[pct-l] Wilderness Press Guides going out of print - Note from Jeff Schaffer

[Gary Schenk]

This is horrible news. Nothing will ever be able to replace those books.

On 11/3/2010 3:30 PM, Rob Langsdorf wrote:
> Hi All,
>      I recently sent a number of updates to Jeff Schaffer, who use to publish the
> Wilderness Press PCT guides. He wrote back to say that Wilderness Press is out
> of business and that he has retired (See his letter below). So if you have a
> Wilderness Press Guide to the PCT or other volumes, hold on to them. They aren’t
> printing any more.
>
>      They were a great set of guide books for the last 35 or so years.
>
>      Jeff gave me permission to post his letter on various PCT discussion lists,
>
>                                   Rob
>
> ========
>
> Rob:
>
> You have put a lot of effort into the letter you wrote me. Unfortunately,
> Wilderness Press is defunct, it's doors shut down at the end of July. Keen
> Publications bought the company a couple of years ago, but I suspect that when
> they sell the books in their warehouse, that's it. The bottom line is that the
> three volumes have about 1500 map overlays, and that is far too many to scan and
> still make a profit. Actually, I doubt if the series ever made a profit. It was
> sooooo expensive to produce. However, it did attract buyers to WP.
>
>
> So the volumes languish. They won't be revised. But that is okay (hard for me,
> since I thought I would retire on book royalties - very naive on my part). The
> future is in GPS units that will have the trail plus all the features in an app
> for the unit. This is already being done for some trails. Only a matter of time
> before it's done for the PCT. As I see it, guidebooks are history. Guidebook
> companies can't compete against free apps. My Tahoe Sierra book was one of the
> first to go. (Too many maps, too many scans.) Some 5-10 years ago, I was doing
> revisions for it and met an older hiker who had a portable GPS unit on his back,
> plus a camera and video recorder. He found out who I was and interviewed me.
> Then I asked what's he doing this for. It was a hobby, mapping trails and
> features and putting them on the internet for free. I said that you are putting
> me out of business. So true. No hard feelings. This is progress. Saves a lot of
> trees.
>
>
> Well, I'm 67, semi-retired, and the only backpacking I do is when I absolutely
> have to go in to the Sierra for geological research. I did a 35-miler and
> 52-miler this summer. Very difficult with two bad knees, a damaged vertebral
> column, and two blown shoulders (I'm still a climber and have taken countless
> falls and probably over a hundred injuries, most minor; some, not minor). Still,
> would attempt to keep the books in print if I knew that I would actually see
> some royalties to pay for my expenses. Not likely.
>
> There is a 2 volume anthology by PCT hikers, to be published by The Mountaineers
> next year. You can read my short contribution (all are short!!!), which was
> requested by the two editors. At the end, I say the guides have to die. They
> need to go out of print. They are too dated and there is no way Keen can make
> any money producing updated editions.
>
> So, if you've got guidebook copies, hang on to them. May be worth some money
> years from now. The bookbuyer at our college bookstore told me that she expects
> there will be no more textbooks in about 5 years (there goes the bookstore); all
> texts will be electronic. There goes here job. But we both plan to retire in 3
> years. Again, the more books that are electronic, the more trees we save. I'm
> all for trees, but we probably have too many on our property. Have to trim some
> back and cut some down every year or two. (We probably have the greenest
> property in Browns Valley.)
>
> Keep on hiking and enjoying nature.
>
> Jeff Schaffer,
>
> Mountaineering naturalist
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Pct-L mailing list
> Pct-L at backcountry.net
> To unsubcribe, or change options visit:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/mailman/listinfo/pct-l
>
> List Archives:
> http://mailman.backcountry.net/pipermail/pct-l/