Pennine Lines w/c 11 March 2024

You might expect that, mirroring the recent vinyl boom, print guides might be on for a comeback? As climbing is reaching commercial maturity there are no shortage of brands keen to flog you all manner of high-margin must-haves in an increasingly crowded market; bluetooth recruitment gauges, capybara-hair brushes, anatomical leggings, any number of Japanese artisan chalk formulations blessed by a Shinto priest (absolutely not all from the same quarry in China), even plant-based performance beverages - thankfully consigning those meat-based energy drinks like Bovril Sport to the history books. But yet brands notably aren’t falling over each other to produce beautifully designed, lovingly and painstakingly researched grassroots definitive guidebooks.