secrets.

1. Check Mountain Project every day.
2. Use Bookfinder.com
3. Search eBay every day and filter for newest (bookfinder doesn't see a lot of eBay stuff).
4. Chessler Books (particularly good for getting old issues of Climbing and Rock & Ice: cross reference your purchases with Moore's Superguide).
5. Go into weird little book stores. Climbing guidebooks are usually in the sports, travel, california sections.
6. Don't be afraid to call brick and mortar stores (not just book stores, think big box retail, small gear stores, etc.), many of them will ship to you.
7. Don't forget apps like Offer Up and Facebook Marketplace.