Few states are as abundantly blessed with mountains as Washington. From the massive, glacier-bedecked volcanoes like Mount Rainier to the craggy granite spires of the North Cascades, the state clearly was blessed with both quality and quantity. This presents climbers with many potential climbing destinations, but has led to a glut of mountaineering guidebooks as authors shuffle this extensive deck of peaks into a particular format.

Scott Stephenson and Brian Bongiovanni add to the list of Washington climbing guidebooks with their recently released "Summit Routes: Washington's 100 Highest Peaks." While some books sort by area and others by route quality, "Summit Routes" sorts by overall height-- an approach that will be welcomed by peakbaggers anxious to sample the state's geologically and geographically diverse high points. Most will be familiar with the state's five highest peaks-- all well known volcanoes exceeding 10,000 feet in height-- but ask an experienced climber about the next 10, and I'll bet it will elicit quizzical looks.

"Summit Routes" describes peaks that consist primarily of non-technical scrambles or glacier climbs, though some require up to mid-fifth-class climbing or rappel descents. To facilitate ticking off the list, the guidebook organizes the peaks into geographic regions, then by what the author terms "slams"-- itineraries that allow one to link up multiple peaks in a single, multi-day outing-- followed by "free agent" peaks that generally must be done as a focused objective. Slams come in all shapes and sizes, from moderate-intensity, two-day trips to six-day, multi-peak marathons. Each peak or slam contains copious information describing the overall route, peaks covered, elevation gain and loss by day, and access information. The descriptions are generally fleshed out by high-quality photographs with route overlays.

"Summit Routes" will appeal primarily to climbers interested in ticking off the state's high points, but even those who couldn't care less about completing the list will find enticing gems in out of the way places that are not covered in the bevy of existing Washington climbing guidebooks.