Should I buy "South West Tasmania" by JC?

[farkewie]

Hi Guys,

In the process of choosing a walk for xmas/new years. Is John Chapmans's "South West Tasmania" the book to buy?

We only have 7 days(for walking) and want to make the most of it.

[msw]

YES

[msw]

'yes' was possibly too abrupt. Buy the book, read his useful advice, choose a trip that suits your fitness & time etc, then buy the 1:25000 map or specific park map for that area as well. Take a photocopy that section of notes from the chapman book to get more out of the trip & so you keep the book in good condition for future reading.

There are plenty of good options in the s/w tas book for 7 days trips - of varying difficulties. The new version of the book has colour photos, track profiles and great info to choose your next adventure.

Have a good trip.
from matt.

[pazzar]

If you want to spend your 7 days in the SW it would be the best book to buy. It gives useful information on several side trips too. I find the times he gives for the walks to be quite reasonable too.

[norts]

Either his Sw or Cradle/Walls books give good ideas for starting out walks and harder walks in Tassies well known areas. Even if you dont do an actual described walk you can get ideas. Both books have given me alot of ideas for walks. Just dont rely on them for all your needs, as per Matt, get some maps as well.
Remember some of the walks described by JC are not easy walks and not for beginners/ new walkers in Tassie.
Roger

[Son of a Beach]

I think the book is worthwhile. However, readers need to understand that the walking times used in his SW book are for fit and experienced walkers, and some people think that the times are too fast. He explains in this in the book and says that it is because most people who walk in the SW are faster walkers (eg, compared to those who walk the OT). He suggests that if you are not a moderately fast walker, you will need to adjust the times (eg, by 30%) to suit you. Most people don't seem to read this bit and get frustrated and complain that the times are all wrong.

For me personally, I found that I could not keep up anywhere near his times in the first few days of a very long walk with a very heavy pack. But by the end of the walk, with a lighter load, I was doing much quicker than his prescribed times.

I've heard other people complain that his track notes are inaccurate or misleading but I've found them to be very good in most situations (for the ones I've followed). The only exceptions are where tracks have been re-routed since his notes were updated. Of course people should be prepared for such things.

[farkewie]

Thanks for the info guys, just bought the book!

Yeah I have used books before and they are just that a "guide", not looking for something too easy, if we had more time we were going to do Western Arthurs. Next Year! Have done SCT and soloed the OT last Sep plus grew up in Tassie so am comfortable with he environment .

Thanks.

[doogs]

Thanks for the info guys, just bought the book!

Yeah I have used books before and they are just that a "guide", not looking for something too easy, if we had more time we were going to do Western Arthurs. Next Year! Have done SCT and soloed the OT last Sep plus grew up in Tassie so am comfortable with he environment .

Thanks.

You could still do A-Moraine to K-Moraine on the Western Arthurs in 7 days including a couple of rest days That's in the SW book too.

[farkewie]

You could still do A-Moraine to K-Moraine on the Western Arthurs in 7 days including a couple of rest days That's in the SW book too.

ooh! now I am excited.

Are there any other books I should get for considering the rest of Tassie?

[nakedape]

As has already been alluded to: beware the Chapman hour. Yep, a real measure of time (well, not quite a measure - more of a constant in an algorithm by which you must multiply your own fitness level raised to the power of your pack weight - and be cautious here because your fitness and the Chapman hour will diverge exponentially in direct correlation with the weather).

Yes, the Chapman books are great. His times are fairly generous where there are lots of inexperienced people (i.e. Cradle area) but tend to be fairly lean in the SW (for me at least). You need to be aware of this is all and adjust expectations accordingly.

N

[tasadam]

Re the book - what they all said.
Chapman openly admits that the most criticism he receives of his books are the walking times, but everyone is different and as said, he explains this in the book.
You could also consider the Day Walks book from him.

And if you want a pretty book that will get you excited about walking in Tasmania, consider The Abels Volume 2. There's a page on that website that has previews of a number of pages of that book where you can click on the images and see them larger... HERE.
Disclaimer - I made the web page.