Product Description

This guidebook leads the leader to forty-nine adventures in and around Utah's Zion National Park. It includes: - Descriptions of selected trails - Thorough information on off-trail classics such as The Subway and The Narrows - Details of technical canyoneering in classic canyons such as Pine Creek, Mystery and Behunin - Valuable pointers on gear, climate, safety and environmental awareness - Sections on the area's history and geology that will enrich your visit. 256 pages including 16 full color plates, 43 maps and 30 black and white photos.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #341420 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-13
• Released on: 2006-11-13
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
Tom Jones has been exploring the canyons of Zion for 20 years. His engineering degree from MIT, his need to tinker and experiment and his love of the outdoors have led him to invent interesting canyoneering and climbing equipment. He founded Imlay Canyon Gear where he designs, produces, markets and sells innovative canyon-specific gear. Tom shares his canyoneering knowledge, skills and ethic through his website, CanyoneeringUSA.com, and by organizing Canyon Fests and service projects. He is the chairman of the Zion Canyoneering Coalition. Tom makes his home just east of Zion, in Mount Carmel, Utah.

Customer Reviews

A model for such books; buy it locally if you can
Rather than debate the ethics of such a book in the first place, I'll address how the author has acquitted himself, which is: extremely well. If you're going to write about so delicate, potentially dangerous, and wildly popular an area, this is the way to do it.

Readers will find this a refreshing change from other guidebooks that deal with southern Utah. The text is well written. The maps are nicely done, if spare (you'll need topos anyhow), and the photographs are both enticing and informative. Best of all, the book consistently and repeatedly advocates treading lightly and maintaining a healthy margin of safety. No doubt this has to do with the considerable difficulty of many of the routes described: writing in part for accomplished canyoneers, the author has chosen to treat his readers as equals. Such an approach cannot explain everything, though, since he also generously includes a large number of journeys accessible to lesser mortals. (And one dearly hopes that accomplished canyoneers no longer require guidance in how not to ruin the places they visit.)

The prose is concise, witty, and informative, whereas many such books are chatty yet largely devoid of pertinent information. Some may be put off by this: if you enjoy "Sunset" magazine profiles or Successories posters, look elsewhere. But anyone who actually likes Zion -- or anywhere else in the desert southwest, for that matter -- will be delighted.

The business of prose is no small matter, in my opinion. Unlike so many authors, Jones is educated and it shows: he has the knack for generating simple, muscular sentences that demonstrate a full command of right English as she is spoke. (Jones' literacy will come as a particular relief to readers who have long endured books by a certain author who has occaisonaly to taken of the foto's.) Such crisp and lucid writing makes the book not only more enjoyable but also more authoritative, since the writer's credibility remains intact at the end of each sentence.

Also worthy of praise is Jones' inclusion of summarized accident reports in the back of the book. This might best be described as the Demotivators part of the text; certainly it should help steer neophytes away from routes that are beyond them.

One last point: I bought this book at IME in Salt Lake City. Interested readers might want to try to do something like that, too. Local retailers, like the small press that produced this book, need support. In the case of back-country activity, this is more than mere romanticism. The owners, operators, and employees of small businesses in this trade usually form the first (and, in Utah, often the last) line of defense between wilderness and the spread of Jeeps, ORVs, and oil wells. If you like these places, you should try to support the people who work in and near them.

The Best Canyoneering Guide Book on the Market
I believe I've read (and own) all the U.S. canyoneering guidebooks on the market and Zion Canyoneering is undoubtedly the best. Kelsey's have a bunch of information packed into little space, but are very difficult to follow and don't have the information I need. Steve Allen's are fun to read and make the canyons sound inviting, but lack the detail that can take me through the canyon with confidence. What makes Zion Canyoneering unique is that it can be used by people at all levels as a guide to actually go canyoneering in Zion, not just read about it. It's the only canyoneering guidebook that provides enough technical information and perspective that readers cna (a) decide if the canyon is a good fit for their abilities and interests, and (b) safely go through the canyon. In fact, there's only one other book I know of that is maybe as good--Todd Martin's book "Arizona: Technical Canyoneering.". But for the canyons in Zion National Park, the Tom Jones book is absolutely the best, without even a close second. Three reasons:

1. The trail descriptions are easy to follow and extremely accurate. Sure, that sounds pretty simple. But in the canyoneering guidebook lexicon, it's surprisingly rare. The Time and Distance Logs and Mileage Tables provide more information than you'll find anywhere else, without question. You'll know exactly what to expect when you enter the canyon. And when your life is on the line, it's not good to be surprised. Data like this is a must.

2. The commentary and perspectives on the canyon are not only useful, they are essential to personal safety and general enjoyment. The author provides useful information (like the need for wetsuits, alternate trailheads, shuttling options, permitting tips, etc.) that are invaluable to novice canyoneers and helpful to even the most experienced canyon rats.

3. The book is organized to be easy to use. I really like the Chart of Canyons in the beginning. Canyoneers of any experience level can take a look at that chart, which lists 49 canyons, and quickly plan a trip based on location, degree of difficulty and time required. I can't understand why all guidebooks don't include this feature because it is such an obvious benefit.

If you're interested in canyoneering in Zion, this book is essential, unless you have similar information from a trusted source. Frankly, I wish the author would write more books for other Utah canyoneering centers. The canyoneering community needs more books like this.

From one canyoneer to another

Tom has created a canyoneering masterpiece. Well written, accurate descriptions and superb photography round out this instant classic. In sharp contrast to Mike Kelsey's better known guidebooks which are written in gibberish and are strewn with inaccurate information, Tom's guide is well researched. He's obviously done these canyons numerous times in varying conditions- making the readers safety a high priority. Tom recognizes that these lands are sensitive both from an environmental viewpoint and a political one. Thankfully he's given us a guidebook that will help these lands on both fronts.