Several years ago, I was climbing for the first time on the Rollinstone wall with some friends. I asked one of them what the name of the wall was. He replied, "I don't know, but it is on page 57 of the guidebook" (referring to the first "Squeezing the Lemmon" guidebook). With some skepticism, I went home and pulled out "Squeezing the Lemmon" and sure enough, there on page 57 was the Rollinstone wall. I was impressed. He had obviously spent a lot of time reading and studying the guidebook and appeared to know it by heart.

A couple of years later, as I was heading back to my truck after climbing with some friends, we started talking with a climber from Florida who was on vacation and climbing on Mt. Lemmon for the first time. As we told him about Turret Rock, he pulled out his copy of "Squeezing the Lemmon II..." and started thumbing through it. He kept flipping through it looking for Turret Rock, but he couldn't find it. After a couple of minutes flipping, I finally became impatient and said, "It's on page 150..."

That is the kind of guidebook "Squeezing the Lemmon II..." is. A book you study. A book you memorize. "Squeezing the lemmon II..." by Eric Fazio-Rhicard is the climbing guide for Mt. Lemmon. With over 1500 total routes and over 500 sport routes, it is the only guide to own if you are planning to climb on Mt. Lemmon. "Squeezing the lemmon II..." is available at:

• Rocks and Ropes
• Summit Hut

Of all the climbing guides that I own, Backcountry Rockclimbing in Southern Arizona by Bob Kerry is one of my favorites. It covers the full spectrum of rock climbing in southern Arizona: from the many diverse climbing areas such as the Santa Catalinas, Cochise's Stronghold, Baboquivari Peak, and Mendoza Canyon to the rich history of these areas. Short articles by local climbers such as Dave Baker, Karl Rickson, and Jeff Mayhew are included as well as many historical climbing photos.

Besides providing. a comprehensive guidebook to climbing in southern Arizona, Backcountry Rockclimbing in Southern Arizona is very entertaining reading. Bob's writing style is particularly entertaining. In the section on the "Iranian Wall", Bob describes the approach: "While it only takes 45 minutes to an hour to do the approach, if you screw up the approach, you could think you were in the man-eating devil thickets in the back country of the planet Baldar." I knew right away that the "man-eating devil thickets" were Manzinita bush - and that Bob's dislike of the bush is as great as mine. Bob concludes the section with, "Horrible Manzanita thrashing awaits those who can't follow these directions. Allah akbar!"

Backcountry Rockclimbing in Southern Arizonis an excellent guidebook and is available at:

• Rocks and Ropes
• Summit Hut