This photo is of the rock climbing route Touchstone Wall (V 5.8 C2 or 5.13b) on the Cerberus Gendarme cliff in Zion National Park, Utah. The route mostly follows a crack system in the middle of the photo, you’ll probably be able to pick it out.

Photo Details: 3 vertical photos taken with Canon SD800 IS, 1/400s @ f/5.8, joined in Photoshop Photomerge.

*Update* Sarah’s book Flakes, Jugs, and Splitters won Best Book in the Mountain Exposition category at the 2009 Banff Mountain Film Festival!

Flakes, Jugs, and Splitters is A Rock Climber’s Guide to Geology by Sarah Garlick. This is a great book if you are a rock climber, geologist, or just interested in the processes that have shaped the Earth. As a geology major in my college days, it was great to refresh my knowledge of the different climbing areas I’ve visited. I’ll post a few of the photos that I have in the book below (along with Sarah’s text). You should go find this book at a local store or order from the Amazon link above.

Shiprock, in northwest New Mexico, is the eroded neck of a volcano.

The North Fork of the Virgin River has rapidly cut down through the soft sedimentary rocks of the Colorado Plateau, forming the big walls of Zion National Park.

Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is a stratovolcano.

This photo has a bit of grain/noise in it, but that’s the image quality tradeoff when taking long exposures with a small camera. You’re looking at climbers in portaledges on the climb Lunar Ecstasy in Zion National Park, taken on the climb Sheer Lunacy.

Photo Details: Panasonic Lumix LX3 on mini tripod, 30s at f/2.8 and ISO 400.